so a major part of being an eye doctor is not just making a diagnosis and treating a disease
that is happening right now on somebody's eyes but in fact is advocating for healthy lifestyle
changes that can protect the eyes and prevent them from getting a disease in the first place
anyhow one of the easiest things that people can be doing is wearing
sunglasses in fact sunglasses have many health benefits to them for protecting
the eyes and the skin around the eyes in fact i bet many of the health benefits of
sunglasses you don't even know about and that's why in this video i want to go over
why sunglasses are important and ultimately why i am always wearing sunglasses let's take a look
hey what's up this is Dr. Allen here from the doctor Eye health show helping you learn all about
the eyes vision find the best vision products if you're new to the channel and like learning about
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miss any of our future videos now i do want to start off just by thanking our video sponsor from
Christopher Cloos Eyewear they're a Danish eyewear brand that they sent out a few pairs for me to try
and i've really just enjoyed the quality of their lenses their frames and their overall stylish
design plus they do have several different frames available that are biodegradable and eco-friendly
so taking care of the red planet something i value so makes me excited to work with them if you want
to check out Christopher Cloos Eyewear yourself i'll put links in the description below so you
can check out their website also you can use the store locator button to find an optical near you
which may be carrying this brand otherwise thank you to Christopher Cloos Eyewear for sponsoring
this video and making eye care education possible now when it comes to wearing sunglasses most
of the health benefits of sunglasses really stems from their uv light protecting ability
uv light is short for ultra violet light and if you can remember the visual spectrum being roygbiv
the v part is indigo and then violet so uv light is right below violet and is ultra violet in fact
it's not part of the visual spectrum so you can't see ultraviolet light but it is still present even
on cloudy days and that is exactly why if you're out on the beach and it's a cloudy day but the
sun is out you can still get sunburned from that ultraviolet light again you can't see it but it's
there and if you're somebody who's not wearing sunglasses on a regular basis this uv light does
cause damage to not just the skin and the eyelid around the eye but the eyes themselves one of the
easiest and most frequent eye diseases that eye doctors will mention that is good for wearing
sunglasses to protect from is that of age-related cataracts uv light is known to penetrate deep
into the eye and kind of in a way almost cook the lens the crystalline lens inside the eye and this
makes the lens turn kind of a cloudy appearance a particular type of cataract called a cortical
cataract it kind of looks like bicycle spokes coming in from the sides that is
a type of cataract that is known to be caused more by exposure to uv light in fact studies
have shown that people who are exposed to more uv light over the course of their lifetime and don't
wear sunglasses are more likely to develop these types of cataracts but really preventing cataracts
is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sunglasses protecting the eyes what i consider to
be a lesser talked about benefit of sunglasses is that of uv light aging and thinning of the
eyelids skin the eyelids are some of the thinnest tissue on the entire body and uv light causes
thinning of that skin and basically premature aging around the eyelids and if you're spending
a lot of time outdoors and you're not protecting your eyelids from uv rays then your eyelid skin
can thin out and that'll make the appearance of dark circles and eye bags more prominent basically
making your eyelids and face look older not to mention uv light exposure can cause sunburn to the
eyelids and in fact about five to ten percent of all skin cancers occur on the eyelids most notably
the lower eyelid as the eyebrow can cause a little bit of shading and protect the upper eyelid
from that sunlight exposure in fact it's not just the eyelids that can get sunburned but the cornea
the clear window surface to the eye can also get sunburned because the cornea absorbs about 99
of uv rays that penetrate through our clouds atmosphere and in the eye care world we call
this sunburn photokeratitis and a lot of people more commonly will know this as snow blindness as
skiers snowboarders people are hitting the slopes that sunlight the uv light will hit
and bounce off of the snow about 80 percent of uv light is reflected off of the top of water and so
this can end up hitting you in the eye giving you almost a double dose and that can give you severe
sunburn to the surface of the eye hence why skiing and snowboarding goggles are such a popular thing
furthermore uv light exposure can contribute to growth on the surface of the eye some people
develop these nasty red irritating growths that are growing onto the eye we call those pterygiums
some people may commonly know them as surfer's eye but that is largely caused by excessive uv light
exposure and wearing sunglasses is probably the cheapest most cost-effective way at preventing or
really slowing down the growth of that disease now one of the other cool things about uv light
and how it affects the cornea again how i said that the cornea absorbs about 99 of the uv
rays that get into your eyes well if you're someone who's ever had lasik or some other
form of refractive surgery you may remember your surgeon telling you to start wearing sunglasses
whenever you're outside and that's because uv light exposure has been found in studies to affect
the healing rate of the cornea especially after having any sort of refractive surgery such as
lasik so if you're somebody who's really hard on your eyes whether you've had surgery or you wear
contact lenses excessively having some sort of uv light protection may slow down any sort of issues
with healing and may help your eye heal faster not to mention just wearing sunglasses is basically
like putting on a protective shield over your eyes which are going to help prevent any sort of dust
wind or sand from blowing and hitting you in the eyes making them feel uncomfortable and on
a personal note one of the reasons why you will frequently see me wear sunglasses not just again
here on youtube but on instagram is because i myself struggle a lot with migraine headaches and
wearing sunglasses can really improve the comfort of my eyesight and vision when i'm around bright
lights and it's well known that bright lights can be a common trigger for people with chronic
headaches and migraines especially after any sort of head injury or tbi traumatic brain injury
and that way wearing sunglasses really helps me prevent from getting headaches and then probably
one other really cool reason i love wearing sunglasses and i'm always wearing sunglasses
is because it enhances my vision and eyesight particularly with sunglasses that have polarized
filters in them i am kind of a snob when it comes to polarized lenses not all the time you don't
always need polarized lenses but it's something that really adds an extra reduction glare in
your eyesight you can even see different parts of the world around you because of polarized filters
if you are not completely sure what polarization means in glasses you know polarized versus
non-polarized sunglasses i do have another video i did going into detail the science of that and
really the pros and cons who should get polarized and who shouldn't get polarized glasses uh if you
want to check out that video i'll link to that in the description below again if you want to check
it out now all of these reasons for protecting your eyes is all pretty amazing mainly because
your eyes are arguably at least in my opinion the most precious sensory organ in your entire body
i mean could you imagine what life would be like if you lost your vision but when it really comes
down to it sunglasses are just one of the best and easiest ways to prevent eye diseases and prevent
vision problems people going blind in the future so which one of the cool benefits of sunglasses
mentioned this video was your favorite let me know in the comment section and let me know if there's
any other cool reasons that weren't mentioned either way i appreciate watching the video if you
enjoyed it and learned something new smash that like button for me drop a comment below subscribe
to the channel if you have not done so otherwise if you want to learn more about sunglasses finding
the best sunglasses for you kind of navigating that whole space i do have other videos on the
subject so go ahead and click or tap the screen over there if you want a little bit more otherwise
again this is Dr Allan here from dr eye health keep an eye on it and we'll talk to you soon