The most important benefit of wearing sunglasses is that they protect your eyes from ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light can have harmful effects on the eyelid, cornea, lens and retina.

The purpose of sunglasses is to protect the purpose of sunglasses is to protect your eyes from ultraviolet so whether they be prescription sunglasses or non prescription sunglasses, we know that ultraviolet is a precursor to macular degeneration and also can lead to cataract development.

Because of this sunglasses are important for everybody including children and probably especially children. Most lenses these days are made with plastics so to absorb the ultraviolet there's a coating on the lens. Now over time, this coating can degrade a little bit, and it may be necessary to recoat a lens as time goes on. If there's ever any question about the quality of the tint or the level of protection that you might be receiving lenses can be put through an ultraviolet meter to determine just what the level of protection is, and most optometrists will have this at their disposal.

Presenter: Dr. David Mitchell, Optometrist, Vancouver, BC