You might be thinking about getting blue light blocking glasses, because you get headaches while gaming or simply because you want to take care of your beautiful eyes. And the question everyone is asking is whether or not you need a prescription to buy them. Don't worry, we’ll answer your question right below.
When do you need a prescription?
You might be quite young and potentially not yet familiar with the whole world of healthcare. So let's start with some clear and concise basics. A prescription is nothing more than a document from a medical professional—in this case, an ophthalmologist—that gives you the right to acquire medical equipment. This equipment could be medication, for example, but here we are talking about glasses.
It’s easy to assume that you necessarily need a prescription for any pair of glasses, especially if you aren't used to wearing them. It’s a product that falls under the medical domain, and you don’t mess around with health. In your head, you might be telling yourself that the healthcare process must be followed and that you need to go see an ophthalmologist to buy blue light blocking glasses.
But the glasses (or contact lenses) that require a prescription are only those with corrective lenses.
In case of nearsightedness, astigmatism, farsightedness, or even presbyopia—to name just a few vision impairments—you will inevitably need glasses and only an ophthalmologist can prescribe them for you. By the way, this might be disheartening, but don't worry, plenty of people wear them, even the best of us. Do you think Daredevil is a budget superhero? Well, he really can't see anything anymore. I need to find another example. Harry Potter wears glasses and rides a flying broom, that's pretty cool, right? ...
Therefore, the need for a prescription for blue light blocking glasses depends entirely on whether or not the lenses are corrective.
There are brands that offer gaming glasses with prescriptions for which your health insurance can potentially contribute (ours, for example ^^).
All other glasses—those without a prescription—can be bought off the shelf. And that is also why you can often see glasses in supermarkets, at pharmacies, or even at newsstands in tourist towns, for example. Blue light blocking glasses are sometimes sold this way, but we advise you to always go through companies like ours—that is to say, professionals who know what they are offering (with a designated optician on the team).
Where are blue light blocking glasses sold without a prescription?
We already mentioned it above (or in our complete guide "Where to buy blue light blocking glasses"), but you can find blue light blocking glasses in several different places:
- In supermarkets / newsstands / tourist shops: we put all of these in the same category, as they simply group together shops that are not professionals in the field. It is therefore possible, although still quite rare, to find blue light blocking glasses in these types of shops. However, you will have to make do with what they have in stock: highly filtering glasses are not common there, or they will be very low-end models. We don't really recommend them if you are using them for gaming;
- At an optician's: you might think this is the best way to buy blue light blocking glasses. But that is not entirely true: it will be possible to find frames comparable to our Urban pair, meaning with lighter filtration than gaming glasses, also of professional quality. But the problem is the price: you will have a harder time finding glasses like ours at such a low price at an optician (due to intermediaries);
- Online: this is where we operate and it is obviously what we recommend you prioritize. Not that we want to promote ourselves, but simply because we know our area of expertise. As always, at Horus X, we try to be as transparent as possible. We continue to be here too, to the point that we will end up as transparent as a PS Vita on the handheld console market. But the point we want to make is that brands like ours offer a well-crafted product, designed to filter the harmful spectrum of blue light and do not just put on yellow lenses to trick gamers into thinking they are protecting their eyes.
To sum up, do you need a prescription for blue light blocking glasses?
Our answer is three words: yes and no. Yes for glasses with corrective lenses, if you already wear glasses or contact lenses, for example. No for other models, such as non-corrective glasses or "over-glasses." Likewise, if your prescription is very weak and you can go without wearing your own glasses to play, then you can enjoy blue light blocking glasses without a prescription.
Alright, let's really summarize: no, you do not need a prescription to buy blue light blocking glasses. You can take a look at our shop to choose the pair that suits you, and if you have other questions, send us a little message either in the comments or via the chat. We're here for you!
