Most native West Texans know that protecting your eyes from the sun is important. We’re going to take a closer look at how UV rays affect your eyes and how you can prevent damage.
Do you know how to pick protective eyewear?
There are several types of ultraviolet (UV) rays, including UVA, UVB, and UVC. Both UVA and UVB rays are attributed as the root cause of sunburns. UVA rays are longer and can penetrate to the middle layer of skin (dermis), whereas UVB rays are shorter and only reach the surface layer. Both of these can cause eye damage.
Excessively exposing your eyes to natural sunlight or any other UV light source (like a tanning bed or a welder’s spark) can cause a condition know as photokeratitis. This is a painful condition similar to getting a sunburn. However, instead of your skin burning, your corneas and conjunctiva are burned. It can take several hours for you to realize that you’ve damaged your eyes. Patients report symptoms including excessive eye watering, constant irritation (similar to having dirt in your eye), or pain.
Long-term effects of repeated UV exposure are various. While chronic photokeratitis sounds uncomfortable, UV exposure can be attributed to several more serious conditions. These include ocular cancers, pterygium (also known as “surfer’s eye”), and cataracts. More cosmetic issues include wrinkles and crow’s feet around the eyes, usually due to squinting.
How To Protect Your Eyes
The easiest way to protect your eyes from damaging UV rays is also very fashionable: simply wear proper sunglasses or wear a hat!
Some tips for choosing a great pair of protective eyewear:
- Make sure your shades of choice include UV-blocking lenses. These should reduce both kinds of UV rays by at least 99%.
- Choose grey-tinted lenses, as they will help to provide more color definition than other tint options.
- Pick lenses that also block out 75-90% of visible light
EyeLASIK hopes we’ve given you an idea of how UV rays affect your eyes and some great reasons to protect them! Be made in the shade(s) this spring and summer!