9 Reasons Beyond Fashion Why You Should Be Wearing Sunglasses

Summer is the perfect season for swimming, boating, picnics, and sunburns. You can use sunscreen and wear clothing that will protect your skin from sunburn, but your eyes are another story.

Not only do you have to worry about the direct rays of the sun, but also from the reflected sun’s rays off water or shiny buildings. Sunglasses aren’t just a fashion accessory, but vital to your eye’s health.

It just so happens that lifeguards, aviators, and law enforcement wear sunglasses to protect their eyes and do a better job by having good vision when out in the sun.

Here are the specific reasons you need a good pair of sunglasses to get you through the hot, Tulsa summer:

1. Protect your eyes from photokeratitis, or sunburned eyes. It takes a couple of days to heal from an eye sunburn.
2. Vanessa Brown, the author of “Cool Shades: The History and Meaning of Sunglasses,” posts that sunglasses just make you look cooler. The dark lenses hide asymmetrical oddities of your face. Sunglasses add mystery and glamour.
3. When you’re outside in Tulsa, sunglasses help protect your eyes from debris and dirt.
4. Wearing sunglasses helps your eyes adjust better to nighttime light levels. It’s much easier for your eyes to adapt to the indoors or driving in the dark.
5. Sunglasses protect against skin cancer in the delicate skin around the eyes. It also reduces wrinkles because you don’t need to squint.
6. Good sunglasses reduce glare and help you drive safer in the sun. You’ll see clearer during the day when the sun is overhead. You’ll be able to read outside more comfortably.
7. UV exposure of the eyes can lead to cataracts or macular degeneration. According to the American Optometric Association, “it is not clear how much exposure to solar radiation will cause damage.” Quality sunglasses and a hat or cap with a wide brim are recommended when you’re outdoors.
8. Sunglasses can hide a lack of makeup, a rough night, or even your identity. Brown suggests that Hollywood stars of the 1950s and 1960s who used sunglasses to hide from the public were part of the popularity of the accessory.
9. Summer isn’t the only season where you can wear sunglasses. If you’re outside in the winter months, you can also wear sunglasses during the day to reduce the bright reflections off snow or ice to make activities like skiing or driving safer.

Go Shopping for Sunglasses for Your Health 

Whether you need a prescription lens or not, talk to Precision Optical about specialty sunglasses, like Maui Jim, one of three sunglasses manufacturers that earned the Seal of Recommendation from the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Maui Jim sunglasses eliminate 100 percent of the sun’s UV rays and reduce glare by 99.9 percent behind each lens.

Precision Optimal is an authorized retailer of Maui Jim sunglasses in Tulsa.

With over 125 frames, you’ll find the perfect one that looks great on your face while protecting your eyes.