Migraine Glasses: The Best Option to Reduce the Impact of Harmful Light

What Are Migraine Glasses?

Migraine is a genetic neurological disease that causes symptoms like throbbing painful headaches, numbness of the limbs, vertigo, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, and more.

Why are we associating glasses with migraine? 

It’s been found that over 80% of people with migraine have light sensitivity. Light is taken in through your eyes and affects cells on the retina at the back of your eye. There are several cells at the back of the retina, some of which are:

1. Rods
2. Cones
3. Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGC)

Traditional pharmaceuticals release chemicals within your body that bind to certain receptors and therefore affect the way you feel or how your body reacts. Some medicine works to prevent migraine attacks and some work to abort/treat an oncoming migraine attack by binding to certain receptors. 

Light affects cells at the back of your eye, including ipRGCs, that play a role in regulating how you respond to bright light situations, regulating your body’s melatonin production, and affecting your migraine pain level¹.

To understand why glasses can be referred to as migraine glasses, you have to understand:

• How light affects someone with migraine.
• Different wavelengths of light affect cells differently.
• Specific wavelengths of light can worsen migraine pain and symptoms and cause migraine attacks.
• How you can filter light to reduce its impact on you.

Let’s go in depth into each of these topics below.

What Do Blue Light Glasses Do?

Typical blue light glasses have gained some popularity in recent times. But, are blue light glasses targeting the right type of light to help your migraine symptoms?

Blue Light is Not the Only Culprit

Based on several studies, blue light is not the only culprit in worsening migraine related pain and causing those ipRGCs from activating at the back of your eye. The release of a photopigment called melanopsin, through ipRGC excitation, can inhibit your body’s melatonin production and its release has been associated with an increase in migraine headache pain through the optic nerve. The problem with most blue light glasses is that they don’t target the correct wavelengths, or they don't prevent enough of that wavelength from entering your eye, to prevent the excitation of these ipRGCs.

Most blue light glasses you see on the market today only block light in the early blue light spectrum, below 460nm, and they normally don’t block enough of that light to reduce the light's impact on someone that is overly light sensitive, like someone with migraine.

White, Blue, Red, and Amber Light are Painful

Studies show that multiple colors, meaning multiple bands of wavelengths of light, can cause migraine headache pain to intensify. A study in 2016 found that the following colors actually increased migraine related headache pain intensity²:

• Blue light
• Red light
• Amber light
• White light

Only one light color was found to be soothing to subjects during a migraine attack:

Green light

It’s no easy task to create a comfortable lens that absorbs light in high percentages at multiple bands of wavelengths (colors), does not distort your color perception, and is manufactured accurately and consistently. 

If you’ve found some type of benefit by wearing blue light glasses, great! It’s likely you're more sensitive to light than most and using a proper, migraine and light sensitivity-specific optical filter like the Avulux^® Migraine & Light Sensitivity Lens could prove even more beneficial. 

If you haven’t found success with blue light glasses and you still find yourself unable to stay in front of your computer for long periods of time or under harsh lighting, there’s something much more effective out there for you -- keep reading.

Most blue light glasses are not made for migraine related light sensitivity and they’ve never been clinically proven to help with migraine headaches and light sensitivity (photophobia).

Migraine Glasses to Reduce the Impact of Light

Now, let’s get into migraine glasses. You may be confused as to what migraine glasses are. You may have questions like:

1. How effective are migraine glasses?
2. Do rose-colored glasses help with migraine?
3. Are blue light glasses migraine glasses?
4. How do I differentiate between migraine glasses?
5. Why and how are glasses going to help my migraine symptoms?

Let’s answer those. But first, understand how light plays a role in worsening and causing migraine attacks (commonly referred to as ‘migraines’).

What is Migraine?

Migraine, a genetic neurological disorder, is not just another headache. It comes with many symptoms and one of those key symptoms is light sensitivity. Light is one of the most common triggers for migraine attacks. Historically, common migraine pharmaceuticals and medical devices never targeted light.

Photophobia's (light sensitivity) literal meaning is 'fear of light'. Rather than an actual inherent fear of light, photophobia symptoms commonly include:

• Individuals feeling pain through light exposure (or exposure to pain-triggering light)
• Individuals feeling an aversion or intolerance to light (meaning they can't stand being exposed to light).

Lenses for Migraine and Photophobia

The Avulux team created a migraine & light sensitivity optical lens that has been clinically proven through independent clinical trials. Avulux precisely and effectively filters harmful light, which may help those living with migraine.

