What Are Polarized Glasses?
People who spend a lot of time outdoors can have difficulty seeing when they are around water, snow, and other reflective surfaces. When the sun hits these surfaces, the light bounces back horizontally, causing an intense glare. This causes eyesight to become hazy and negatively affects a person's overall vision.
Polarized lenses are made with a special coating that blocks horizontal light, thereby keeping the glare from hitting your eye directly. They still allow vertical light through, so the wearer ends up with a crisp view.
You can understand the difference in lenses by thinking about different quality pictures. Those taken with low-quality cameras turn out hazy and blurry. Those taken with a high-quality camera come out crisp and detailed.
Benefits of Polarized Glasses
1. Polarized glasses reduce glare from reflective surfaces. They are commonly worn by fishermen to see below the surface of the water. This makes polarized lenses a great choice if you enjoy aquatic activities.
2. Polarized lenses stop squinting. This not only reduces eye fatigue and headaches but also reduces the possibility of additional eye problems. If you still experience eye strain or headaches while wearing polarized lenses, a visit to your optometrist or opthalmologist is in order.
3. Polarized glasses provide the wearer with sharp color contrast on bright days. This makes polarized lenses great for outdoor activities like hiking, hunting, and boating.
Disadvantages of Polarized Glasses
1. Polarized glasses do not allow the wearer to see LCD screens well. Mobile phones, ATMs, instrument panels, and watches will all be hard to read when wearing polarized glasses. Some window tint can also cause trouble. They are also not good for reading. If you need special lenses for reading or any other activity, talk to your eye doctor.
2. They are bad for night driving. Limiting the amount of light that hits the eye makes night driving difficult. This is especially bad for those who already have a hard time seeing at night.
3. Not all polarized glasses provide UV protection. It is important to have UV protection for your eyes if you plan on spending a lot of time in the sun. It’s important to check with your optometrist whether or not the lenses you’re buying offer UV protection.
If you have any further questions or concerns about wearing polarized glasses, reach out to your optometrist for a better understanding.
Make An Appointment With Your Modesto Ophthalmologist
Our trained eye care professionals at Sylvan Eye Associates in Modesto will help you select the perfect glasses for your lifestyle. Give us a call at (209) 575-2020 or request an appointment online today.