Exposure to UV Light Can Cause Permanent Damage to Your Eyes
UV light is known to cause or hasten various eye diseases, especially those associated with aging. Cataracts, which affect almost everyone older than 65, are made worse by UV exposures. The crystalline lens in your eye absorbs the UV light and causes a yellowing or opacification on the lens. This phenomenon is known as a cataract and causes glare, poor contrast sensitivity, blur and significant vision loss.
Our only treatments for cataracts are prevention and surgery. Although cataract surgery has greatly advanced in recent years, it still involves certain risks. By protecting your eyes from UV light, you will delay the onset and lessen the severity of cataracts.
A much less common but severe result of too much UV exposure is choroidal malignant melanoma. The choroid is the layer of the eye that supports the sensory retina.
If you are diagnosed with a choroidal malignant melanoma, typically enucleation, or removal of the eye, is advised. There also is the worry that the cancer will spread to vital organs and result in death.
When it comes to protecting the eyes from UV light, the tint in our sunglasses is not the answer. That tint only blocks visible light rays, not UV light. In fact, if our sunglasses do not block UV light, the tint can actually damage the eye by letting extra UV light into a dilated pupil.
Transition lenses, which darken in sunlight, typically have UV protection, as do most custom clip-on sun lenses for prescription eyewear. Polarized lenses can dramatically improve vision but still need to have UV protection added.
Filed under Eye Treatment
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