Monthly Archives: June 2024

You know UV rays from the sun burn your skin and damage your eyes. So you apply sunscreen and put on sunglasses before you head out. Sunscreen bottles usually come with an SPF number (Sun Protection Factor). But your sunglasses usually carry no indication of its effectiveness. When your sunscreen fails, you know right away within the hour – simply look at your skin. But when you wear sunglasses that fail to block UV rays from reaching your eyes, you only find out years later, after your ophthalmologist tells you that you have already developed cataracts, and suffered cornea and/or other permanent damages.

How do you know your sunglasses actually block out all UV rays? The best and the safest way is to walk into your local eyeglass store. They will usually check your sunglasses for UV protection, for free. It takes only a few minutes.

But you are reading this article. So obviously that isn’t how you roll. You want to check and confirm that your glasses block out UV rays, on your own, in the comfort of your own home. Following picture illustrates the basics of a procedure for just that. Continue reading →