People are increasingly aware of the damage that the sun, and especially ultraviolet (UV) rays can do to their skin, and use sunscreen to protect themselves. As we know, UV levels tend to be a lot higher in New Zealand than in many other parts of the world. In fact, New Zealand’s high UV levels contribute to a higher incidence of skin cancers and actinic eyelid conditions—issues that adequate UV protection can help prevent.
But what about your eyes?
Your eyes are at risk of damage from UV rays just the same as your skin, with both short and long-term conditions that can severely impair your vision.
In the short term, overexposure to UV can cause photokeratitis, also known as snow blindness. The simple explanation of photokeratitis is that it’s sunburn of the eyes. Symptoms can include redness, pain, swelling, light sensitivity and blurred vision. Anyone who has had a bad case of snow blindness can tell you it’s horrible and feels like you have gravel in your eyes.
Long term, excess UV exposure can cause, or contribute to, more significant problems like cataracts and macular degeneration.
So, what can you do about it?
Wear a hat. A good hat can stop most direct sunlight getting to your eye. In environments with reflective surfaces, like snow or water, a hat doesn’t help with reflected rays, which you also need to be careful of.
Wear sunglasses whenever you are out in bright sunlight. Look for sunglasses that block 99-100% of both UVA and UVB rays.
What about if you use glasses or contact lenses?
Check that your glasses or contact lenses give you full protection from UV rays.
This doesn’t mean that you need dark, or photochromatic lenses. While these are good options for many people, ZEISS now also offer UVProtect Technology in all their plastic (organic) lenses, which gives full UV protection in clear glasses lenses. They look just like normal lenses, but don’t allow any UV rays through.
You can get additional protection from lenses that also have a coating on the back surface that stops UV rays from being reflected off the back of your glasses into your eyes. ZEISS incorporates back surface UV protection as standard on all lenses with ZEISS DuraVision coatings.
Check the fine print
Lots of glasses that claim “100% UV protection” only protect from UV rays up to 380nm. That leaves out the roughly 40% of daylight UV radiation that lies between 380 and 400nm. Make sure to choose lenses, like ZEISS UVProtect, that protect all the way to 400nm—the standard recommended by the World Health Organization.
What about my contact lenses?
Yes, you can get contact lenses that give full protection from the UV rays in sunlight. Check with your optometrist to see if these are available to you.
Keep in mind that just having UV protection contacts isn’t enough on its own. You also need to wear a hat, and a good pair of sunglasses with full UV protection.
Wait, I’ve got more questions
If you have got more questions about glasses or contact lenses and protecting your eyes from harmful UV rays, come in and have a chat to an optometrist at Black Gates.
We’ve got branches in Lower Hutt and Johnsonville, and our friendly, experienced optometrists will be able to answer all your questions, and suggest some options for you if your current eyewear isn’t giving you the levels of protection you need.
