Prescription gaming glasses: 5 tips to buy the best pair
Staring into a computer screen for hours at a time, like what happens when you play video games, directly exposes the eyes to a huge amount of artificial light. This causes a lot of eyestrain, which leads to other serious problems like headaches, dry eyes or blurry vision. The best way to prevent this, if you can't stop playing games, is to make sure to wear a good pair of prescription gaming glasses to protect your eyes.
How Do Prescription Gaming Glasses Work?
The main purpose of prescription gaming glasses is to protect the eyes during game time. There are three ways that these special glasses achieve this goal. The first is by reducing the glare that comes from the screen, which is possible with the anti-reflective or AR coating. This protective lining on the lens keeps light from both sides of the lens from reflecting into your eyes.
The second way that prescription gaming glasses help your eyes is by providing blue light protection. Blue light from natural sources like the sun are fine but if you get too much blue light exposure from artificial light, it can cause problems in the eyes and even in the body's sleep cycle. To keep this from happening, most gaming glasses come with a tinted coating that specifically protects against blue light exposure.
Finally, some eyeglasses also come with a magnification feature. It is usually very slight and hardly noticeable but enough to significantly keep your eyes from straining as you stare into the screen for long periods.
When Do People Need a Prescription for Gaming Glasses?
If you don't wear prescription glasses, you shouldn't have any problems using ordinary gaming glasses. But if you do wear prescription lenses on a daily basis, it might be a bit of a challenge finding the right gaming glasses. One option is to find clip-on gaming glasses that you can wear over your regular pair.
In case you can't find such clip-on sunglasses, or you can't find any that fit properly over your regular glasses, then that is the time that you would need to go to your optometrist to get prescription gaming glasses.
5 Tips to Pick the Best Prescription Gaming Glasses
1. When selecting a style or model, pick one that has optical grade frames that can easily accommodate different lens thickness. This is especially important if you have a high grade and require thicker lenses. In this regard, the Acacia and the Hayes frames can work very nicely.
2. When it comes to blue light protection, choose the ones that have a darker tint as these offer more protection. In regular prescription eyeglasses with blue light protection, the filter is clear or almost clear. They can protect your eyes to a certain degree but it won’t be enough for gaming, considering the long hours that you would usually spend in front of the computer.
3. Blue light goggles are also a good option if you can't find suitable gaming glasses, or if you just want to continue using your regular prescription glasses while playing. These goggles are very inexpensive too, and they can block almost all the blue light that comes from your screen.
4. Just as with regular prescription lenses, make sure that you regularly update your prescription for your gaming glasses. Ideally, you should visit your optometrist every six months to make sure that you are still wearing the correct pair that is suitable for your eyes.
5. Appearances might not be much of a priority when it comes to gaming glasses since not a lot of people will see you wearing them anyway. Comfort, on the other hand, is very important. You might want to choose gaming glasses that are lightweight but durable, and that are very comfortable to wear. Of course, a pair that blends style with comfort, like the Leire or the Ismay, would be the best choice.
If you play a lot of video games and have never used gaming glasses, now would be the perfect time to start. You may not be feeling the negative effects yet but it won't be long before they show up. Pick out a stylish and functional pair of glasses now and save your eyes before it's too late!
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