A Review: TheraSpecs

Another migraine warrior who lives South of Here, Kerrie Smyres, has been an inspiration to me for many years. Despite debilitating pain, she offers up a great deal of wisdom, humour and insight over at The Daily Headache. I always look forward to her posts and have so much respect for her "knowledge is power" approach to living with migraine disease.


Kerrie's husband Hart Shafer emailed me several months ago to ask if I would be a participant in a trial of his invention - a pair of glasses specifically designed to filter out the fluorescent light waves that cause migraine sufferers the most grief. These waves are called FL-41. Hart had designed several prototypes and needed some people to try them out. So I did.

I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of how the glasses would "look" (because even in pain, one must be stylin', yes?) - but it turned out they were very cool. P calls them my "Bono glasses".


More importantly, they work.


I have often had trouble going into large crowded spaces. This is not news to anyone who knows me. Places like big box stores freak me right out. Partly, that is related to general social anxiety and a need to know where the exits are. Mostly, however, it has to do with the horrific fluorescent lighting in those places. You may just as well shine a bright flashlight directly into my photophobic eyes as send me into one of those stores.


My first test of the TheraSpecs outside of the condo was a trip to Canadian Tire. Again, not my favourite place. The overwhelming odour of rubber tires, paint, and motor oil is bad enough. The ridiculously bright overhead lighting is simply dreadful. My plan is typically to go in, pick up what I need, and leave. But not this time! I got into the store, put on my TheraSpecs and could hardly believe the difference. I actually stayed in the store long enough to browse the colour swatches in the paint department. (All the greens looked the same, but apparently that's normal given the particular light waves that are being blocked by the glasses).


The TheraSpecs have also been very helpful in my work. I have found the lighting at our local hospital and long-term care facilities to be really rough on my light-sensitive eyes. Given that my hospital visits are in the afternoon, when any pain I might have that day is starting to ramp up, there have been some fairly horrible days of pushing through some nasty pain to see the people I need to visit.


The first time I wore the glasses for visiting, the difference in how the light was affecting my eyes was amazing. It was like night and day (pun intended). With the TheraSpecs, I could focus more on my visits and less on how to visit without letting on that I was in terrible pain. I've had several years now of people in hospital beds asking me "Are you okay? You don't look so good." It has been sooooooooo delightful to end that conversation. If anything, a patient might ask about the glasses, but I can quickly explain that they protect my eyes from fluorescent lighting, and then we're back on track with our visit - a focus on the patient. Yaaaayyy!!!

I give TheraSpecs a definite thumbs up. They have made a difference in the way I live with migraine on a day to day basis.


Hart, I don't know how to thank you, so I'll just say thank you.