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The Importance of UV Protection

From an early age, almost everyone is taught that spending too much time in the sun can be bad for you. While that’s true, the single broad statement has become a kind of scientific boogeyman. Everyone’s wary about the sun, but fewer people know about the importance of UV protection and how it can help preserve your eyes and vision.

Research suggests that prolonged exposure to light radiation from the sun without UV protection can increase your risk of developing macular degeneration and cataracts. Macular degeneration is an eye condition that affects your central vision (your ability to see straight ahead). Cataracts — a clouding of the eye’s natural lens — can lead to blurry vision and other symptoms.

It's a common misconception that you only need UV protection, like sunglasses and SPF, on warm, sunny days. But UV rays reflect extremely well off of cloudy skies, snow, and water. For this reason, it's important to live by the rule of thumb that if it's daytime and you're outside, you should be wearing sunglasses. Doing so can help maintain the health and clarity of your vision.

The Benefits of Polarization

Sunglasses with a polarized lens coating have unique features that make them a great choice for active people, drivers, and more. Some of these features include glare reduction, UV protection, and more comfortable viewing.

Polarized sunglasses take in vertical light, but filter out horizontal light as well as light from other angles. This effectively blocks out the hazes and glares associated with bright reflections. You'll notice the most difference on sunny days and around reflective surfaces like water and roads. Additionally, polarized sunglasses naturally lessen your need to squint in bright light conditions, which may reduce eye strain and improve visual comfort.

FAQ

What does ‘polarized sunglasses’ mean?

When sunglasses are “polarized,” it means they have a special lens coating that filters certain angles of light. This filtering feature can reduce glare from light reflecting off of surfaces like water or snow. Glare reduction can make certain tasks, like driving, more visually comfortable.

Are polarized sunglasses better?

The most important part of sunglasses is making sure they effectively block harmful UV rays — anything more than that is a bonus. So, to say whether polarized sunglasses are “better” is pretty situational. If you spend a lot of time outdoors, polarized sunglasses would be a great option for reducing glare when you're near a reflective surface like water or snow. They're ideal for fishing because they make it easier to see the fish under the water’s surface. However, experts advise against using polarized lenses for skiing, as they can make it difficult to see icy patches on the slopes.

How can you tell if sunglasses are polarized?

You can determine whether your sunglasses are polarized just by looking at your phone screen.

While wearing your sunglasses, look at the screen of your phone (or any other LCD screen). Tilt your head side to side while looking at the screen. If you notice that the screen darkens at different points of your head tilt, the lenses are polarized.

If you don't see any changes in screen brightness as you're tilting your head, you have non-polarized lenses. Rest assured, it's still possible for non-polarized lenses to have 100% UV protection, which is the most important thing.

What are the advantages of polarized lenses?

The main advantage of wearing polarized lenses is that they can reduce distracting glare from reflective surfaces like water. This makes them extremely useful in environments with lots of reflected light, such as bodies of water and snowy areas.

Do Eyebuydirect polarized sunglasses have UV protection?

Yes. All Eyebuydirect Canada’s sunglasses — polarized or not — come with UV-protective coating as a standard feature.

Which one is the best polarized sunglasses for fishing?

They are great for fishing because they stop annoying glare reflected from the water from reaching your eyes. Any Eyebuydirect sunglasses fitted with polarized lenses will fulfill your fishing needs, so choose the frame style that suits you best.

What are polarized reading sunglasses?

Polarized reading sunglasses are essentially the same as regular polarized sunglasses. The only difference is that the lenses have a specific magnification, like other reading glasses, for easier close-up focusing.

Polarized reading sunglasses are great if you're sitting in direct sunlight and it's causing a glare from your book or e-reader. By wearing polarized reading sunglasses, you can improve your vision, reduce glare, and prevent eye strain.