In the age of technology, one of the common problems people have is eye strain from looking at computer or phone screens. It’s virtually impossible to go a day without using some sort of technology, making it all the more important to deal with the consequences of the tech age.

I decided to look into ways I could reduce eye strain, as I was getting unbearable headaches from too much screen time. Now some of you may be thinking, “why can’t you just stop using technology?” Well, as a college student with homework that requires technology, recommendations like limiting your computer time to a few hours or to stop using your computer four hours before you go to sleep, are near impossible to acheive.

I stumbled upon a more reasonable option: blue light glasses. These glasses are supposed to block the blue light from screens from entering your eyes, reducing eye strain and decreasing the likelihood of altering your circadian rhythm. The key words are  “supposed to” as many reviews will tell you these are a scam, which some brands may very well be. There is still much research to be done about exactly how blue light affects our eyes or if it has an effect at all.

Even with the lack of research, blue light glasses are easy to find. I bought a pair from the brand Cyxus on Amazon for under $20. They came with a testing kit, to show that the glasses actually blocked blue light. I have had the glasses for a while now: I usually don’t remember to wear them, but this past week, I wore them every day to test just how well the claims hold up.

I’ll give you the pros and cons. The glasses are very inexpensive and stylish. I had a hard time choosing a style because there were so many fashionable options. Another good thing about wearing them was that I was more aware of when I was using technology and more cautious about using technology before bed, which slightly reduced my headaches.

While my headaches were lessened towards the beginning of the week, I found that I was getting more frequent headaches toward the end of the week from looking through the glasses so much.

There’s a slight yellow tint on the lenses that alter your sight when you are not looking at a screen; I often found myself squinting when I wasn’t looking at a screen.  Another con was that the nose pads on the glasses got very uncomfortable after wearing the glasses for a week. For someone that doesn’t wear glasses regularly, this was a problem because my eyes were already strained and adding more irritation made that worse.

Overall, I would say definitely do some research on the brand if you decide to buy blue light glasses, as well as what blue light actually is. There are tons of non-credible websites that say blue light affects or doesn’t affect your sight; use this information with caution.

If you want to potentially protect your eyes and gain a new accessory, buy the glasses. As of right now, I cannot validate whether blue light glasses are beneficial or not. I’ll leave that to your discretion.  Other than adding to your accessories or being a placebo and making you feel less guilty about using an insane amount of tech, the glasses don’t seem, to do much. If you can handle resting from technology every once and a while, you may be able to fix your eye problems just as quickly for free.