Traditional sunglasses protect your eyes from dangerous UVA and UVB rays, but there's another type of eye danger that needs a different kind of protection: bright glare. Fishermen and boaters have long known the value of polarized anti-glare glasses, but they're also valuable for skiers, runners, people who drive in bright sunlight, and even those who work in front of a bright window all day long. At Danville Eye Center, we've found that Polarized glasses can be a great relief to patients who have just undergone LASIK or other eye surgery, as these people are generally more sensitive to glare than the average person. We advise these sunglasses for any patient who spends large amounts of time outdoors or in bright environments.
How Do Polarized Glasses Work?
Light rays usually bounce around in many directions in the environment. But when the light reflects off a flat surface such as a body of water or a pane of glass, it can become polarized (traveling in one direction). This can intensify the light and cause a painful glare. Polarized glasses have a specially made filter that blocks this particular type of light ray, reducing the amount of painful glare that you experience.
Eye Doctor Warns of Disadvantages
Our Danville Eye Center eye doctor wants every patient to know that Polarized sunglasses aren't a magical cure good for all glare situations. These glasses can be a disadvantage in a number of situations, including:
- Downhills skiing, because they block the view of some dangerous icy parts of the trail
- Those looking at LCD or LED displays like those on gas pumps, ATMs, or some car dashboards
- People trying to see the screen on cell phones, tablets, or other electronic devices
For most other outdoor activities, though, Polarized glasses can add a welcome lack of glare to your leisure experiences.
Vision Correction and Polarized Glasses
What about people with other vision problems? We can easily incorporate a layer of Polarized protection into your regular sunglasses. If you spend a lot of time outdoors and you wear eyeglasses on a daily basis, progressive lenses with a Polarized addition can be a good choice. You may even opt for Transitions lenses to give you the option of wearing the same glasses indoors and out.
Your best option is to have an anti-reflective coating applied to the inside of your Polarized glasses to eliminate the chance of glare happening from a light source behind you.
Contact Our Optometrist in Mount Vernon
The first step in getting Polarized glasses is a comprehensive eye examination. Give us a call at 859-236-8644, and we'll arrange an appointment today with our optometrist in mount vernon.