You might feel fine on a sunny day wearing sunglasses, but when you take them off—bright, blinding light. You may wonder if everyone’s vision is as affected as yours in the sun. Your eye colour does, in fact, have an impact on light sensitivity. Blue eyes are more sensitive to sunlight. However, you should always use sunglasses, no matter your eye colour.
Why Is the Sun Dangerous for Your Vision & Eye Health?
“Don’t look at the sun” is common advice because it can damage your eyes, but how dangerous is it really?
Ultraviolet (UV) light comes from the sun and some sources of artificial light. While this light can be safe in small doses, overexposure can damage the eye, including your cornea and lens. Without proper protection, your eyes are at risk of severe damage.
While you don’t need to avoid sunlight altogether, ensure you bring a pair of sunglasses anytime you’re out in the sun, the snow, or driving. Quality sunglasses can help you enjoy the sun safely.
Yes, blue eyes can be more sensitive to sunlight. This sensitivity occurs because the eyes are a lighter colour. Brown eyes have more melanin, which has pigments that can protect against bright lighting.
Blue eyes contain much less of this pigment in the front layer of the iris, the coloured part of the eye. Because there’s less pigment, the eyes are more sensitive to sunlight and bright artificial lighting.
Having lighter-coloured eyes is a potential cause of light sensitivity, also known as photophobia. Light sensitivity can make it difficult to see or even cause pain in severe cases. Other causes of light sensitivity include:
Dry eyes
Corneal abrasion
Dilated pupils
Eye infection
Glaucoma
Cataracts
No matter the colour of your eyes, protecting them from the sun remains important.
Many people assume sunglasses are only for the beach or summer, but you should wear them year-round. The sun can damage your eyes whenever you’re outside without sunglasses.
Sunglasses can help lower your risk of potential eye conditions, including:
Snow blindness: Photokeratitis, also known as snow blindness, is a condition where sunlight burns your eyes. It commonly affects people in the snow or on the water. Incoming light reflects off these surfaces and into your eyes, hurting them. While this condition isn’t vision-threatening, it can affect your quality of life.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD): AMD is an age-related condition, but your risk increases with sun exposure. If left untreated, AMD can cause severe vision loss as the macula thins.
Cataracts: Cataracts are the clouding of your eye’s lens. They develop when proteins and fibres in the eye clump together with time, affecting vision. Sunlight can cause cataracts to develop faster, leading to potential vision loss.
Eyelid skin cancer: Many types of eyelid skin cancer exist, and your risk increases with overexposure to UV light. These forms of cancer normally appear as a tumour on the eyelid.
What Sunglasses Should You Buy?
While sunglasses are essential for protecting your vision, not all are created equal. It may seem easier to head to the store and buy a pair of sunglasses off the rack. However, they may not be right for your needs.
You need UV-blocking sunglasses to protect your eyes from the sun. Your sunglasses are an investment, not only in the glasses themselves but in your eye health and vision.
What Do the Right Sunglasses Look Like?
Style-wise, the right sunglasses make you feel comfortable and confident. They should fit your face well without hurting your eyes or nose. Your eye doctor can help you find sunglasses that meet your vision and style needs.
Whether you’re driving or spending time in the sun, sunglasses are the best way to protect your vision and eye health. A pair of UV-blocking sunglasses can help keep you safe year-round. Visit your optometrist, and they can recommend the right lenses for your needs.
Contact us at Visionary Eye Centre if you’re interested in a new pair of sunglasses.
Lighter-colored eyes have less pigment to protect against sun damage and UV radiation compared to darker-colored eyes. This means that people with green, hazel, or blue eyes are more sensitive to light and more susceptible to UV damage.
Generally speaking, patients with lighter color irises, such as blue or gray, experience more light sensitivity than someone with brown eyes. The density of pigment in light eyes is less than that of a darker colored iris. When light hits a dark-colored iris, the higher density in pigment blocks the light rays.
Eye color can also affect your susceptibility to snow blindness; people with blue, green and light brown colored eyes are more vulnerable to photokeratitis. More than half of Americans have light-colored eyes, making snow blindness a significant public health issue.
Scientists found that white women who have light-colored eyes (such as green or blue) can tolerate pain and distress better than their brown-eyed counterparts. While scientists still don't know why this is, researchers say there could be a genetic link.
“Seeing better at night in the northern winter would have some advantages.” However, blue eyes may be a disadvantage in bright light. Some studies suggest blue irises scatter more light than brown ones, degrading image quality.
Of those four, green is the rarest. It shows up in about 9% of Americans but only 2% of the world's population. Hazel/amber is the next rarest color after green. Blue is the second most common and brown tops the list, found in 45% of the U.S. population and possibly almost 80% worldwide.
Many surveys have asked this question and the answer is… there's more than one answer. One thing these survey results have in common is that light-colored eyes — green, gray, blue, and hazel — are named as the most attractive eye colors in the world.
While it's a very rare type of cancer, people with blue eyes are at higher risk of developing ocular uveal melanoma. Plus, although this cancer is extremely rare, light-eyed folks are also more susceptible to sun damage from exposure to UV rays.
While lighter-colored eyes may be more sensitive to sunlight, they are not necessarily more sensitive to vision. In fact, blue eyes have better visual acuity than brown eyes. This means that blue-eyed people can see small details more clearly.
In this case, red and orange tones are opposite blue on the wheel. If that sounds a bit bold for your style, don't worry, it translates slightly differently to eye makeup. Riddle suggests using the hues as a guide for undertones, and opting for shades of copper, brown, gold, and peach to enhance blue eyes.
Eye color doesn't significantly affect the sharpness of your vision, but it can affect visual comfort in certain situations. It all comes down to the density of the pigment melanin within your iris, which determines what colors of light are absorbed or reflected.
When broken down by gender, men ranked gray, blue, and green eyes as the most attractive, while women said they were most attracted to green, hazel, and gray eyes. Despite brown eyes ranking at the bottom of our perceived attraction scale, approximately 79% of the world's population sports melanin-rich brown eyes.
An Australian study says people with light-colored eyes are twice as likely to get age-related macular degeneration. That's because less UV light is being absorbed by the iris, so more can get through to the retina and cause damage, This disease can cause vision loss.
While eye color doesn't impact vision or eye health, some studies suggest potential advantages associated with blue eyes. Blue-eyed individuals might have a higher tolerance for certain types of pain and could be more resistant to certain diseases.
The color of your eyes affects your risk of developing cataracts. Studies show that people with dark brown eyes have a higher risk of developing cataracts than people with lighter eyes. UV light is a known contributor to cataract development no matter what color your eyes are.
True or False: Eye Color Affects Your Vision. Eye color doesn't significantly affect the sharpness of your vision, but it can affect visual comfort in certain situations. It all comes down to the density of the pigment melanin within your iris, which determines what colors of light are absorbed or reflected.
Lighter colored eyes like blue, hazel and green have less of a pigment called 'melanin' than brown eyes do. Melanin helps protect the retina from UV damage and blue light, putting those with blue eyes at a higher risk of developing UV-related eye damage.
Those with lighter color eyes – especially Caucasians – may see their eyes lighten over time. The pigment slow degrades over time, resulting in less color. Since melanin plays a role in eye color, exposure to the sun can lead to eye color changes.
Despite a lack of scientific support, most people probably have an opinion about eye color and personality traits. Respondents perceived people with gray eyes to be intelligent, quiet, and serious. Meanwhile, blue-eyed people were perceived to be expressive, affectionate, and confident.
Introduction: My name is Allyn Kozey, I am a outstanding, colorful, adventurous, encouraging, zealous, tender, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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