How to protect your eyes from the sun and solar radiation?

That solar radiation can be harmful to health and that it should be protect your eyes from the sun It is a problem that many people are generally aware of, but they are far from being aware of everything it entails.

To illustrate this, we will give a simple figure: In the world, more than three million people a year lose their sight due to receiving excessive solar radiation directly or indirectly.

To better understand the correct way to protect your eyes from the sun, in this post we will discuss the different types of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun and the effects of each on the eye.

Types of solar radiation

Depending on the wavelength of each of the solar radiations we can distinguish:

1. Ultraviolet (UV) rays : invisible to the human eye and the most harmful, which is why we need to protect our eyes the most. They are further subdivided by wavelength ranges.
   
   
   1. Ultraviolet C (UV-C) : Between 100 and 280nm. Despite being the most harmful and damaging to health, they should not worry us (at least for now) because the ozone layer absorbs them and they do not reach the earth.
      
      
   2. Ultraviolet B (UV-B) : Between 280 and 315nm. This is the UV radiation with the highest energy and is very harmful to the eye as it is absorbed mainly by the cornea and lens.
      
      
   3. Ultraviolet A (UV-A) : Between 315 and 400nm. Although they have less energy than UV-B radiation, they are more penetrating and in the eye they are capable of reaching the retina and damaging it and even causing cataracts . It is undoubtedly The most harmful solar radiation for the eye and from which it is most convenient to protect it.
      
      
2. Visible light spectrum : these are the light rays that the human eye is able to perceive. It extends in the wavelength range between 400 and 780nm. In this spectrum, blue light ranging from 400 to 500nm is also harmful to the retina.
   
   
3. Infrared rays : also invisible to the human eye, have a wavelength between 700nm and 1mm. This is the radiation that generates heat from the sun and under normal conditions does not affect the eye.

Protect your eyes from the sun the easy way

With the theory clear, we can now explain how to protect our eyes from solar radiation. A good way to do this is with suitable sunglasses, which must meet a series of requirements:

1. That have an ultraviolet filter: Most sunglasses (especially the cheap ones) only have a filter to block visible light. However, they do not have the ultraviolet (UV) filter, which is the most necessary of the two, since ultraviolet light is the most damaging to the eyes. The UV filter is impossible to see when buying the glasses, so it is important to buy them from a professional and trustworthy establishment.

2. That they have a filter for visible light: This type of filter has more to do with personal needs than purely medical issues. Block visible light It helps to mitigate eye fatigue , but this type of light is the one that damages the eyes the least. However, it is important that the glasses have both filters, so that we gain in visual quality, comfort and health, which helps to protect your eyes from the sun. In some cases, it is possible to purchase glasses with filters for a certain range of the visible light spectrum, such as: filters for blue light that is harmful to the retina.

You must also keep in mind that the greatest danger The first step is to use sunglasses with a very strong visible light filter, but at the same time, without an ultraviolet filter. Why? Because at that moment, by blocking visible light, the pupil dilates, but since ultraviolet light is not being blocked, it enters the eye to a greater extent, damaging it even more than if you were not wearing glasses.

Other data to take into account

Apart from the above, which is the main and most important thing, there are some other points to take into account in order to properly protect your eyes from the sun.

• The color of the lenses of the glasses is not important. Depending on the color, you may get better vision quality with the glasses on, but for eye protection purposes, the color of the lenses is irrelevant.
• In Spain, special attention must be paid to protecting the eyes from the sun in June and July , and, above all, from 11 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon , since it is the season and the hours when the sun is in the best position to send us its ultraviolet rays.
• Even if the day is cloudy, it is important to use sunglasses, since Clouds allow more than 90% of ultraviolet radiation to pass through.
• Sunglasses for driving they should not absorb more than 20% of visible light to avoid losing visibility in closed spaces such as tunnels or shady places.
• When practicing activities on the beach, in the mountains and especially in the snow, it is advisable to take extreme precautions since these surfaces can reflect up to 80% of UV radiation (new snow 80%, old snow 50%, white sand 30%) and can cause ophthalmia. The polarized lenses block this type of reflected light.
• Pay attention to the little ones in the house because they spend many hours exposed to the sun and are more vulnerable.
• Conventional glasses are not designed to protect our eyes when tanning artificially with UV light or for direct observation of eclipses solar.
• Those light skinned people With less pigment in their skin they also have less pigment in their retina and are also more vulnerable and must take extreme precautions to protect their eyes from the sun.

REMEMBER, IT IS BETTER NOT TO WEAR ANYTHING OVER YOUR EYES THAN TO WEAR POOR QUALITY GLASSES

As you see, protect your eyes from the sun It's not too complicated. By following these simple tips, your eyes will be properly protected from the sun and you will reduce the risks to a minimum.

Find the entire collection of polarized sunglasses at this link