The reason why Avulux is effective is that:

1. It is the most precise and effective in absorbing the light that's been found to have the biggest negative impact on people with migraine.
2. It does not distort your color perception. You’ll soon forget you’re even wearing them as your vision adapts and colors remain vibrant and distinct.
3. It is not too dark, so Avulux migraine glasses will not cause dark-adaptation and it will not make you more sensitive to light.

Avulux Migraine & Light Sensitivity Glasses directly align with the most recent science linking light to increased pain in people with photophobia and/or migraine. Avulux highly absorbs the wavelengths that excite and activate the ipRGCs that release melanopsin, while allowing in a fair balance of soothing green light.

Do Clear or Slightly Yellow Glasses Help with Migraine?

Nearly clear or slightly yellow tinted blue light glasses have not been clinically proven to help people with migraine nor photophobia. Most of these blue light glasses only block light in the early 400nm to 450nm blue light range. According to the science, they don't block nearly enough nor do they block at the right wavelengths of light for individuals who are most sensitive to light.

While Avulux is not a simple blue light lens, when compared to a typical blue light lens Avulux absorbs blue light in the upper 450nm-500nm blue light range at an even higher rate than most any other blue light lenses available while also filtering blue light in the earlier 400nm-450nm range. Avulux's precisely engineered lenses do this so efficiently that it doesn't distort your color perception. 

Filtering Harmful Amber and Red Light

Avulux additionally absorbs up to 97% of harmful amber light, which contributes to Avulux's efficacy as a light management tool. Customers generally feel better, they’re able to continue with their activities of daily living, and Avulux can bring a soothing sensation to their eyes. 

Avulux spent years engineering the perfect lens. It’s not an easy task to prevent the harmful light from entering your eyes without distorting your color perception or making the lens too dark.

Why You Shouldn't Wear Sunglasses or Dark Colored Tints

If the lens is too dark, your eyes adapt to the darkness and eventually allow in more light. You then become more light sensitive. Preventing too much of any one color of light from entering your eyes will cause your color perception to be off. Maybe your world will turn red, green, or yellow.

Distorting your color perception would be uncomfortable and you’d soon find it isn’t an ideal solution if you want to enjoy a movie or work on your computer. Living your life in a single-colored world is dull.

Not only that, but a lens that distorts your color perception in this way may be removing too much of the beneficial light spectrum. Remember, green light was found to be beneficial. Not all light is bad.

Clear Lenses Don't Filter Enough Light

A lens that is too light, or nearly clear, is not blocking enough light to eliminate the negative effects of light on people with migraine and severe photophobia.

Since Avulux’s migraine glasses remove light around the green band of light to allow in more soothing wavelengths, some customers have even found that wearing Avulux is more comfortable than sitting in a dark room.

Not All Lenses Are Created Equal

While searching for the term “migraine glasses” or "blue light glasses" on your preferred search engine, you’re bound to find rose-colored glasses, green glasses, yellow glasses, clear glasses, and maybe orange glasses. How do you differentiate between them?

Avulux: A Patented Multi-Band Precision Optical Filter

As it currently stands, Avulux is the only manufacturer of a migraine & photophobia optical lens (migraine lenses/glasses) with clinical data backing it. Avulux Migraine Glasses are the only glasses that align with the most recent science on light, migraine, and pain. The patented Avulux Migraine & Light Sensitivity lens is unique and Avulux is the only supplier of this new migraine optical filter technology that was developed over eight years of engineering and testing.

Avulux is a light management tool administered through an optical filter. If you still want to know the difference between Avulux and any other glasses you may come across, it’s that Avulux migraine lenses:

1. Are manufactured in the USA with strict quality controls.
2. Were designed by optical engineers, physicians, and researchers.
3. Do not distort your color perception, they do not turn your world a different color, and you’ll soon forget you’re wearing them.
4. Absorb the most harmful light in higher percentages and at additional bands of light -- therefore making them highly effective.
5. Let in enough beneficial green light to actually soothe your eyes and calm your brain.
6. Were proven in a clinical setting to be effective at managing the impact of light on people with migraine.

Avulux migraine lenses are a new and unique technology, Avulux is not a simple blue light lens and Avulux migraine lenses do not use the FL-41 tint.

FL-41 Lenses

Avulux lenses are not FL-41 lenses. FL-41 glasses are an older technology and were originally created for light management related to fluorescent lighting only. The focus of FL-41 was not on migraine related photophobia and FL-41 mainly targets just one band of wavelengths near the blue light spectrum. View a simple table comparison between Avulux and other lenses here.

