you know wearing sunglasses is one of those things that you can do to improve the health of
your eyes not only right now but help improve the health and protect them in the future so
here's five reasons why wearing sunglasses may change and improve your life let's focus in
hey howdy everybody Dr. EyeGuy here now this video is part of a full video series about sunglasses
make sure you check out the other videos in the link below and also make sure you stay to the end
for the last reason because it might be the most surprising one reason number one and definitely
the biggest benefit that people get from wearing sunglasses is ultraviolet protection UV light
protection UV light is in that light spectrum that we can't see it's not visible light short
wavelength high energy and does some damage it's the same light that causes sunburns so
reason number one is that it protects your eye and your eyelids here are a few specific eye
conditions related to UV light damage biggest one is cataracts that's right if you spend a
lot of time Outdoors driving skiing fishing and you're not wearing sunglasses you're getting a
lot of UV damage to the lens inside your eye and just how UV light can tan or sunburn your skin it
can tan the lens inside your eye but the problem is that tan doesn't go away it just keeps tanning
that lens in there and you may be more prone to getting cataracts sooner than you would have and
have to get cataract surgery sooner than you would have another eye condition that's actually related
to the surface of your eye and that's a benign tissue growth called a pinguecula happens around
the white part of your eye it can actually turn into a yellow spot I have one there's also another
type of benign tissue growth called a pterygium that can happen on the cornea the front of the eye
and these girls can get red and irritated they can get elevated and sometimes cause problems
the pterygium can sometimes grow so big and cover the cornea cover the vision and reduce the vision
and so that's a big one by wearing sunglasses you can reduce the chances of getting those I
actually made videos specifically talking about those two conditions if you want to check those
out in the description below now not only does the eyeball get damaged from UV light but the eyelids
the eyelid skin very thin skin if you get damage from UV light it can cause you to have wrinkles
faster and also just think about this five to ten percent of the skin cancers that are found
are found around the eyes the eyelid skin the adnexa so by wearing sunglasses not only are
you protecting your eyeballs from that UV light but very important is protecting your eyelids and
your eyelid skin number two is actually to protect your eyes from the elements when you're outside
the wind can carry dust sand little foreign bodies that can get into your eye and irritate your eye
it can also act like safety glasses in a way now another one another example of protecting from UV
light is when you're skiing the snow can actually bounce light off the ground and cause something
called photokeratitis it can actually sunburn your cornea very painful so sunglasses can definitely
help with that here's an example these sunglasses actually save me from a chemical Splash would
have gotten right in my eye kind of ruined these sunglasses so I don't really wear them anymore but
just a good example of how well they can act as a protection for your your eyes number three it
can actually help you see better it can reduce glare or Reflections like the reflections from
the car in front of you when you're driving or maybe the reflections from the water when you're
fishing or when you're skiing and snowboarding very important it can actually help improve
contrast of things so your eyes will feel better feel more comfortable and you can actually see
better with sunglasses on reason number four and a lot of people might not know this one but it
may help reduce the frequency of headaches and migraines sometimes the intensity of the light
can trigger migraine so by reducing that intensity it may help you with your headaches now there's a
whole subsection in the eye World about specific tints and how it relates to reducing migraines I
may do a full video about that but it's definitely something to look into just really quick if you're
finding value from this video if it's helping you out definitely hit that like button for me helps
me out as well let's get on to the next reason reason number five and a lot of people don't
know this one either sunglasses can actually speed up healing and recovery time a big example of this
one is right after you might have Lasik you'll be instructed to wear sunglasses now usually
you're a little bit light sensitive after lasik so it helps with that but also a big one is right
after lasik you have less tears now your tears are nice because they act as a little bit of a
UV protector they have antioxidants in there and if you don't have a lot of Tears you don't have
that much UV protection so sunglasses are there to supplement that now along the same lines people
that have dry eyes low tier volume you could also be wearing sunglasses to help protect your eyes
but help speed up recovery from your dryness you usually get inflammation from your dryness and
if your tears aren't there to help protect the UV light sunglasses may help reduce the symptoms from
dryness as well so that's something to consider or at least try it can help speed up the recovery
and healing time of the ocular surface now some of the big questions people ask about sunglasses
classes other better sunglasses out there for me how do I know if they're working do I need
to expand more money on sunglasses I go over the big myths about sunglasses in this video right
here definitely check it out so you can pick out the best sunglasses for you I'm Dr Neal Guymon,
Dr. EyeGuy, I wear sunglasses as much as I can and I recommend it to everybody stay focused