Peering at the menu in a local restaurant, I groan as I realise that I’ve forgotten my glasses yet again.
The food choices are printed in tiny letters and I can hardly decipher a thing.
I resort to magnifying the dishes using my phone’s camera to read them. It’s just another daily frustration caused by my failing 40-something eyesight.
In my younger years I took my good eyesight for granted – but like so many others, once I entered my fifth decade the peeper problems started.
I began struggling to read laptop and phone screens. The pages of my paperback blurred, and I was continually turning on lights as rooms seemed gloomy. And when did instructions on packets get so small?
It was no surprise when, as I approached 40, an optician confirmed I was long-sighted and I received my first pair of glasses to help me see up close.
Medically known as hyperopia, long-sightedness occurs when the eye focuses light behind the retina (the light-sensitive area at the rear of the eye) rather than directly on to it – this becomes more common over the age of 40. It causes closer objects to appear fuzzy or blurred.
The speed at which my vision has waned since then has shocked me. Now 47, I need specs for all screens, dislike night-driving and often have dry eyes after a long day.
Laura Stott tried out red-light therapy glasses for the Daily Mail and reports on how it went
‘Eyepower Red glasses were one of a few devices I pulled apart – and a rarity, they were good,’ Professor Glen Jeffery told Good Health
But none of this is unusual. Because around midlife the eye is also often subject to a natural process called presbyopia, where the lens inside it becomes less flexible. As a result focusing and close-up tasks, such as reading small print, become trickier.
Until recently there’s been little other than wearing glasses to offer much respite from everyday problems caused by this.
But one emerging field showing potential for aiding eye conditions is photobiomodulation, where certain wavelengths of light – specifically, red (low-level wavelengths, up to 750nm) and infrared (wavelengths above 750nm, which is more powerful than red) – are used to stimulate cells in the retina, with the aim of improving their function and slowing vision loss.
A 2021 study in 20 adults with normal vision aged between 34 and 70, at University College London (UCL), found noticeable improvements in vision after they looked at a 670nm wavelength of red light for just three minutes every morning over two weeks.
The key seems to be the effect on mitochondria, the tiny energy powerhouses inside our cells.
Previous work by the same team at UCL showed brief exposure to red light seemed to restore visual function in ageing eyes by impacting the mitochondria, reported the Journal of Gerontology in 2020.
The study in 2021 also showed that just a single three-minute morning exposure to red light was enough to improve mitochondrial performance to boost the sensitivity of cells responsible for detecting light (known as rod cells) and colour (cone cells).
Interestingly, afternoon exposure to the same amount of red light did not lead to any improvement – research in fruit flies, in 2019, pointed to the mitochondria shifting work patterns, and not responding in the same way to light later in the day.
Mfazo Hove, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at the private Blue Fin Vision clinic in London, says: ‘Red light for the eye is a real field of science, not a fad – but currently it is three fields and the evidence is very uneven across them’
Glen Jeffery, a professor of neuroscience who led the two UCL studies, said at the time that the findings demonstrated ‘exposure to red light in the morning can significantly improve declining vision, which is a major health issue affecting millions globally’. Such research has spawned an industry of at-home red-light devices – costing anything from £25 to £2,000-plus – said to help improve eyesight.
Having considered the various options available, Professor Jeffery mostly advises vigilance.
‘It’s the Wild West out there,’ he says. ‘We have looked at a few devices, some grossly expensive, and the quality was often highly questionable. Nearly all of them produced too much power.’
Yet there is one at-home device that Professor Jeffery says appears to be better calibrated for the eye and reasonable value.
‘Eyepower Red glasses were one of a few devices I pulled apart – and a rarity, they were good,’ Professor Jeffery, who has no economic interest in the product, told Good Health.
The futuristic-looking glasses, which retail at £85, project 670nm ‘deep red light [which] has been shown to be beneficial in promoting long-term eye health and improves the efficiency of mitochondria,’ the maker claims.
It adds: ‘Research into the benefits of deep red 670nm light for the eyes is still relatively new, but has produced some promising results.’
The maker also claims its Eyepower Red glasses can be worn after cataract surgery, with the agreement of your ophthalmic consultant, and if you have macular degeneration or glaucoma, to help maintain eye health.
However, there is no clinical evidence they will benefit these conditions. Indeed, research into photobiomodulation for other eye conditions is in its infancy.
There’s been some promise for patients with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) – a leading cause of blindness, where the light-sensitive cells of the retina progressively die, eroding central vision and making it difficult to see details and colours.
A two-year study with 100 patients across the US showed that red, yellow and near infra-red light therapy delivered by the Valeda Light Delivery System – a tabletop device – significantly reduced the rate of progression of dry AMD. The device is licensed for use in private clinics, though not funded on the NHS.
Other research from China in 2022 suggests red light therapy helped slow progression of short-sightedness in primary-age children, but evidence for long-term efficacy remains limited.
Offered the opportunity to trial the Eyepower Red glasses (which are designed to replicate the UCL study specifications, which have been deemed safe by Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology), I wondered if they might aid my ailing eyes.
The frames are simple to use. Once charged from a standard USB-C port, you press a button to start the three-minute timer.
Based on the UCL research, the glasses are designed to be worn for three minutes in the morning, once or twice a week.
You can have your eyes open or shut, as findings have shown the light will penetrate regardless. I kept my eyes open.
The experience is painless, but after removing the glasses I was momentarily dazzled – it was like emerging into sunshine from a dark room. Some users experience different colours, such as orange, blue and green as the retina responds – I witnessed gentle amber.
There were no instant changes, but after four weeks of twice-weekly use I find glancing at my phone without glasses feels easier, and my sight feels sharper when driving at night.
Forget carrots, could red light exposure really have improved my ability to see in the dark?
Potentially, says Professor Jeffery: ‘We know that your ability to adapt to the dark will improve, as will your colour perception, although you may not notice this.’
He emphasises weekly wears are necessary, explaining: ‘It’s not the case that you can use them for a month and the effect will last for years.’
But not everyone is convinced that the glasses will work.
Mfazo Hove, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at the private Blue Fin Vision clinic in London, says: ‘Red light for the eye is a real field of science, not a fad – but currently it is three fields and the evidence is very uneven across them. These fields are short-sightedness in children, AMD, and consumer at-home devices – the latter are built on early mitochondrial science and have the weakest evidence.’
Mr Hove acknowledges that the UCL research showed a measurable change: ‘The study had a genuinely interesting result about mitochondrial biology – I want it to work, but based on 20 people, with no eye disease, on the evidence I would not regard red light as an established treatment.’
He adds: ‘The best thing anyone over 40 can do for their eyes today is unglamorous: get your eyes checked regularly [including an OCT (optical coherence tomography) scan, available at most High Street opticians]; control your blood pressure and blood sugar to prevent damage to retinal blood vessels; stop smoking; and wear sunglasses to block UV rays.’
The maker of the Eyepower Red glasses acknowledges that so far there haven’t been sufficient clinical trials to firmly establish any curative properties.
But I’ll continue wearing the frames weekly and will be watching for any further developments. Albeit with my glasses on.
