Your Eyes Need UV Protection, Too

Testing your sunglasses for UV protection

According to this article:

http://www.nbc11.com/money/9246487/detail.html

you can take your sunglasses to a qualified optician and have the level of UV protection of your sunglasses checked.

uv protection development

Does anyone know when sunglasses started having UV protection? I just bought a pair of Ray-Bans from the 80's, but unfortunately didn't think about UV protection until now, and was wondering whether or not they'd have it.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

contact lens for uv only

i wish to know can you get contact lens for uv protection only

Correction regarding macular degeneration

This article offers interesting information regarding potential damage to our vision from over-exposure to sunlight. However, your advice to rely solely on UV protection to reduce the risks of sunlight-related macular degeneration is not correct.

UV is not a factor in macular degeneration in the adult eye because it's filtered by the ocular lens and its ocular lens pigment (OLP) - before it reaches the retina where the macula is located. Visible light does reach the retina, and among the wavelengths that the eye associates with color, it is the higher energy visible (violet and blue) that increase the risks of macular degeneration. Good sunglasses should eliminate all of the UV to reduce the risks of cataracts; but they should also reduce the levels of HEV (high energy visible) light - to reduce the risks of macular degeneration. Like the OLP in our eyes, such sunglass lenses would appear yellow-brown or brown; so the color of the sunglass lens does, in fact, matter. Children are at particular risk from early damage to the retina because their lens does not yet have the age-related OLP. And seniors who have had a cataract operation are also at risk when the HEV-protecting OLP is removed along with their cataract lens – especially at a time when the anti-oxidant system located near their retina is compromised because of age.

Good Sunglasses can Protect Eyes...

Am delighted to see you cover the topic, but must add that stories about UV protection for eyes continually leave out an additional form of protection -- UV blocking contact lenses.

Glasses with a UV-blocking coating and sunglasses do not offer complete protection. While most sunglasses can help block UV rays that enter through the lenses, most frame styles do not prevent unfiltered rays from reaching the eyes from the sides, top, and/or bottom of the glasses. Because of this, some sunglasses block as little as 50 percent of all UV radiation from reaching the eyes.

This is why many eye care professionals now advise patients to consider UV-blocking contact lenses as an important added measure of protection. UV-blocking contact lenses offer unique protection against the direct and reflected rays that pass through the cornea into the eye, and are not blocked by sunglasses or hats. This provides contact lens wearers with an important added measure of protection.

However, not all contact lenses offer UV protection, and, of those that do, not all provide similar absorption levels. Among contact lenses, only the Acuvue Advance and Acuvue Oasys brands carry the Seals of Acceptance for Ultraviolet Absorbing Contact Lenses from both the American Optometric Association and the World Council of Optometry. The lenses are the only ones to offer the highest level of UV-blocking available, blocking more than 90 percent of UVA rays and 99 percent of UVB rays that reach the lens. On average, contact lenses without UV blocking block approximately 10% of UV-A radiation and 30% of UV-B radiation.

Although UV-blocking contact lenses provide important added protection for patients, they should not be viewed as a stand-alone solution. Contact lenses should always be worn in conjunction with high-quality UV-blocking sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat for maximum UV protection for the eyes.