Benefits of Wearing a Pair of Polarized Sunglasses

Eye doctors have long recommended wearing sunglasses all year round. The protection they provide helps to prevent a number of serious health conditions, such as cataracts, macular degeneration, photokeratitis, pterygium, and even skin cancer in and around the eyelids.

If eye health is important to you, you should seriously consider wearing polarized sunglasses. These special lenses were invented by Edwin Land in 1929. (Incidentally, Land founded the Polaroid camera company, so he experimented with all kinds of lenses.) At first, polarized eyeglass lenses were used only by professionals and athletes who spent long hours outdoors. Over time, however, medical researchers realized that almost everyone could benefit from wearing polarized lenses, and technological advances eventually made these lenses inexpensive enough for ordinary consumers.

What Is Polarization?

What exactly are polarized lenses, and what makes them special? What's the difference between polarized and non-polarized sunglasses?

When we’re outside, direct sun rays aren’t the only sources of light we encounter. Sunlight reflects off other surfaces, like car windows, water, and snow, sending flecks of light in every direction. All of this light reduces the contrast we see and causes our eyes to experience stress and fatigue.

Polarized lenses work by blocking out certain types of light waves, giving you a clear and sharp picture and reducing the eye stress and fatigue associated with sunlight exposure.

Benefits of Wearing Polarized Sunglasses

We’ve already touched on a couple of the key benefits of wearing polarized sunglasses, but you might be surprised to learn that their advantages are numerous. If you're interested in getting a pair of polarized sunglasses, look into our men's sunglasses and women's sunglasses, and check out our popular sunglasses styles at our pop up shows!

More Comfortable Driving

Drivers face all kinds of unpleasant glares and reflections on sunny days. Windows, mirrors, road signs, and even the streets themselves all reflect light, creating a barrage of visual distractions. Glare puts incredible strain on the eyes, and you may find that your eyes feel tired and possibly even sore after a long day spent driving in the sun. Mirrored lenses can help, so be sure to look into the benefits of mirrored sunglasses as well as our own mirrored sunglasses line.

Additionally, many people find that polarized lenses help them in hazy and foggy conditions, as well as in bright and sunny weather. This makes sense, because polarization enhances and sharpens details.

Better Vision Into Water

Just as polarized sunglasses can help you to see better in a glare-rich driving environment, they can also help you to see better into the water. That’s why boaters and fishers tend to wear polarized sunglasses.

Without polarized lenses, the water’s surface is a mess of reflections, which almost completely obscures anything below the water’s surface. Polarized lenses can block the reflections so the wearer can see the contents of the water instead of the reflection of the sky. You'll be able to more easily land your next big catch with the right shades!

Less Eye Strain

Glare causes eye strain, which leads to a host of other problems. When you have to squint to see clearly, your eyes can end up red, irritated, and fatigued, and you might even find yourself getting headaches as a result.

Polarized lenses can help you to avoid eye strain by offering clear and crisp images. You won’t have to squint or strain in order to see through the reflected light.

Better View of the Visual Spectrum

When you see an image that seems all tangled up because of the sun’s many reflections, your brain has a hard time sensing what you’re seeing and determining how to respond. Polarized sunglasses help your brain to more accurately perceive your surroundings and to improve reaction time. This is important for safe driving, but it can also be hugely important in sports and a wide variety of recreational activities.

Still, it's important to keep in mind that there are a few times when reducing glare can actually cause some problems. In wintertime, reduced glare can make it difficult for you to see black ice, which is already difficult to see. Also, LCD screens can look strange when viewed through polarized lenses. Fortunately, understanding how polarized lenses work will help you to know when and how to use them to their best effect.

Best of all, many polarized sunglasses come in trendy styles, such as our Poseidon, Vili, Odin, and more! Look into the sunglasses trends for fall 2017 to see if there's an option that fits your style.

For more information about polarized sunglasses, or to try on a pair of our polarized wooden sunglasses, come see us at our pop up shows. We're pleased to be your NYC sunglasses source, as well as your source to buy sunglasses online!