4 Essential Reasons Everyone Should Wear Sunglasses Outside
You go to the beach, you take a vacation to someplace warmer and what do you do? You slather on the sunscreen to protect your skin. What about your eyes? Clearly, you can’t slather sunscreen on your eyeballs, but you probably didn’t know that your eyes need protection too.
Sunglasses aren’t just a fashion thing. They exist to protect your eyes. There are several reasons why you should make every effort to wear sunglasses outside, in the car, on the beach, and anytime you will be south of the equator or close to it.
1. Prevents Skin Cancer around Your Eyes
You might rub sunscreen on your nose, cheeks, neck, and forehead, but like most people, you avoid the eye area. That is because sunscreen is often painful and burning if you accidentally get even a little in your eyes. Yet, the skin around your eyes is extremely thin and very sensitive. It is likely to burn and develop skin cancer even faster than the rest of the skin on your face!
Wearing sunglasses prevents skin cancer in the delicate skin around your eyes. It helps you avoid the burning sensation of sunscreen that is accidentally placed too close or in the eyes. The right UVA/UVB strength of sunglasses is just as good as the right sunscreen for protecting the skin in these areas.
2. Prevents Macular Degeneration
The macula is a small circular area in the very center of the back of your eye. It is the focal point on your retina and is responsible for clear vision. During macular degeneration, the macula deteriorates, and you go blind.
The blue and violet bands of light in the solar spectrum can cause macular degeneration. The greater and longer the exposure to these light bandwidths, the greater the risk of developing this serious eye condition. Wearing sunglasses blocks the blue and purple light spectrum bands.
3. Prevents Cataracts
Cataracts? You might be thinking that you don’t have to worry about cataracts until you are in your 80s, but the truth is that exposure to UV light can cause you to develop cataracts as much as thirty or forty years sooner than you expected. Cataract surgery in midlife is only better than later in life because you heal slightly faster, but nobody wants cataract surgery at any age.
Sunglasses block UV light. When combined with wide-brimmed hats that cover your face in shade, you can stop almost 100% of the UV light that causes cataracts. At the very least, if you are genetically predisposed to getting cataracts later in life, you can at least prolong when you might get them.
4. Prevents Wrinkles
People who don’t wear sunglasses often have to squint when they are outside because the sun’s glare is too much. A lot of squinting results in the creation of fine lines and wrinkles. You end up looking a lot older than you are. Sunglasses allow you to see without squinting, which prevents the development of early wrinkles.
