Blocking Blue Light at Night

March 12, 2018

Many of us have trouble falling -- and staying -- asleep. It is rare, in fact, that I see a client who does NOT have a problem with sleep. But there are several steps we can all take to improve the quality and quantity of our sleep that are easy and inexpensive. Doesn't get better than that!

One of the largest (if not THE largest) contributors to sleep issues is the use of electronic devices and artificial lighting at night. Electronic devices and household lightbulbs emit blue light, which is the predominant wavelength in sunlight and, when used at night, trick our brains into thinking it's daytime.

Exposing our bodies to blue light after the sun has gone down messes up our Circadian rhythms, which are our bodies' internal clocks. A normal rhythm has a high cortisol level in the morning (to wake you up) and a low level of melatonin (a hormone that induces sleep). At nighttime, these levels should reverse (cortisol low, melatonin high), making you feel tired and ready for sleep. Watching TV or browsing through social media at night alters those hormone levels and screws up the natural rhythms of our bodies -- making sleep difficult or even elusive for some.

But you can still enjoy your screentime at night with a few easy tweaks:

1. Turn on the Night Shift setting on your iPhone, iPad or newer Mac (under Settings / Display & Brightness / Night Shift). Set it once and it will go on automatically every day, minimizing the blue light. Your device's screen will have a nice, amber tone. If you have an Android phone, get the Twilight app, which does the same thing.

2. If you have an older Mac or a PC, you can download f.lux to do the same thing (set it up once and it will go on automatically each day).

3. Wear orange glasses to watch TV. They ain't pretty, but they do the trick! There are much more attractive versions than these (including some with clear lenses that do the same thing) but these are the cheapest.

4. If you have a digital alarm clock, cover the numbers with a t-shirt (or get a new clock).

5. Keep your house lights dim at night. Consider just lighting a few candles if you don't NEED lights on for something.

6. Install an orange lightbulb in the lamp on your bedside table.

7. Get an orange-bulbed nightlight for your bathroom so, if you happen to wake up to pee, you can see where you're going without disrupting your sleep too much.

You might feel strange at first, reading by orange light, or watching TV with glasses on, but all of a sudden you'll realize you PREFER it that way!