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What do you know about sun glasses!

Sunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can sometimes also function as a visual aid, as variously termed spectacles or glasses exist with feature lenses that are colored, polarized or darkened. In the early 20th century they were also known as sun cheaters (cheaters being an American slang term for glasses).

Many people find direct sunlight too bright for comfort. During outdoor activities, the human eye can receive more light than usual. Healthcare professionals recommend eye protection whenever outside to protect the eyes from ultraviolet radiation and blue light, which can cause several serious eye problems. Sunglasses have long been associated with celebrities and film actors primarily from a desire to partially mask their identity. Since the 1940s sunglasses have been popular as a fashion accessory, especially on the beach.

Protection

Sunglasses offer protection against excessive exposure to light, including its visible and invisible components.

The most widespread protection is against ultraviolet radiation (UV), which can cause short-term and long-term ocular problems such as photokeratitis, snow blindness, cataracts, pterygium, and various forms of eye cancer.  Medical experts advise the public on the importance of wearing sunglasses to protect the eyes from UV. For adequate protection, experts recommend sunglasses that reflect or filter out 99-100 % of UVA and UVB light, with wavelengths up to 400 nanometers (nm). Sunglasses which meet these requirements are often labeled as “UV 400.” This offers slightly more protection than the widely used standard of the European Union, which requires that 95 % of the radiation up to only 380 nm must be reflected or filtered out. Sunglasses are not sufficient to protect the eyes against permanent harm from looking directly at the sun, even during a solar eclipse.

More recently, high-energy visible light (HEV) has been implicated in the age-related macular degeneration; before, debates had already existed as to whether “blue blocking” or amber tinted lenses may have a protective effect. Some manufacturers design to block blue light; the insurance company Suva, which covers most Swiss employees, asked eye experts around Charlotte Remé (ETH Zürich) to develop norms for blue blocking, leading to a recommended minimum of 95% of the blue light. Sunglasses are especially important for children, as their ocular lenses are thought to transmit far more HEV light than adults (lenses “yellow” with age).

While non-tinted glasses are very rarely worn without the practical purpose of correcting eyesight or protecting one’s eyes, sunglasses have become popular for several further reasons, and are sometimes worn even indoors or at night.

Sunglasses can be worn to hide one’s eyes. They can make eye contact impossible, which can be intimidating to those not wearing sunglasses. The avoided eye contact can also demonstrate the wearer’s detachment, which is considered desirable (“cool“) in some circles. Eye contact can be avoided even more effectively by using mirrored sunglasses. Sunglasses can also be used to hide emotions; this can range from hiding blinking to hiding weeping and its resulting red eyes. In all cases, hiding one’s eyes has implications for nonverbal communication.

Fashion trends can be another reason for wearing sunglasses, particularly designer sunglasses. Sunglasses of particular shapes may be in vogue as a fashion accessory. Fashion trends can also draw on the “cool” image of sunglasses.

People may also wear sunglasses to hide an abnormal appearance of their eyes. This can be true for people with severe visual impairment, such as the blind, who may wear sunglasses to avoid making others uncomfortable. The assumption is that it may be more comfortable for another person not to see the hidden eyes rather than see abnormal eyes or eyes which seem to look in the wrong direction. People may also wear sunglasses to hide dilated or contracted pupils, bloodshot eyes due to drug use, recent physical abuse (such as a black eye), exophthalmus (bulging eyes), a cataract, or eyes which jerk uncontrollably (nystagmus).

COMPILED BY: AROWOLO N. OLA

Watch out for our next edition on how to choose sunglass

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