Quick answer: Partly. For curing daytime eye strain, the evidence is weak, so the placebo critique is fair. But for protecting evening sleep there's real, repeatable evidence, and glare-and-brightness comfort is genuine too. The scam reputation comes largely from cheap clear pairs that block almost no blue light.
Placebo vs. real
- Placebo-ish: curing daytime eye strain, habits do that, not blue light.
- Real: protecting evening sleep by preserving melatonin (decent evidence).
- Real: glare-and-brightness comfort on screens.
Why people call them a scam
Two reasons: brands oversell them as an eye-strain cure (where evidence is thin), and a flood of cheap clear pairs block barely any blue light, so they truly do nothing. Buy for sleep and comfort, with real, stated filtering, and they're not a placebo.
The bottom line: Blue light glasses aren't a blanket placebo, they're oversold for eye strain but genuinely useful for evening sleep and glare comfort. Just avoid the clear-plastic pairs that block nothing.
