More than just a fashion statement.
Sunglasses are every bit as important as sunscreen. Make sure you and your family wear them always, even on cloudy days!
Bright sunshine not only causes glare and dazzling, it can also cause long term damage to your eyes. Sunglasses protect your eyes from glare and also from harmful ultraviolet light. Children are most vulnerable to UV because they have larger pupils and clearer lenses, which means more UV light will penetrate in their eyes. It is vital for kids to wear sunglasses but they can be easily forgotten about.
When purchasing sunglasses, look for ones that have the “CE” Mark or British Standard BS EN ISO 12312-1:2013, which ensures that the sunglasses offer a safe level of UV protection.
A common misconception about sunglasses is that the darker lens, the more protection they offer. This is not strictly true. Remember the key factor for UV protection is if they are meeting the standard above, or have labels on that state they are 100% UV or UV400 protected. Colour and style of the tint is a personal choice and there are a number of styles out there to suit everyone.
Early UV protection is critical so it's a good idea to help imbed this health habit of wearing sunglasses from a young age. The sun can damage your eyes at any time of there year, even winter sun is harmful. And so it's important to wear your sunglasses whenever the sun might be shining.
Too much UV light exposure over the years puts you at a higher risk of developing eye conditions such as early onset of cataracts, growths on the eyes, certain cancers and can be linked to macular degeneration.
UV exposure can be present even on cloudy days, its a good idea to check the UV index via MET whether app or website. The aim of the index is to warn people of increased risk and encourage them to change their behaviour in order to protect themselves against the risks of skin cancer, skin damage as well as damage to their eyes.
Transition lenses are great to block out UV light as they automatically change to a darker lens providing that tint whenever there is any UV light around, and so this is the reason that you might see people wearing sunglasses even on a could day as its the UV they are protecting themselves against.
Our anti reflective coating also offers some protection from the UV rays when wearing your prescription glasses, but its still a good idea to invest in a pair of prescription sunglasses if you don’t already have a pair.
Catching the sun’s ray is important to help boost that all important vitamin D levels in our body. Vitamin D helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body and helps to maintain the body in check. So don’t stop yourself and your child from going outside in the sun just make sure you are fully protected, by wearing the right sunglasses, suncreams, and even a cap or a large hat.
References
https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2019/07/suglasses.php
https://lookafteryoureyes.org/eye-wear/sunglasses/
https://lookafteryoureyes.org/eye-care/sun-and-ultrviolet/
https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=167712