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Research suggests that up to half of the radiation we encounter in our lives occurs before the age of 18.
The sun’s UV rays can cause significant damage to our eyes, and children love spending time outside. Neither of these facts are exactly breaking news, however, we often fail to see the intersect.
The amount of time children spend in the sun is wonderful, however, without the right protection, it could do significant, long-term damage to their eyes. In addition to a sun hat and sunscreen, your child needs sunglasses with 100% UV protection. Vivid Eye Care in south-east Calgary has an excellent selection of kids’ sunglasses to keep their eyes safe and healthy.
In a lot of ways, a child’s body is more resilient than adults; but unfortunately, this isn’t the case with eyes. The lens in a child’s eye is not as effective at filtering harmful UV rays out of the light entering the eye. This leaves the retina vulnerable to damage.
In many cases, eye diseases and conditions are the cumulative results of a lifetime of damage. While these conditions aren’t necessarily common in children, there is a higher risk of development when the eye has been encountering damage since childhood. These are some of the conditions associated with exposure to UV rays.
When the proteins in the eye fluid start to rearrange with age, they can collect in clumps on the lens, causing cloudy, dull vision. This cloudy lens is called a cataract, and it is one of the most common eye conditions out there.
A number of things contribute to the development of cataracts (such as being overweight and smoking), but perhaps the most common one is unfiltered exposure to UV light. While cataracts affect almost everyone on a long enough timeline, sunglasses with 100% UV protection are an excellent way to delay and lessen the severity of cataracts.
This disease usually comes with advanced age (which is why it’s often called age-related macular degeneration or AMD) and can cause severe and irreversible vision loss.
Much like cataracts, this disease can be brought on by a number of factors, however, a lack of UV protection can increase the progression and severity. Although AMD does not appear in children, the damage the eye sustains during childhood can contribute to an eventual loss of vision.
Most people have experienced a sunburn at some point. Snow blindness is essentially a sunburn on your cornea. When your eye encounters extreme doses of ultraviolet light, it results in a painful but temporary case of vision loss.
Snow blindness doesn’t necessarily involve snow, either; the light from the sun is often reflected and magnified off the crust of a snowbank. However, this effect can also happen on bright sandy beaches, or the reflective surface of the water.
The discomfort and vision loss associated with snow blindness is temporary, however, it can be frightening; particularly to a child. Proper sunglasses (with 100% UV protection) protect against photokeratitis, making it easier for you to enjoy your day.
You might be thinking “why would I go to an optometrist when I could get sunglasses at the nearest gas station?”. It’s true, sunglasses are not difficult to find. However, sunglasses with 100% UV protection are. In order to properly protect their eyes, your child should be wearing sunglasses with 100% UV protection.
At Vivid Eye Care, we carry a wide selection of children’s sunglasses; all of which offer 100% UV protection. This way, you can rest assured that when your child plays in the sun, their eyes are taken care of.
Kids aren’t necessarily the most careful with their belongings. That’s why most of our children’s sunglasses are made with shatterproof polycarbonate lenses to avoid breakage or shattering.
Vivid Eye Care has some of the best selection of children’s eyewear in Calgary. Visit us today and see what kind of options we have available for you and your child.
