Sunglasses and Safety Glasses

Eye injuries may happen unexpectedly. It's also a good idea to think about protecting your eyes. Getting a foreign body embedded in your eye can result in scarring and infection that may result in permanent vision loss. You can care for your eyes by putting on protective eyewear when playing sports, using power tools, or working under something. Grinding metal, hammering on metal, and weed eaters are particularly dangerous and should never be done without eye protection. Safety glasses have a frame all around the lens. The lens is made of an impact resistant material that meets ANSI safety standards. Polycarbonate and Trivex are examples of materials that meet these safety standards.

Wearing sunglasses is high on the list of ways you can care for your vision. Wearing sunglasses with ultraviolet (UV) protection helps slow the development of cataracts and growths on the eyeball, such as pinguecula . A cataract is an eye condition in which the lens of the eye becomes clouded, impairing vision. Pinguecula can disturb the tear film resulting in eye irritation and may have an adverse affect on the appearance of the eyes. Sunglasses also help protect your eyes from airborne particles and the drying effects of the wind. The lens in a childs eye blocks less UV light than the lens in the eye of an adult. Thus, children benefit as much or more than adults from sunglasses.

Polarized sunglasses can help eliminate visually disturbing glare. Reflections off of water or the back of hatchbacks are particularly disturbing. Polarized lenses can help eliminate eye strain. The Thompson Eye Clinic is a registered dealer and has polarized lenses from Rudy Project, Wiley X, Nike, Ray Ban, and Marco. Take time to visit an eye care professional to learn more about how you can protect your vision, and improve your quality of life. You can also visit the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration website for more information about the importance of protecting your eyes.