How to Choose the Right Sunglasses for Your Eyes

A day with the sun out can be uplifting, but the sun’s rays can also be dangerous. Remember to wear your sunglasses when you walk about in the sun. Ultraviolet rays can cause eye damage like macular degeneration and cataracts. The only way to prevent them is to wear the right sunglasses to protect your eyes.

Why Sunglasses?

Sunglasses are a must-wear for minimizing brightness whenever you are in the sun. The reflective rays can negatively impact your eyes and vision without them. They protect the eyes from ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun. This radiation energy, including UVA and UVB, can damage the sun’s surface tissues, lens, and cornea. Without anything to protect your eyes, it can lead to various vision problems that can ultimately cause vision loss.

Tips on Choosing the Right Sunglasses

Sunglasses help, but it has to be the right pair. Not all sunglasses you see are the same, so choosing the right one is important. Below are some tips that can help with that.

Look for the Right Labels

When buying sunglasses, look for the label or tag that says it provides 100% UV protection, blocks both UVA and UVB rays, and 400 NM or UV400. The latter refers to the wavelength, which means the sunglasses offer protection against the light with wavelengths of up to 400 nanometers.

Darker Doesn’t Mean More UV Protection

Don’t believe the nonsense that the darker the lens, the better it protects your eyes. Only sunglasses with 100% UV protection can save your eyes from the harmful effects of UV rays. Similarly, the color and size of the sunglasses don’t matter when it comes to UV protection. They’re primarily for fashion, while some benefit from providing more contrast.

Polarized Lenses Are Not Enough

You may have heard about polarized lenses. They help reduce glare that bounces off reflective surfaces like roads and water but don’t offer UV protection. If you’re buying polarized lenses, ensure they provide 100% UV protection.

Check Lens Quality

You should do a lens quality check to ensure your non-prescription sunglasses protect your eyes from UV rays. You can do it by following the steps below:

• Look at a tiled floor or something else with a rectangular pattern.
• Hold the sunglasses away from your face comfortably, then close one of your eyes.
• While one eye is still closed, move the glasses up and down, then from side to side. Do it slowly and while looking through the lenses.
• If the rectangular lines are still straight, then the lenses are good quality. But if they appear wavy, you should look for another pair of sunglasses.

Expensive Doesn’t Mean Better

In most cases, the price can tell you the quality of the product. In sunglasses, expensive doesn’t mean it is better, more effective, or safer. Sometimes, drugstore sunglasses can be better than designer ones. If it says 100% UV-blocking on the label, then they are the right glasses for your eyes.

Find out more about sunglasses by calling Van Alstyne Eye Care at (903) 482-0090 or visiting our clinic in Van Alstyne, Texas.