Protecting your eyes from UV damage
Posted in Bellingham, Eye Blog, Mount Vernon, Optical, Sedro-Woolley, Stanwood, Whidbey
It’s sunglasses season! Are your eyes protected?
It’s possible you’ve heard about the need for full-spectrum UV protection for your eyes already, but we will explain why and offer some advice on making sure you have the right kind of protection.
What does UV do to your eyes?
You may already know you can get immediate, severe damage from staring directly at the sun (including not taking proper precautions when observing an eclipse)–believe it or not, your eyes can actually sunburn too. You can burn your retina from direct sun exposure, and retinal damage is a cause of blindness.
But just as day-to-day exposure to the sun without SPF makes your skin age faster and increase your risk of cancer, regardless of whether you sunburn or not, your day-to-day sun exposure without UV protection can harm your eyes long-term. It turns out that ultraviolet light will, over time, increase your risk for the two age-related diseases most responsible for blindness: cataracts and macular degeneration. It also increases your risk of getting a corneal condition called pterygium.
Luckily, protecting against UV damage to your eyes is remarkably easy, although there are some important details you might not know about.
The best ways to protect your eyes
Of course you know the easy solution is wearing sunglasses when you’re outdoors. But there is a bit more nuance to that. You need to make sure your lenses say they have 95% to 100% UVA/UVB protection. A lot of lenses may say something about “UV absorbing” or blocking, but those statements aren’t regulated and might mean it only blocks 50% of UV light or less. Partial protection is just as bad as–or worse than–none, because when your lenses are dark it might feel more comfortable, but your pupils will dilate, allowing more radiation in if there isn’t enough UV-blocking in your lenses.
Accept nothing less than 95%-100% UV blocking–a number that is regulated by the government. Polarization is nice for certain activities in the sun, but it’s not the same as UV protection. Same goes for dark or tinted lenses.
However, if you wear prescription glasses, some lens types (ask an optician about high-index lenses) include UV protection even though they’re clear. You can ask your optician for complete UV400 protection in your sunglasses and your clear everyday glasses.
And don’t forget your kids
It’s crucial that you protect your kids as well. A child’s retina is even more exposed to UV because they have larger pupils and a clear crystalline lens, allowing higher transmission of harmful UV rays. 50% of eye damage from UV radiation occurs before the age of 18. Yet according to The Vision Council’s VisionWatch, only 7.6% of parents report that their children always wear sunglasses outdoors. This makes it even more critical to have complete protection in their clear general-purpose eyewear.
If for some reason you can’t wear sunglasses–or, say, your kids refuse to keep them on–you can still protect your eyes by wearing a hat with a wide enough brim to shade them properly. But full-spectrum UV protection is the safest and best option.
Contact Cascadia Eye
If you would like to learn more, or if you would like to schedule an appointment or consultation with our talented doctors at Cascadia Eye, please contact us today or use our online scheduler. You may also pre-shop for glasses at our online pre-shopping page any time. Our entire team is committed to protecting and improving your vision and the health of your eyes. We are happy to answer any questions you might have!
In addition, join us on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube to ask your questions about eyes, exams, and our practice. We’d love to hear from you – and there might be a blog to address your questions in the future.
