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The airline tickets are bought, the car is filled with gas, bought a new swimsuit, the IPod is full of new tunes and the smell of sun tan lotion is the last reminder that summer has finally arrived.
However, in order to best enjoy the lazy days of summertime we need to prepare our eyes. Whether it is a week hiking the Grand Canyon or an afternoon floating down the Salt River you cannot enjoy all that the world has to offer if your eyes are not pampered.
Dr. Jay Schwartz of Schwartz Laser Eye Center shares these five tips to protect your eyes this summer.
1. Wear a hat with a good brim
Hats are stylish and chic more importantly they can protect the eyes from unwanted UV radiation. The CDC writes, “Hats can help shield your skin from the sun's UV rays. Choose a hat that provides shade for all of your head and neck.
For the most protection, wear a hat with a brim all the way around that shades your face, ears, and the back of your neck”
The sun's UV rays are strongest and do the most damage during midday, so a hat is best worn between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m Avoid hats that have holes or brims that are made of plastic. More importantly keep the brim in the front, unless you are more concerned about your neck than your eyes-or that urban look.
2. Wear sunglasses, even if it is cloudy
The use of sunglasses helps to eliminate the harmful UV rays that the sun emits. Sunglasses should eliminate both UVA and UVB rays; fortunately nearly every sunglass sold in the US meets this standard, regardless of price.
The addition of polarization is beneficial for those water worshipers. The reflection of the suns rays off the water, and the dashboard of your car, is removed with polarization.
Sunglasses are important in removing those rays that can cause cataracts, lens opacification, as well as protecting the soft tissue around the eyes.
Here in Arizona where the sunshine is in no short supply sunglasses should be a staple. Squinting will cause those unwanted wrinkles and the damaging rays can also cause growths on the eyes that become unsightly and irritating.
Fashionistas can have there way with the multitude of choices and the benefits will be paid over time with youthful healthy eyes.
3. Lubricate, lubricate, lubricate
Dry eyes in the valley seem to be endemic. However, most people are unaware that the symptoms they have are related to dry eyes.
Summertime seems to exacerbate those symptoms. Traveling on a plane, where the air conditions are not ideal, sailing on a boat, hanging out on a windy beach day, or just simply lounging outside by the pool-can all lead towards evaporative dry eye.
If you feel like your vision is fluctuating, having trouble keeping your eyes open, feeling more tired or they are red and swollen; you may be experiencing dry eyes.
Therefore in preparing for you summer vacation a quick trip to your eye doctor first may save you some grief. There are a myriad of artificial eye drops that your doctor can recommend.
Especially if you wear contact lenses these tear supplements will be as handy as a cool drink on that hot day. If your eyes tend to get really dry there are now prescription remedies that your eye doctor can also prescribe.
4. “Can I go swimming?”
Check the chlorine level in your pool. If a swimming pool has too little chlorine, it can allow bacteria to grow, which can lead to eye infections.
On the flip side, if a pool has too much chlorine, it can react with the water in the eye causing a mild acid-burn, which is the source of the stinging and redness.
Another option is to wear a pair of goggles that will keep pool water from entering the eye.
The same type of precautions should be taken when floating in a slowing moving river or stagnant lake. As the summer winds down the level of water reduces and thus more particulates and possible bacteria can grow.
The use of goggles and the avoidance of direct water in the eyes will keep you seeing clearly.
5. Sunscreen for your eyes? Really?
We tend to mislabel sun protective creams and lotions as Sun tan lotions. These tend to increase the absorption of the sun and thus should be avoided around the eyes.
The eyelid is the thinnest tissue in the human body and therefore we should use sun blocks or sunscreens in or around the eye.
In fact, there are a lot of cosmetic lotions that have SPF (sun protection factor) incorporated into the moisturizer. The lotions will have chemicals that either absorb the suns rays or reflect them.
Since so much of our time is spent in the sun we should heed these simple tips.
Schwartz Laser Eye Center
8416 East Shea Blvd., Suite C-101
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
480-483-3937
http://www.schwartzlaser.com/
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