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What Do You See?

When you look around the room, what do you see? Do you see everything clearly, or are there spots in your visual field that are a bit blurry or fuzzy? If your answer is the latter, you need to see an optometrist for an assessment. In fact, it is a good idea to see an optometrist once a year whether or not you are actually noticing any changes to your vision. Optometrists offer vital services for us all. If you're seeking a better understanding of those services, then we invite you to read the articles provided on this blog, which is all about optometrists and their work.

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What Do You See?

Want To Protect Your Vision? You Need These Glasses Coatings

Harry Garcia

If you wear glasses, you likely know that you have a lot of options available to you when you get your glasses made. Knowing which of these options to say "yes" to can make a huge difference in your life. In fact, it can actually protect your vision in the years to come. Here's what you should definitely agree to the next time you get glasses.

UV Protection

One of the options your optometrist will likely offer you is a UV light–filtering coating for your lenses. This coating is designed to filter out the majority of the UV spectrum of light without tinting or darkening your glasses at all.

You might think that you can just wear sunglasses outside and avoid this added expense. However, UV light is in more places than you might think. It's emitted by some electronics, like CFL bulbs, and it's also able to penetrate through windows more than you might expect. Windows only filter out a portion of the UV light spectrum, which means that your eyes are being exposed to dangerous rays whenever you're in a room lit with natural light.

UV light is particularly dangerous for your eyes because it's a potential trigger of macular degeneration later in life. This is one of the leading causes of blindness in the elderly, so you should do what you can to avoid it.

Blue Light Protection

Blue light is another spectrum of light. However, the majority of blue light that you're exposed to on a daily basis is likely coming from electronics that you look at, like what you're reading this article on now.

Blue light is harmful to the eyes in several ways. It not only induces and worsens eye strain but it can also lead to macular degeneration later in life, just like UV light. Thankfully, your optometrist can help with this too — many glasses manufacturers now offer coatings and types of lens materials that naturally filter out blue light without distorting your vision.

Check Your Specs

If you are already wearing glasses with one or both of these filters built-in, you might want to have them checked by an optometrist. As glasses get older, these coatings tend to start breaking down and may not be providing as much protection as you think. Your optometrist will be able to examine your glasses to see if they're still protective, and if not, they can help you to get a replacement set of lenses so that you're safe again.

For more information, speak with an optometrist


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