To Your Health: Protecting your eyes now will bring future benefits

“Here comes the sun!” sang The Beatles a long, long time ago. Sure enough, the cool damp days of spring are giving way to the bright, hot days of summer. While those warm rays may feel good on your face, too much direct sunlight can do damage to your body, particularly to your eyes. Taking steps to prevent eye damage, in summer as well as in winter, is particularly important for fishermen. Studying the ocean for hours at a time means that the sunlight reflected off the water is constantly entering your eyes. Even on cloudy days, that light can hurt your one and only set of eyes.

National Eye Institute

Sunlight is UV light, which is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Over time UV light can affect your skin cells, leading to a variety of skin cancers. It can easily penetrate eye tissues, increasing the risk of eye problems.

“UV radiation, whether from natural sunlight or indoor artificial rays, can damage the eye’s surface tissues as well as the cornea and lens,” said ophthalmologist Michael Kutryb, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Eyes unprotected from UV light can get “sunburned.” The condition is called photokeratitis. Snow blindness is a type of photokeratitis, caused by UV rays reflected off snow and ice. The same can happen from sunlight reflected off the water.

If you have photokeratitis, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:

• Eye pain or redness.

• Tearing/watery eyes.

• Blurry vision.

• Swelling.

• Light sensitivity.

• Gritty sensation in your eyes.

The symptoms can last from six to 24 hours; they usually resolve within 48 hours. The longer you’re exposed to UV light, however, the more severe your symptoms might be.

Remember, UV exposure adds up over time. Long-term exposure to even small amounts of UV radiation can increase your risk of developing a cataract or macular degeneration. It can also cause tissue elevations on the surface of your eye called pingueculae and pterygia.

And then there are cataracts. Cataracts are cloudy areas that form on your eye’s lens. Prolonged exposure to UV rays affects the proteins in the lens, creating those cloudy areas. Cataract symptoms include blurry vision, glare around lights, and dimmer colors. Cataracts are common among older people and are treated via surgery.

The key to ensuring that you do not damage your eyes while fishing is to protect them as much as possible.

Just because the lenses are dark does not mean they protect your eyes from UV rays. Look for sunglasses that provide 100% UV protection. The sunglasses might say “UV absorption up to 400nm” which is means 100% UV protection. If you wear prescription glasses, get a pair with anti-UV coating in the lenses. Make sure your sunglasses fit well on your face. Aim for wrap-around glasses that will block sunlight from coming in around the lenses.

And wear a hat with a broad brim to keep the sun from your eyes and reduce glare. The aim here is not to be stylish, but to keep as much sunlight as possible from your eyes so that in future years, those baby blues will still be as sharp as they are today.