When you head out to enjoy the sun this summer, you’re protecting your skin with sunscreen. (You are, aren’t you?) But are you protecting your eyes?
Dr. Jeromica Ward, an optometrist at the new MyEyeDr. in Alexandria’s Bradlee Shopping Center, says your eyes need protection from the two summer classics: sun and swimming. Fortunately, it’s not complicated.
Protect Your Eyes from the Sun
“Just like UV protection is important for your skin, it’s just as important for your eyes,” Ward says.
You need to look for sunglasses with 100 percent UVA and UVB protection, Ward advises: “That protects from specific wavelengths of light that can actually damage the eyes long term.”
The average cheap pair of shades from a drugstore might not be up to the job, Ward says: “Unless it has 100 percent UVA/UVB protection, you’re not quite protecting your eyes from the UV light.”
She adds that a lot of people think the darker the lenses, the safer they are, and that’s not necessarily the case. “It’s all about checking the labeling through the sticker on the sunglasses — or the safest bet is to get either prescription sunglasses or, sunglasses from a licensed optical shop,” Ward says.
You’re risking a host of problems without protecting your eyes from the sun, Ward says, including macular degeneration, which affects your central field of vision, and cataracts, which makes for blurry vision overall.
Protect Your Eyes While Swimming
Ward recommends goggles whether people are swimming in a pool or in a lake or river: Pool water is generally chlorinated, which can irritate the eyes, and lakes and rivers have bacteria and microorganisms in them, including — yes — flesh-eating bacteria.
“For the average person, usually, the risk is pretty low, but especially for contact lens wearers it’s important to either take out the contacts or wear swimming goggles, because we don’t want the organisms to get underneath the contacts and cause infections,” Ward says.
Corneal ulcers are another risk for contact lens wearers too.
And all this goes double for kids. “Their eyes are particularly sensitive, because they haven’t fully developed yet,” Ward says.
MyEyeDr. last week opened its fourth Alexandria location 3690 King St., Ste. A, in the Bradlee Shopping Center.
Feature image by Olha/stock.adobe.com
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