Taming Blue Light for a Better Night’s Sleep
As we age, sometimes a good night’s sleep becomes elusive.
We know how important sleep is for our health; in fact, many health experts believe it’s the most important thing to pay attention to.
Hitting a minimum of 7 hours of solid sleep is the goal.
Seems like it should be easy, but it’s not for many, including me.
And when it’s not, you have to really pay attention, and start experimenting with a long list of things that can help achieve a better night’s sleep.
Because we’re all unique, what works for one person, may not work for the next. But as it relates to me, I’ve observed that there are 3 things that can mess around with my sleep quality
Not allowing for a space of at least 3 hours between my last meal and bedtime
Alcohol
Evening blue light
The first two are obvious. But regarding blue light, I want to share this cool little hack I just learned in case you want to experiment with it.
First, just why does blue light mess us up in the evening? According to blockbluelight.com,
“Short-wave blue light emits high energy which can pass through the cornea into the retina. It can cause damaging effects over time, including cataracts, dry eyes, and age-related macular degeneration. Blue light can also impair melatonin secretion, causing sleep disturbances.”
When our eyes are exposed to blue light in the evening, through our phones, computers or television, it cues the brain that it is still mid-day. But in today’s modern life, it’s not always easy to step away from our screens, even when we have the best intentions.
Luckily, when you can’t break away, there are a few strategies to experiment with.
You can buy blue-blocker glasses to wear in the evening. I did buy myself a pair, and while wearing them makes me feel like an actress trying to be incognito, I do detect a difference when I put them on.
It’s kind of a very calming feeling that comes over me … in essence preparing me for sleep.
So in the evening, if you are watching TV, or need to get on the computer, wearing these glasses can certainly help. I also wear them when I’m reading before bed.
There’s also this hack on our cell phones that turns our screen red, in essence blocking those blue light waves. Some of you may have figured this out, but for those of you who haven’t, following are the steps to set it up (from blockbluelight.com):
FOR IPHONE 8 AND OLDER
STEP 1: Find the “Color Filters” section by going to Settings>General>Accessibility>Display Accommodations.
STEP 2: Select “enable color filters” and then choose the filter “color tint” as your default setting. Scroll down and locate the sliders for intensity and hue. To get the most benefits out of a red phone screen, both should be set to the maximum setting.
STEP 3: You may need to toggle between your red filter and your normal screen, so here’s a shortcut:
Select Settings>General>Accessibility>Accessibility Shortcut>Color Filters
Once you’re done, all you need to do is press the home button three times to switch between your default settings and your custom red screen.
FOR IPHONE X AND NEWER
STEP 1: Select Settings>Accessibility>Display and Text Size>Color Filters
STEP 2: Like with older iPhone models, you need to enable “Color Filters” and choose “Color Tint” for your screen. Next, scroll down and adjust the Intensity and Hue to bring out more of the red shades on your phone. Set both fields to the maximum capacity for a more pronounced redness.
STEP 3: Create a shortcut by going to Settings>Accessibility>Accessibility Shortcut>Color Filters. This allows you to switch between your regular daytime screen and your custom red tint by just pressing the right side button three times.
After applying these changes, you may want to do a hard reset in order to restart your iPhone.
So….I did this - and it’s really pretty cool. And with the shortcut, so easy to toggle back and forth between the “day” screen and the red “night” screen.
This not only mitigates damage to your eyes from the bluelight, but should also help melatonin production to get you ready for a good night’s sleep. Of course, trying to stay off these devices at night is always the best strategy.
Give it a try, and if you ever want to brainstorm different strategies to help with a better night sleep, please reach out.