How do you protect your eyes from the sun? Your eyes are as vulnerable to ultraviolet (UV) rays as your skin is, and they too can get irreparably damaged by constant exposure. While UV sunglasses offer sun damage protection, they can't prevent dangerous glare from blinding you if a shaft of sunlight hits you directly in the eyes. For that, you need eyewear with polarized lenses. Here's your guide to one of the most innovative lens solutions available today.

What Are Polarized Lenses?

Polarizing is a lens modification technique designed to reduce light glare. It doesn't require a prescription. Some sunglasses come with polarized lenses already in them. Other times, you have the option of upgrading when you buy a new pair of regular-lens glasses.

How Do Polarized Lenses Work?

Polarized lenses have a unique chemical applied to them that acts as an invisible filter. It creates vertical "openings" for light to shine through. Only the light that approaches your eyes vertically can fit through the openings, and light that approaches horizontally can't. 

Why does this matter? Usually, light bounces off an object's uneven surface and approaches your eyes from various angles. However, when the surface is smooth and flat, like snow or a car, light reflects horizontally and at one angle. When that angle hits you directly in the eyes, it's known as glare. 

The filter causes any object you see to appear darker because less light comes through, but your vision overall is sharper and clearer.

When Are Polarized Lenses Most Useful?

There are many occasions when polarized lenses help improve your situation.

Driving

Temporary blindness from sun glare could cause a car crash, especially when several drivers around you have glare in their eyes as well. Polarized lenses help you drive safely and with much clearer vision.

Light Sensitivity

Health professionals recommend polarized lenses to anyone sensitive to light, even when they're inside.

Living Environment

People who live in the mountains or near water should wear UV polarized sunglasses whenever they go outside. Glare from snow or water is so harsh that it can burn your eyes if you don't protect them.

Tiredness

People who spend a lot of time outside in the sun's glare find their eyes are much less tired when they wear polarized lenses.

When you need polarized lenses, visit Optics Eyewear in High Point, NC. For over 50 years, this family-owned and run business has been the leading eyewear specialist in Guilford County. Their welcoming team, led by a licensed optician, takes care of you from your first appointment to the day you pick up your new glasses. They offer advice and guidance on everything from lenses to frame style, and they carry some of the best-known and trusted designer brands. See for yourself why they were voted Best Eyewear Shop in the Southeast Triad. Call today at (336) 884-5677, visit their website, or visit the store to find out more about their range of frames and lenses.