“Blue-light-blocking glasses improve sleep.”
Blue-light-blocking glasses have not been shown to reliably improve sleep; trials have found mixed results.
Blue-light-blocking glasses are not a dependable way to sleep better. Cutting back on bright, absorbing screen use before bed is a simpler and more reliable step.
If you already own a pair and like them, keep using them, but judge them by how you sleep over two weeks, not by the claims on the box.
Safety note: Stop using glasses that cause headache, discomfort or mood changes. They should not delay assessment of persistent sleep problems.
Talk to a healthcare professional if: your trouble sleeping goes on for weeks or leaves you struggling during the day.
Randomized trials have tested blue-light-blocking glasses for sleep, and their results split: about half found some improvement and half found none. Confidence is limited because the trials were small, short and in very different groups of people.
Blue-light-blocking glasses have not been shown to reliably improve sleep; trials have found mixed results. In a 2023 Cochrane review, three of six small sleep trials (148 people in total) found better sleep scores and three found no difference, and the reviewers rated the evidence very low in certainty.
An earlier review of 12 studies of amber or orange lenses found a small to medium pooled gain in total sleep time, with the clearest results in people with insomnia, bipolar disorder, delayed sleep timing or ADHD. Trials lasted five weeks or less. Screens can also affect sleep by keeping you engaged and awake longer, which glasses do not change.
Can blue-light glasses improve sleep?
Possible benefit for some users remains uncertain.
- Singh S, Keller PR, Busija L, McMillan P, Makrai E, Lawrenson JG, Hull CC, Downie LE. Blue-light filtering spectacle lenses for visual performance, sleep, and macular health in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2023;8(8):CD013244. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD013244.pub2. PMID: 37593770. PMCID: PMC10436683
- Shechter A, Quispe KA, Mizhquiri Barbecho JS, Slater C, Falzon L. Interventions to reduce short-wavelength ("blue") light exposure at night and their effects on sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Advances. 2020;1(1):zpaa002. DOI: 10.1093/sleepadvances/zpaa002. PMID: 37192881. PMCID: PMC10127364