Are Cheap Sunglasses Bad For eye Health? - I Need to Start Wearing Sunglasses

DMF

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I'm out in the sun 2-3 hours every day and I believe it might be too much for my eyes to handle - that it might be having a negative effect. I've never worn sunglasses and I seriously don't know because of the wide array out there - from $Dollar Stores to Ray Ban. I don't plan or want to wear
them the entire time outside - just the last 30 minutes or so.
 

Hans

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I'm out in the sun 2-3 hours every day and I believe it might be too much for my eyes to handle - that it might be having a negative effect. I've never worn sunglasses and I seriously don't know because of the wide array out there - from $Dollar Stores to Ray Ban. I don't plan or want to wear
them the entire time outside - just the last 30 minutes or so.
Likely not that big a deal as long as you still get ample sunlight direct in the eyes.
In the past, I've had very sensitive eyes to sunlight. I started eating a lot of eggs and it went away. I was likely low in lutein and other nerve-protective phospholipids.
 
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Sun is good for you. Yeah, eat eggs and don't worry about it. I thought I damaged my eyes from sun gazing pretty moderately a couple summers ago. Turns out when I went to get a new prescription that my eyes had for the first time not gotten worse. I was not grounding or anything either, you may want to look into that, maybe go barefoot if you can.
 

RealNeat

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Some things I can think of as an argument against sunglasses plus context.

I believe filtering light is a relatively recent thing, especially right in front of our eyes. From my observation, in traditional peoples who had to diminish sunlight they used physical barriers that didn't modify the light spectrum. Pinhole glasses are what I use for this reason. You may have also seen people who live in tundra like conditions using slit sunglasses, this would also be appropriate. Just choose a material for pinhole and slit glasses that doesn't glare or reflect.. Another option is natural eyeliner, which Arabs use for sunlight mitigation, same with football players.

I think cheap sunglasses that aren't polarized or block out UV could cause issues, when the eyes are in a dark environment the pupils dilate to bring in more light, but since there is UV streaming in during the day this will damage the eyes as they are essentially wide open (iris) behind tinted sunglasses.

There was also a gentleman, I believe a South American ND, who claimed that sunglasses caused/ contributed to skin cancer as a result of the mismatch in the observation of the eye and the adaptation of the melanin in the skin. I think it makes sense.

However being careful with UV/ blue light when full of PUFA and iron/ heavy metals as per Peat is logical imo.

I didnt provide any references so taking a deeper dive into these topics yourself is recommended.
 
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DMF

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'Got a pair of cheapos at the $Dollar Store - but they have clearly labled on them "UV Protection"
 

RealNeat

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'Got a pair of cheapos at the $Dollar Store - but they have clearly labled on them "UV Protection"
Test it out with a UV light test, plus the claim "UV protection" doesn't give you a specific percentage or nanometer of waves blocked. Technically even a leaf in front of your face is "UV protection" and so is a hat.
 

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