Beating the UV rays

To make sure your eyes reach a ripe old age and draw their pension, you need to protect them from harmful UV rays.

UVA and UVB rays from sunlight are invisible. Exposure to lots of them can cause eye problems such as cataracts.

You can get some protection by wearing glasses or even some contact lenses. But nothing beats sunglasses with UV protection. Except perhaps honey and Greek yoghurt ice cream.

Transition lenses

But, won’t it look odd wearing sunglasses with your normal spectacles? Well, yes, it would. However, transition lenses are increasingly popular and almost as clever as a thermos flask. They react with UV rays and tint according to the conditions. The brighter the sunlight, the darker they go.

These are great if you work outdoors, although they’re not as good when driving. That’s because windscreens have a UV block. So, fewer rays react with the lenses and they don’t tint very well.

Polarised lenses

Polarised lenses can help with water sports and driving. These lenses absorb horizontal light rays. This reduces glare and allows for more comfortable vision. Not all sunglasses have polarised lenses - so ask advice from the experts. That’s us, by the way.

At SMART-SPEX.COM, we’ve a large range of sunglasses that can be glazed for spectacle prescriptions - all at great prices. We’ve got transition and polarised lenses too. Buy a frame that’s slightly larger than your spectacles with a broad side, to keep out all those naughty UV rays.