EyeWear

Why you need Sunglasses

” The future is getting brighter. I think I need my sunglasses now”

Yes. Indeed, the future is getting brighter and more than ever before, there are more people at risk of various levels of eye damage. The climate is changing and the eyes need to be prepared for this. Years back, the climate wasn’t as warm as it is today. Many have said the sun is getting larger, some say it’s actually shrinking, others say the heat increase is just part of the 11-year Solar cycle and then heat would possibly come down thereafter as the cycle goes. The readings from NASA’s Radiometer Irradiance Monitors over the years have not shown consistency either, and postulations by researchers have been contradicting.

One thing is obvious in all these -the energy from the sun is higher now than before. That is just too obvious just like the impact would be on the eyes in the near future if the eyes are not well protected. Speculations have it that the sun is radiating 25% more into space now than when it was born.
“The sun is in a changed state. It is brighter than it was a few hundred years ago and this brightening started relatively recently – in the last 100 to 150 years according to Mr Solanski’’ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/jul/18/20040718-115714-6334r/
This being true, means it would continue into the future.

How does it affect the eyes?
The light that reaches us from the sun has many parts which include visible light (which helps us to see around), the notorious Ultra Violet (UV) rays, and the high-energy visible light which carry the harmful blue light, and Infra-Red (IR) rays which generate heat. The Ultra Violet and the high-energy visible light have both long term and short term ocular (eye) impact; this includes snow blindness, cataract, Photokeratitis, Pterygium, not leaving out many other forms of eye cancer.

How do we begin to prevent this?
This is the obvious reason why you must have your sunglasses handy anytime you are outdoors.
The Sunglasses has many functions and occasion for usage. But, the chief of all is protection. The idea of protecting the eyes from bright sun light is not a new trend. Our ancestors have long begun to put into consideration the need to protect the eyes from harmful sun rays. In the prehistoric era, Inuit people created a slit in a flatten walrus ivory and wore it to control the sun light that reached the eyes. It is said that the Roman Emperor Nero watched gladiators fight while holding emerald over his eyes. That was surely soothing. Sunglasses made from flat panes of smoky quartz which protected the eyes from glare were used in China in the 12th century or possibly earlier. It is said that such crystal sunglasses were worn by judges to hide their facial expressions while questioning witnesses in ancient Chinese court – highly strategic.

Today, we’ll talk about how helpful sunglasses are.

Protection:
(a) Good Sunglasses protect the eyes from Ultra violet rays and high-energy light. These are the leading causal agents of eye problems from the sun. So whenever you are outdoor, have your sunglasses on especially for those in the tropics where the sun is always on duty.
(b) When you find yourself in dusty areas (the Eastern countries, and desert travellers), most importantly when the winds add to this, have your sunglasses on.
(c) A good sunglasses with all the necessary components can offer protection to the eyes from blue light from our computers and Television sets too.
(d) The sunglasses are very helpful also to protect the eyes after undergoing some eye surgeries such as LASIK, Cataract extraction.

Visual Support: A good sunglasses can actually help reduce glare and help improve visibility. This is especially helpful in a bright light environment. Celebrities help themselves in this regard when shielding the eyes from paparazzi flash lights by wearing sunglasses at occasions.

Fashion/ Style: From the 19th century into the 20th century, sunglasses have become trendy making it a fashion accessory. This is quite obvious in summer, on the beaches especially. This is not hard to spot in fashion shows also. It gives a classy touch to your appearance.

Quickly, let’s debunk some myths about sunglasses.

1. Guys who wear sunglasses are bad guys, hoodlums, or security folks. This is obviously not true in all. It’s a renowned fallacy to use one example to generalise for all. Although it has been known that sunglasses have been used to conceal identity or facial expression, as noted among poker players, criminals, and security personnel alike, it still does not rub off on all sunglasses users.

2. People who use sunglasses are blind. This statement will always be untrue like the first myth. Sometimes, with blindness, the eye positioning muscles cause the eyes to turn, facing another direction different from where the person is actually facing. Hence, an ‘appearance deficiency’ will result. Just like the poker player hides his eyes, so does the blind in order to boost cosmetics appearance.
3. People who wear sunglasses are just showing off.
This may have some element of truth but still does not count for all cases.

It is very important to note that the first thing that should resonate in your mind when going for a sunglass is Protection. You don’t want to lose the eyes before we reach the future.

GET YOURSELF SUNGLASSES TODAY AND USE THEM.

Next time we would talk about what to check for in your sunglasses to be sure of proper protection.

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Dr. Trust Egharevba
Dr. Trust Egharevba is an Optometrist and Life Coach. His passion is to see healthy people live life to the fullest. He enjoys sharing knowledge, making people happy and being happy as well.

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6 Comments

  1. Thank you very much Dr Trust… This was really helpful.

  2. nice piece, we need to spread the word on the dangers of UV and high energy blue lifht

  3. Great piece ? Very educative! What most of adults do wrong is wearing a sunshade and leaving their kids without one. This leaves the underdeveloped eyes of the kids at risk, when they get to age 15-18 they must have accumulated lots of dangerous UV rads.

    Well done Dr.

  4. Thanks

  5. Keep blazing the enlightenment train!

  6. Informative write up… Keep it up doc

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