Save Your Sight This Summer

Date: July 16, 2013

You know better than to go outside without applying sunblock to your skin, lest you run the risk of getting skin cancer. It’s time that you think of your eyes in the same light.

In rare occasions, ultraviolet (UV) rays can burn your cornea. Symptoms include pain, tears and light sensitivity.

“The bigger problem for most people, however, is that UV exposure can increase your risk of cataracts or macular degeneration over the long term,” says Yassine Daoud, M.D., an ophthalmologist at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute.

Prevention, Daoud says, is as easy as wearing sunglasses with broad-spectrum protection against UVA and UVB rays.
For more information on the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, visit hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer.
 

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