Getting Ready for Memorial Day? Don't Forget the Sunglasses

VALHALLA, NY (May 22, 2024) – With Memorial Day and the start of summer approaching, protecting your eyes from sun’s rays should be at the top of your list. But do expensive sunglasses provide more protection? Not necessarily say eye care experts like Ferhina Ali, MD, an ophthalmologist at Westchester Medical Center.

Dr. Ali, a retina specialist, likes to remind her patients how important it is to protect their eyes when they’re out in the sun. This is good advice for everyone, as sun protection can help prevent a variety of potentially damaging eye conditions.

Protecting the eyes is the key to limiting the damage that ultraviolet (UV) rays can cause to different parts of the eye,” Dr. Ali says.

Excess exposure to UV rays can put people at risk for eye cancers, cataracts, and even a sunburn of the surface of the eye (photokeratitis). It can also cause growths to form on the surface of the eye, which can blur vision and be irritating enough to warrant surgical removal. The skin on the eyelids, just like the skin on the rest of the body, is at increased risk of skin cancer when exposed to UV rays – but of course, most people don’t apply sunscreen to their eyelids.

The simplest way to protect your eyes from the damaging rays of the sun is to wear a hat that shades your eyes and to wear sunglasses with UVA/UVB protection.

Dr. Ali says that more expensive sunglasses don’t necessarily provide better protection than inexpensive ones – provided they meet a few guidelines.

“Look for sunglasses that have 100% UVA/UVB protection or a UV400 rating, which means they block light that is 400 nanometers (nm) wavelength,” advises Dr. Ali. “Sunglasses that meet those standards will provide complete eye protection, so that’s what you should look for when purchasing sunglasses.”

When it comes to sunglasses styles, Dr. Ali says:

• Bigger is generally better as larger lenses will cover more of the eye, eyelid, and surrounding skin.
• Wraparound styles are a great option for maximum coverage.
• Polarized lenses won’t offer more protection from damaging UV rays, but they can limit the glare bouncing off sand, water, or the road – which has the added benefit of possibly improving your vision while doing activities like driving, golfing, or relaxing on the beach
• Mirrored lenses can also help reduce brightness when out in the sun, but don’t offer any additional UV protection.
• Darker lenses or tinted lenses don’t necessarily offer better UV protection, either. In fact, says Dr. Ali, very dark lenses, if they don’t have UV protection, can be problematic because in dark environments the pupils enlarge to capture more light, so wearing dark sunglasses without proper UV protection can result in more UV rays penetrating into the eye.

There is no evidence to suggest the blue light blocking glasses offer any additional protection, says Dr. Ali.

Dr. Ali also says children should also wear sunglasses that offer 100% UVA/UVB protection – toy sunglasses may not meet these standards, so be sure to check the information provided on tags or in a manufacturer’s description of the sunglasses.

Sunglasses produced in the USA must protect eyes from UV radiation, according to the American National Standards Institute. But sunglasses produced in other countries and imported into the US may slip through the cracks when it comes to meeting these standards. When in doubt about your sunglasses’ safety, check the information provided by the manufacturer.

About Westchester Medical Center Health Network

The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,700-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, New York, with nine hospitals on seven campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 12,000 people and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians. The Network has Level I (adult and pediatric), Level II and Level III trauma centers, the region’s only acute care children’s hospital, an academic medical center, several community hospitals, dozens of specialized institutes and centers, Comprehensive and Primary Stroke Centers, skilled nursing facilities, home-care services and one of the largest mental health systems in New York State. Today, WMCHealth is the pre-eminent provider of integrated health care in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit WMCHealth.org or follow WMCHealth on Facebook.com/WMCHealth or Instagram.com/WMCHealth.