This summer children and their families will be enjoying more outdoor activities and planning family vacations to the beach. Parents and children are becoming more accustom to applying sunscreen to your skin, whether it’s a cloudy or sunny day, to protect themselves from the harmful UV rays of the sun, but what are we doing to protect our eyes from these same harmful rays?
According to Gregory W. Good, O.D., PhD, optometric and American Optometric Association UV Protection Expert, “overexposure to UV rays has been linked to a variety of eye problems, including age-related cataracts and degeneration of the cornea.” Similar to skin sunburns, UV rays can cause abnormal growths on the eye surface, and even sunburn of the eyes that may cause temporary vision loss, or even blindness.
That is why the Beaver County Association for the Blind is encouraging these 5 ways to prevent eye damage from exposure to UV rays;
- Wear protection eyewear any time the eyes are exposed to UV rays, even on cloudy days and during the winter.
- Look for quality sunglasses or contact lenses that offer good protection. Sunglasses or protective contact lenses should block out 99 to 100 percent of UV-A and UV-B radiation and screen out 75 to 90 percent of visible light.
- Check to make sure sunglass lenses are perfectly matched in color and free of distortions or imperfections.
- Purchase gray-colored lenses because they reduce light intensity without altering the color of objects to provide the most natural color vision.
- Don’t forget protection for young children and teenagers, who typically spend more time in the sun than adults and thus are at greater risk of damage.
For more information on protecting your eyes from UV Rays, visit; call the Beaver County Association for the Blind at 724-843-1111.
