Eye care has greatly evolved, with the introduction of new products in the field that helps one maintain or better their vision. Of late, many people going for their optometrist consultations have been getting recommendations to use polarized sunglasses. This has caused a rise in the popularity of polarized sunglasses.
Polarized sunglasses are glass lenses that have been coated with a chemical. The chemical helps the lens filter light going through the lens. During the coating process of the lens with the chemical, the chemical is applied to the lens vertically. The vertical application helps prevent horizontal light from passing through while allowing vertical light.
Allowing only vertical light to pass through is a big part of how polarized sunglasses help reduce light glares and improve vision for wearers. Polarized sunglasses offer many benefits to their users. These benefits are a huge part of why they have become quite popular in such a short time.
This article discusses some of the benefits associated with wearing sunglasses. These benefits give the reasons why you need to buy polarized sunglasses.
1. Glare Reduction
Reports from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) state that there are about 9000 accidents every year that are caused by sun glares. This report highlights the significant risk associated with the occurrence and exposure to sunlight glares.
Sunlight glares occur when sunlight hits a reflective surface. The reflective surface can be ice, glass, windows, water, snow, tarmac, etc. When light hits such surfaces, it is reflected and the light rays approach one’s eyes horizontally. This can cause temporary blindness due to the extreme light on one’s eyes.
When driving, sunlight hitting the vehicle’s windshield also causes the light to disperse and this can also cause glare. When one uses polarized sunglasses when driving, the sunglasses prevent the passing through of that dispersed light into your eye. This grants the driver the ability to see clearly when driving. The vision one gets when driving using polarized sunglasses is quite clear, to the point that it is similar to a view one would get when driving without a windshield.
The ability of polarized sunglasses to block horizontal light from going through the lens reduces glare for the wearer. The reduction of glare is among the greatest benefits associated with the wearing of polarized sunglasses.
2. Protection from UV Rays
The phrase, “polarized sunglasses with 100% UV ray protection” is quite popular among people who have seen polarized sunglasses on sale. In their basic state as just polarized sunglasses, the chemical used to make them does not also help prevent the wearer from exposure to UV rays.
However, UV ray protection is included in Oakley prescription sunglasses. The sun offers numerous advantages, the most common one being vitamin D in the morning hours, midday hours, or even all day long depending on one’s location.
However, the sun offering vitamin D to a person does not mean that it is all good regarding exposure to the sun. UV rays are a product of electromagnetic radiation from the sun. A common rule of thumb is that stronger UV rays have a greater impact on a person.
The amount of UV radiation that one can get depends on the time of day, sunlight intensity, and the length of time that one is exposed to UV rays. Exposure to UV rays causes rapid aging of various structures in the eyes. The main eye structure impacted by UV ray exposure is the lens. Exposure to UV rays can cause eye health issues such as cataracts, macular degeneration, and corneal damage.
Polarized sunglasses that offer UV ray protection prevent the rays from reaching your eyes. This keeps you safe from the above-listed condition caused by UV ray exposure.
3. Prevention of Fatigue
As mentioned earlier, polarized sunglasses help reduce glare. When a person experiences glare, their eyes work extra hard. They do this to try and get a clear vision and interpret the information reaching the eyes. The extra strain exists because information reaching the eyes is quite minimal due to how glare impacts vision, thereby negatively affecting it.
The strenuous work of attempting to see clearly during glare causes fatigue. One also gets fatigued when working under direct sunlight hitting the eyes. These are some of the situations whereby vision issues also cause overall body fatigue.
The use of polarized sunglasses that reduce the amount of light reaching one’s eyes helps prevent body fatigue. For most people, the prevention of body fatigue helps reduce their chances of getting into workplace accidents. This is a huge benefit that is mostly appreciated by workers who use heavy machinery under the sun.
4. Improved Vision Clarity
In all cases, exposure to harsh light, be it natural or artificial light impacts one’s vision negatively. When one is in a place with harsh light, one cannot see clearly without experiencing eye strain or squinting to reduce the amount of light reaching the eyes. These two common reactions to vision in harsh lights reduce one’s visual clarity.
By using polarized sunglasses, much of the horizontal light approaching the eyes is prevented from getting to the eyes. This creates a situation whereby the amount of light reaching one’s eyes in a harshly lit environment is reduced to an appropriate amount.
When the amount of light reaching one’s eyes is reduced to an appropriate amount, one can see better and clearly. This and other advantages of wearing polarized sunglasses were much needed by people who use prescription glasses for a long time.
This caused sunglass companies to work on incorporating medical prescriptions into polarized sunglasses. The development of prescription sunglasses allowed people to enjoy improved vision from their medical prescriptions while also enjoying the benefits of polarized sunglasses.
Conclusion
Polarized sunglasses offer numerous benefits, especially to people who work outdoors and those whose eyes are extremely sensitive to light. To enjoy the above-listed benefits of polarized sunglasses, you must get them from a reliable source. Oakley prescription sunglasses work on ensuring every person can get to enjoy the benefits of polarized sunglasses, both prescription and non-prescription.
Also Read: 5 Factors to Keep in Mind While Buying Sunglasses for Men
