Advantages of Tinted Spectacles

Light and other stimuli can worsen headaches. The actual trigger varies from person to person: a bright spotlight, flickering fluorescent bulbs, light dappling through tree branches, even black lines against a white background can induce excruciating discomfort.

Curiously, those who suffer from migraines may be so sensitive to visual stimuli that even blind people can be affected by it. To scientists, this suggests that the problem may not lie in the eyes but in over-stimulation of the brain’s visual cortex. Yet those who struggle with these symptoms are finding relief in an unlikely place: tinted spectacles.

Tinted spectacles are a type of sunglasses that have been specially tinted to prevent certain light wavelengths. These tinted spectacles will filter light in different ways depending on colour and prescription. In some cases, they even have the ability to enhance vision. But doctors are beginning to recommend them as a salve for afflictions like migraines and Meares-Irlen syndrome.
In the first study of the effects of sunglasses on migraine patients, undertaken in 1991 by the journal Headache, wearing rose-colored glasses reduced the number of migraines in children from 6.2 to 1.6 episodes a month. More recently, it was Jie Huang, associate professor of radiology at Michigan State University, who discovered that migraine patients’ susceptibility to visual stimuli is connected to excess activation of the brain’s visual cortex. Huang tested 22 people, half of whom suffered from migraines, by exposing them repeatedly to a range of striped patterns. Sometimes they wore prescription sunglasses, sometimes they wore regular sunglasses, and sometimes they wore none at all. He found that wearing the non-prescription sunglasses reduced visual discomfort by 40 percent, while the prescription sunglasses reduced it by up to 70 percent.

Tinted spectacles have also proven beneficial to those suffering from a related illness known as "visual stress", or Meares-Irlen syndrome. Patients may experience visual stress when looking at mobile devices or computer screens made after 2007. Looking at the screen sends the visual cortex into overdrive, inducing nausea, dizziness, and shooting eye pain. Yet when given a particular shade of blue sunglasses, patients discovered that staring at screens, even for long periods of time, was no longer a problem. Visual stress simply vanished. 

Which colour sunglasses are best for you? It depends on your individual needs and condition. Grey tints reduce brightness and glare while allowing the eyes to perceive light in their purest form. Yellow and orange tints heighten contrast to make objects look sharper. Green tints reduce eye strain in bright light, while brown tints reduce glare and block blue light. Red- and rose-tinted spectacles are being recommended by an increasing number of doctors because they’re soothing to the eyes and can be worn for long periods without discomfort. 

In any case, finding the right eyewear is no longer just a matter of style; for migraine patients, it literally changes how they see the world.


VogueSpex 
Eyewear Specialists


P.S. Your Choice Your Vision