Are you a lover of outdoor activities? You surely could not wait for the summer season. But before you jump into the water or set off on a high-mountain ridge hike, read how to choose quality sunglasses that will keep your eyesight safe during the summer months.
As with basically everything, the well-known old saying also applies to the sun: “A good servant, but a bad master.” The sun's rays have a considerable effect on our eyes, which we should give increased protection in summer. Intense solar radiation can cause various problems for the eyes – from cataracts to cancer of the area around the eye. Exposing yourself to UV radiation without a protective filter is literally playing with your health and your own eyesight. The most effective way to keep your eyes in good condition is undoubtedly sunglasses. But how do you choose them?
How to choose sunglasses?
1. First consider your needs
To begin with, think about everything you will use your sunglasses for. Only occasionally for sport, and otherwise for everyday wear? Then it is simple – go and choose one of the endless number of models at a reliable optician's. Or do you actively do a sport in summer and want professional-level equipment? This choice will be harder, and specialised sports shops will help you with it. You will need different glasses for cycling and different ones for beach volleyball.
2. Invest in quality
First of all, cheap products should be avoided. So steer well clear of anonymous kiosks in supermarkets or street vendors on the seaside promenade. What they offer usually has no protective UV filters, and these are image accessories rather than real eye protection. By contrast, quality glasses can filter out almost 100 % of ultraviolet radiation. At opticians and certified shops, you will have a guarantee of a good purchase. However, you can also get reliable glasses elsewhere, for example in the sports shops mentioned. But always ask the seller to show you a certificate of the quality of the UV filter.
3. Choose a suitable filter
Protective UV filters are divided into five categories, which indicate how much light the lenses of the sunglasses let through. While the first grade lets through almost all solar radiation, the fifth lets through only 3 to 8 per cent. It is best to avoid category one completely, because it does not protect your eyes from ultraviolet radiation at all – on the contrary, it may harm you. Behind dark lenses, your pupils automatically dilate, and so, without the necessary UV filter, they fully absorb the dangerous radiation too. It is safer to rely on the eye's natural defence and not wear glasses at all – without glasses the pupil constricts, so much less UV radiation enters the eyes. For most summer activities, sunglasses with UV filter 5 are ideal, as they can protect the eyes both when hiking in the high mountains and by the water, where sunlight is strongly reflected off the surface.
4. Better measure twice
Even buying good sunglasses cannot be done without trying them on. To be as satisfied as possible with them in all activities, try above all how the glasses fit the shape of your head and face. They must not slide down your nose, not even when you bend forward or when your nose is sweaty. They should not press behind your ears, and your eyelashes must not touch the lenses. Also make sure that sunlight does not get in behind the lenses through the side edges or from above. A wider frame helps with this, but in some sports it can unpleasantly restrict the field of vision.
5. Choose according to your health
Although the purpose of sunglasses is to protect your eyes, in some cases wearing them could harm you. For example, if you have glaucoma, avoid orange lenses; lenses with a brown-green filter are more suitable. If you have prescribed dioptres, your sunglasses should take this into account, which, however, is not a cheap matter – especially if you will use such glasses for sport and risk damaging them. Wearing contact lenses in summer is not recommended for hygiene reasons – by handling the lens you could introduce an infection into your eye. The recommended solution, which more and more people with an active lifestyle are choosing, is eye surgery, which permanently corrects short-sightedness, long-sightedness or astigmatism. After such surgery, you should get glasses that fully protect you against both UV and IR radiation.
