My Migraines are Gone - a Patient's Story

A Phoenix optician working in an independent optometrist's office recently related this terrific patient story to us.

"About a year or so ago I had a patient come out of her eye exam upset she didn't have a prescription! Now as someone who has been in glasses since she was 6 I thought she was crazy.

     "So of course I started asking questions about why she wanted a prescription. Basically she worked on a computer 8+ hours a day and everyday she was coming home with a migraine. We had just started taking BluTech in the practice so I asked if she would be my "guinea pig." I offered her a guaranteed refund if she wasn't happy so she could try the lenses without feeling obligated.

     "Three weeks later, I found her back in my waiting room playing on her smartphone with her BluTechs on. I asked how she liked them and I was actually amazed by her answer. 'Since I've gotten them I haven't had one migraine. It feels so good wearing them I find I wear them all the time.'"

We're always thrilled to hear these kind of patient stories. Again and again, the user experience bears out the dramatic improvement that BluTech Lenses can have on the quality of patients' lives.

Do you have a great patient story to relate? We'd love to hear from you! Send us a message!

Blue Light Concerns: Not Just for Geeks

So everybody's talking about the dangers of blue light - how much exposure are we getting daily, and how does it affect our lives? There was a time in the not-very-distant past when only the techies were staring at computer screens for hours at a time. Now, it's all of us. The number of smartphone users in the US has nearly tripled since 2010, from 62.6 million to 163.9, and is projected to reach 220 million by 2018. (eMarketer) As a matter of fact, "Americans now own four digital devices on average" (EACH!) "and the average US consumer spends 60 hours a week consuming content across devices." (Nielsen)
 
We love our technology, and we're not going to give it up - that much is clear. But this monumental shift in the way we interact with it is probably going to have some unintended consequences. One clear effect is the way that these screens deliver light to our eyes. Blue light, a high-energy light wave, is all around us in the sunlight, and nature has designed our bodies to respond to it. We feel more awake, more energized, when exposed to it. But we are carrying "extra" blue light around with us throughout the day and into the evening hours as well. Small wonder our internal clocks are confused. Health advocates are now telling us that our tech gadgets shouldn't be in the bedroom with us because it disrupts our circadian rhythms and can impact restful sleep.

But it's not just sleep. Eye health professionals now believe that blue light not only causes "eye strain and impair[s] our daily vision, but it can also contribute to Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)," (Dr. Joseph Reitano). AMD is a leading cause of blindness in adults over age 50. There's also some significant scientific evidence linking blue light to other serious health concerns: diabetes, obesity, cancer, and behavioral issues in children.  (Harvard Medical School) The prevalence of blue-light emitting devices, which includes smartphones, tablet computers, LED televisions, computer screens, and even CFL and LED lightbulbs is relatively new. It may take decades before we are fully aware of the long-term implications of this exposure level. Many eye doctors are recommending limiting your digital screen time and using a blue-light filtering lens to protect your eyes from high-energy blue light to help prevent significant, long-term damage to your eyes.

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Consequences of Blue Light Overexposure - a Patient's Story

Last year, a 13-year-old boy entered the San Diego practice of Jeffrey Morris, MD, with a strange collection of symptoms. "His mother told us he was constantly rubbing his eyes."

The attending doctor determined the boy didn't have dry eye. "He discovered the patient was constantly on his computer, took his iPad to bed and even had a television in his room," Dr. Morris says. "He also had problems sleeping." BluTech Lenses were prescribed.

BluTech Lenses filter blue light, block UV, most importantly without altering the patient’s color perception using a unique ratio of ocular lens pigment.  The resulting lenses provide the same protection, contrast enhancement, and color perception to the eye as the natural yellow-brown coloration of the human crystalline lens.

Dr. Morris cautions that BluTech is the only brand he’s evaluated that effectively filters out blue light. “Other companies advertise blue-light filtering. But I have testing devices in my office that measure if glasses filter blue light and the other brands I've tested don't.”

After a few weeks of wearing BluTech Lenses, the patient’s mother reported that the glasses had changed his life. “He stopped rubbing his eyes and was now sleeping like a rock,” Dr. Morris adds.

Before technology, humans weren't exposed to blue light at night; the usual source is the sun. Blue light emitted from electronic devices shuts off melatonin production, which can disturb the natural circadian rhythm that induces sleep.

"We can tell people to turn off devices, but that’s unlikely to happen," he says, "An alternative is blue light lenses."

Health ramifications to blue light overexposure are just being explored. "Northwestern University recently published a study showing blue light stimulates appetite, even after eating. Other studies have suggested that melatonin may be protective against cancer, so if you’re shutting down production of melatonin at night, that could correlate with other health issues." Another reason to wear blue light filters, he adds, is that blue light exposure is toxic to the retina and over time can lead to macular degeneration.

Dr. Morris reflects, "Blue light overexposure is a subtle thing, but the health implications are surprisingly broad."

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Jeffrey B. Morris is a board certified ophthalmologist with 27 years of experience in microsurgery of the eye and laser vision correction. He is the Founder and Medical Director of Morris Eye Group, in Encinita and Vista, CA.

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