Blue Lenses And Their Ability To Help Prevent Migraines

Now I'm not suggesting for one minute that Brit pop bands from the 1990's had it on their mind as they swaggered around the UK and beyond with circular blue tinted lensed glasses. Looking back now, it's probably equally as hard to make a case for them looking fashionable. However, if they had been wearing them for medical reasons (I think this would be an ideal excuse and get out clause when viewing past images of yourself), the Gallagher brothers and a certain Mr Albarn may have been on the right track to try and prevent migraines occurring which were triggered by light exposure. Again, it's a very big 'if'.

Migraines can be triggered by a very wide number of issues, with stress and anxiety well known causes, as well as light related issues such as flashing or strobe lights, bright lighting (be it artificial or natural) and highly contrasting colour schemes to name just a few. The next time you see that horrid purple and pink striped wallpaper plastered all over your friends wall, it would not be completely outrageous to suggest that it is so bad it is giving you a headache! However, on a more serious note, many thousands of sufferers in the UK and around the world can be quite badly affected or incapacitated by visual interference by light and colour.

Many are quick to make this association and regular sufferers are not unknown to wear darker glasses or lightly shaded sunglasses to lower the brightness of natural sun light that passes through the lens, in effect giving them the same dark environment they would likely retire to if such a migraine was to attack so as to soothe themselves of the pain. In essence, the migraine is caused by an overly excited area of the brain that deals with vision. Other symptoms of migraines can include visual impairments such as seeing spots which is a sign of the brain shutting areas down as the migraine continues. With the brain in effect going into a 'sleep' it is for this reason that a headache or worse can leave the sufferer feeling confused and unable to think properly.

One study, that of colorimetry, covers how the brain and eyes perceive colour and how it in turn deals with this information. The study already has roots in the treatment of epilepsy and dyslexia with the former being light sensitivity related and the latter seeing improvements in a patients reading abilities when different coloured lenses are used, in essence to block out the fuzziness of the mind. The use of coloured lenses has been shown through testing to lower the brains excitement, meaning less stress and thus less chance of a migraine taking hold where it normally would. If you were to suffer from migraines, a quick search for a local optometrist practice that houses a colorimeter would allow you to visit a specialist who could determine the correct colour of lens from over 100,000 hues to decide which may help with the condition. The resulting colour can then be added as a tint to your lens, such as the ones sported by Oasis in the 90's, with the benefit of filtering out the colour/s which may lead to a future attack.

Image: Rosen Georgiev / FreeDigitalPhotos.net