Top Five Reasons to Wear Sunglasses in New Orleans, LA More Often

Sunglasses are more than just accessories—they shield your eyes from hazardous UV light and painful sun glare and protect your eyes from long-term health issues. Furthermore, whether it’s summer or winter, if the sun is out, you should be wearing sunglasses!

Here are some of the top reasons why you should wear sunglasses in New Orleans, LA more often.

Protection against UV radiation

It’s not just your skin that needs protection against harmful ultraviolet (UV) light. The eye is a delicate organ that, when exposed to high doses of UV radiation, can become susceptible to health issues like cataracts and benign growths on its surface. Photokeratitis is also a concern. Often referred to as snow blindness, photokeratitis, although temporary, is a painful sunburn you get on the surface of your eyes. Wearing a brimmed hat can block a lot of UV radiation from reaching your eyes; however, you should also wear sunglasses for more effective protection.

Decrease risk for eye disease

When you protect your eyes against the harmful effects of UV radiation, you are also lowering your risk for eye disease. But, exposure to UV light over your lifetime without enough eye protection can seriously increase your risk of diseases such as cataracts and macular degeneration. Another risk is developing eye surface growths called pterygiums and pinguecula, which not only look unsightly, but can also negatively affect your vision. You’ll need surgery to remove them.

Prevent skin cancer

Skin cancer can attack any area of your skin, including the eyelids and the skin around the eyes—skin cancer in these areas is actually pretty common. There’s evidence that sunglasses are able to provide a medical benefit in preventing skin cancer on your eyelids by reducing the amount of UV light (both UVA and UVB rays) that touches the skin around the eyes. Eye health professionals recommend that people wear quality sunglasses whenever they are outdoors driving, walking, playing sports, running errands or working in the yard.

Protection from outdoor irritants

Sunglasses don’t only protect your eyes against UV light. The lenses also protect eyes from outdoor irritants like dust, sand and wind. Windy conditions can blow particles into your eyes, and the wind itself can make your eyes water, then dry them out quickly only to cause further irritation.

Reduce headaches

Everyone gets headaches from time to time, but headaches are exacerbated in people who are light sensitive and don’t wear sunglasses to protect their eyes. What’s more is that constant squinting can take a toll on eye muscles and the muscles surrounding the eyes. The more you squint because of bright sunlight, the greater the possibility of tension headaches. Wearing properly fitting sunglasses can prevent and even relieve headaches.

These are just a few of the many reasons to wear sunglasses more often, but the key takeaway here is that wearing sunglasses is important for eye health and daily protection against UV rays. If you have any questions about sunglasses in New Orleans, LA, don’t hesitate to call or visit the helpful staff at Art & Eyes today!

Categorised in: Sunglasses