A lot of the sunglasses out there are throwbacks to the sixties and seventies when people just wore yellow, purple and blue lenses. You can find every color of lens on the market today including black lenses and ombre two-tone glasses and even lenses embedded with little diamonds.
Sporting the “right” pair of shades may be one way of expressing your personality to the world but is looking through a pair of rose, purple or even brown cultured shades really a good idea…?
According to Toronto optometrist Dr. Casey Teperman, the main thing you should be looking for when you go shopping for sunglasses, is the little gold sticker that says “U.V. protection.” Most people know that exposure to the sun, especially at the height of summer can damage their skin. But few people realize the serious damage that extended exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays, also known as UV rays can cause to the eyes.”.
“The most important thing is to make sure that you find a pair of
sunglasses that blocks out all UV light. Damage from exposure to the sun can be cumulative and eventually lead to such problems as cataracts (a clouding of the eye lens that reduces vision) and damage to the retina (the organ that actually allows your eye to photograph the world.) Everybody eventually suffers from
what is called age-related macular degeneration (degeneration of the cells of the eye) but according to Teperman “prolonged exposure to UV radiation can accelerate this process.
According to a study done in 1998 at Ohio State University you should wear sunglasses every time you leave the house. “UV. rays cause the development of pterygium, a fleshy growth that invades the corner o the eye and denervation of the macula lutea, the small yellowish area lying to the side of the center of the retina that constitutes the region of maximum visual acuity.” In other words, not wearing sunglasses can lead to blindness.
If you’re a hopeless fashion victim and have a favorite pair of sunglasses, but are not sure if they are safe to wear then take them to an optician’s office. Many have machines that can measure your lens’s ability to block out dangerous rays.