Avulux is an Advancement in Lens Technology

The next-gen Avulux migraine & photophobia lens is an advancement in optical filter research and technology and is made specifically for people with migraine and light sensitivity. Avulux lenses were developed using the most up to date science and research to very precisely filter harmful light and prevent it from entering your eyes. The Avulux lens absorbs these specific harmful wavelengths of light in high percentage across multiple bands (colors) of light in the spectrum. 

How Effective Are Avulux Migraine Glasses?

Avulux migraine glasses:

• Are highly effective.
• Are completely safe as there are no adverse side effects.
• Can be worn continuously and you will not build a tolerance to its positive effects.
• Can be worn as a complement to medical treatments, as needed.

Avulux Clinical Trials

In 2020, an independently run double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial proved that Avulux is effective in helping people with migraine by precisely filtering light (clinical resources).

Will Migraine Glasses Work For You?

We like to stick to the facts. Our real world experience shows that there's a 90% chance that Avulux migraine glasses will be helpful to people with migraine when worn as a part of a healthy lifestyle.

Try Them For 60 Days

We’re highly confident you’ll be satisfied with your Avulux Migraine & Photophobia Glasses. We also recognize that Avulux migraine glasses may not work for everyone, as nothing is 100%. That’s why we give you 60 days to try Avulux for yourself. If you’re unsatisfied for any reason, simply return them in original condition for a full product refund. We care about your well being and want what’s best for you.

You can determine whether light bothers you. If you consistently feel that artificial or natural lighting is too bright, if you avoid going to the market because of the harsh fluorescent lighting, if you find you can’t sit through a movie because there is too much visual stimulation, if you find your eyes are constantly aching, it’s likely that Avulux can provide you that barrier you need to reduce your sensitivity.

Light sources, whether it's bright sunlight or artificial light (like fluorescent light and LED bulbs), can contain wavelengths of light across the entire visible spectrum. If you’re very sensitive, we recommend wearing Avulux throughout your day. Media may have led you to believe that the bad light is only coming from your digital screens or from your mobile devices. The reality is that we’re often exposed to light before sunrise, during a sunny day, and even after sunset via our digital screens and artificial lighting. Exposure to light at all hours of the day tends to affect our bodies and our brains and Avulux can help soften the negative effects of light from all sources.

Wear Them as a Complement

People with migraine experience varied symptoms and have different levels of light sensitivity, pain, and other associated symptoms. Avulux is a great addition to anyone’s migraine toolkit because it can be used as a complement to medical treatments or devices.

Avulux is risk-free as it’s simply worn on your face and you can place them on and remove them whether indoors or outdoors. You can use Avulux along with any medical treatments.

Why Our Avulux Lenses Are Better

Our clinical research shows the efficacy of our Avulux lenses. In fact, no other lens on the market has clinical evidence backing their lenses or claims. 

Avulux lenses precisely filter harmful blue, amber, and red light, which may help those living with migraine.

If you’ve found success with other glasses in helping you get through your days, it’s likely, based on the science, that Avulux can benefit you even more.

If you’ve tried other optical filters and found that they haven’t helped. It’s also worth trying Avulux migraine glasses, as those glasses were likely allowing too much harmful light into your eyes. There’s a sweet-spot where you prevent enough of the harmful light from entering while allowing in enough beneficial light. Years of research have gone into developing the Avulux lens to provide you the best benefit when it comes to light management.

Furthermore, since Avulux lenses are so highly precise and efficient, the same Avulux migraine lenses can be worn as indoor lenses and outdoor lenses. Avulux also protects against harmful UV light.

Avulux Migraine Glasses Reviews

Clinical research aside, see what one of our customers has to say:

 

Read Avulux Reviews
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References:

¹Noseda R, Kainz V, Jakubowski M, et al. A neural mechanism for exacerbation of headache by light. Nat Neurosci. 2010;13(2):239–245. doi:10.1038/nn.2475 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC2818758/ 

² Rodrigo Noseda, Carolyn A. Bernstein, Rony-Reuven Nir, Alice J. Lee, Anne B. Fulton, Suzanne M. Bertisch, Alexandra Hovaguimian, Dean M. Cestari, Rodrigo Saavedra-Walker, David Borsook, Bruce L. Doran, Catherine Buettner, Rami Burstein, Migraine photophobia originating in cone-driven retinal pathways, Brain, Volume 139, Issue 7, July 2016, Pages 1971–1986, https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/aww119