Healthy Living takes a closer look at eye protection
It’s no secret that the sun has adverse effects on our health. We are regularly bombarded with messages of skin cancer and the necessity of sunscreen. But putting on enough S.P.F. protection is not the only action needed to be taken against the sun’s harmful UV rays. Your eyes need protection as well. This week’s Healthy Living looks at the importance of protecting your eyes from the harshness of the sun.
Marleni Cuellar, Reporting
Protecting our eyes is a top priority for most people. We wear eyeglasses to improve our vision, undergo corrective surgeries and procedures all in attempt to preserve our vision. How often though, do we consider the consequences of not protecting our eyes from the sun? Ophthalmologist, Dr. David Hoy, explains the potential damage that sunlight can have on your eyes.
Dr. David Hoy, Ophthalmologist
“Surprisingly, the eye is one of—while it’s such an important organ it’s kinda like protruding. Your heart is inside but your eye is just right out there receiving everything from the atmosphere and the environment so why shouldn’t we be protecting it?”
This means protecting our eyes from even the most unlikely culprits… like the sun. While the occasional glare can be bothersome to most people causing headaches after prolonged exposure; the exposure to the sun rays are what are most harmful.
Dr. David Hoy
“The big one is ultra violet light. Ultra violet light is divided into UVC, UVB & UVA. The only thing that means is UVC shouldn’t even be on the earth. But you know some comes through with all the damage they say that is happening to the ozone layer and that tends to damage more superficial parts of the eye. UVB & A and will tend to go through the superficial layers which will be through the cornea and then go into the eye.”
Pain, cataract, and even irreversible blindness are some the effects of the different type of UV rays. The UVC rays are not only sourced from the sun.
Dr. David Hoy
“You’ll see it affecting the cornea. You can also see it in people that do arc welding or reflecting off the snow and they damage the covering of the cornea. So these people normally they feel okay, the go home and a few hours afterwards there’s just a burning and watering of the eye and that’s because the superficial layer of the cornea, which is the outermost coating of the eye, is being damaged. When you’re looking at UVB & A, those depending on how long you are being exposed to them and long in months and years, they will end up damaging your lens inside your eyes and they will produce a cataract and they will end up damaging the back of your eye, which is the retina and that is one of the main causes of irreversible blindness in a disease that is that they call aging macular degeneration.”
But the damage caused by the sun is not always immediate; continued exposure brings its own conditions affecting the eye.
Dr. David Hoy
“The thing is to be aware that ultra violet light will damage your eyes not overnight there are some that will do it very fast. But there are other that over a long period of time will cause trouble. And we see it in like San Pedro, Caye Caulker, Placencia, Belize City all along the coast. Walking around with red eyes that in Spanish we call carnosidad and they’re all pterygiums. It’s called a pterygium by definition when that little growth invades the darker portion of our eye that’s also from ultraviolet light. All that is doing is it’s increasing the ultraviolet is increasing the blood supply to that particular area trying to cool it down and so you get multiple collaterals of vessels trying to get into that area. The point is though that it is growing on the brown part of our eye or the darker portion of our eye. What that does is that it gives the impression that you are always tired and it does also… the cornea has a curve and when that grows on the curve it changes the shape of the curve and when you change the shape of a universal curve, it is called an astigmatism. There’s another one that is called Pinguecula the only difference is it has not invaded the brown part of the eye. So that is also caused by ultraviolet light.”
While the damage caused by the sun to the eye can be remedied through surgery and other procedures. Prevention is the best advice and protection from the sun comes in the form Sunglasses.
Dr. David Hoy
“Good sunglasses, big sunglasses and the sunglasses have to have one hundred percent UV protection. Twenty-six you can’t be buying a glasses that says forty-five percent or thirty-five percent it’s not doing anything. It might be helping you from the glare but it’s not really protecting you from ultraviolet light which is the main source of damage.”
People with light irises will receive more damage to their lens than those with darker eyes. Use protective screens on your computer which is also a source of UV light and in the heat of the sun, hydration is also of utmost importance. Lubricate you eyes using eye drops or drink water to hydrate your entire body including your eyes.
