Many people think that the benefits of sunglasses are just to support their appearance. In fact, sunglasses have such great benefits, namely protecting the eyes from the dangers of the sun and preventing eye diseases.

Eyes are one of the five senses that play an important role in daily activities. Therefore, their health needs to be maintained, especially from various things that can cause vision problems and one of them is sun exposure.

Morning sun is good for health. However, it is different during the day. The sun’s rays at midday can emit stronger ultraviolet radiation, precisely at 10 am to 4 pm.

UV radiation can harm eye health. Well, one form of protection against the dangers of this light is to use sunglasses.

As previously explained, sunglasses play an important role in preventing eye diseases caused by sun exposure. There are several types of eye diseases that can be caused by UV radiation, including:

1. Cataract
Cataract is a disorder that causes blurred or cloudy vision. This condition is generally experienced by the elderly, but that does not mean this condition cannot be experienced by younger people.

One of the causes of cataracts at a young age is exposure to UVA rays from the sun. This ultraviolet light can penetrate the cornea and damage the eye lens and retina, causing cataracts.

In addition to blurred vision, cataract sufferers can also experience symptoms in the form of double vision, sensitivity to seeing light, and difficulty seeing clearly at night.

2. Pterygium
This condition is characterized by the presence of a yellowish or reddish membrane that grows on the whites of the eyes. In some cases, the tissue can grow to the cornea and cause visual disturbances.

Pterygium generally occurs in people who spend a lot of time in the sun or live in warm climates and often don’t wear sunglasses.

This growing tissue is not cancerous, but if it covers the cornea and interferes with vision, surgery is needed to treat it.

3. Pinguecula
Pinguecula is characterized by the presence of yellow bumps on the conjunctiva, which is a clear and thin membrane that covers the white surface of the eyeball near the cornea.

This condition is often suspected pterygium, because it has almost similar signs and symptoms. The cause is the same, namely the frequent exposure of the eyes to the sun without wearing sunglasses. However, the two are different conditions.

4. Photoconjunctivitis and photokeratitis
Exposure to ultraviolet light that occurs in the long term can cause the cornea to be severely damaged or burned. This condition is known as photokeratitis.

A person affected by photokeratitis will experience symptoms such as dizziness, eye pain and persistent watering, swollen eyelids, red eyes, or temporary loss of vision.

Meanwhile, photoconjunctivitis is a condition when the conjunctiva of the eye becomes inflamed after several hours of exposure to the sun and is sometimes painful.