Image 1
These charts show the spectrum emitted by different kinds of light. The wavelengths
of light that have been implicated as both a migraine trigger and most aggravating
for photophobia are centered around 480nm, which is blue-green in color.
No medications target photophobia specifically, but
finding an effective treatment for your headache disorder
could also reduce your sensitivity to light. Research has
found eyewear with precision-tinted FL-41 lenses are the
most reliable—and the only side effect-free—way to treat
photophobia. Furthermore, fluorescent lights pulse very rapidly.
Although that rate is too fast to see consciously, the brain
is still receiving the pulsing signals from the eye. This
pulsing can trigger headaches, eyestrain, migraine attacks,
and other issues. By filtering the wavelengths that contain
most of this pulsing and those that cause the most pain
and eyestrain, precision-tinted FL-41 lenses protect the
brain from both.
What Does the Research Say about FL-41? Why Not Just Wear Sunglasses?
What’s the Treatment for Photophobia and
How Does It Work?
When worn regularly, precision-tinted FL-41 lenses can
reduce the frequency of migraine attacks by filtering the
light most likely to be a trigger. In a clinical study of the
tint, participants experienced 74 percent fewer migraine
attacks per month. Because FL-41 filters the wavelengths
that cause the most pain responses for individuals with
photophobia, the tinted glasses can provide relief no
matter the reason why a person is sensitive to light.
How Do FL-41 Lenses Work?
As mentioned, some wavelengths of light are more likely
to activate the eye and brain, causing pain and eyestrain.
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Volume 6, Issue 3 • 2017
When you wear sunglasses indoors, your eyes adapt to being
in the dark, which makes light appear even brighter than
it is. This phenomenon, called chronic dark adaptation,
is why my wife’s headache specialist advised us that her
sunglasses were increasing her sensitivity to light. A similar
situation would be leaving a movie theater on a sunny July
day — your eyes adjust to being in the dark, so light looks
even brighter than before you went into the theater. While
most people’s eyes readjust to sunlight soon after leaving
a movie, those with chronic dark adaptation have extra-
heightened light sensitivity at all times.