– Ed
Your spectacles may give you excellent vision indoors and at night. But they can’t provide optimum vision outdoors on a sunny day. For that, you need prescription sunglasses. If you require vision correction, there’s no substitute for prescription sunglasses outdoors. Only prescription sunglasses can give you the best possible vision correction and a wide variety of tints to provide you with the most comfortable vision possible in bright conditions. Most high-fashion sunglass frames can take prescription lenses.
Ultra Violet protection
Style is important, but your primary concern when buying prescription sunglasses should be that the lenses block 100% of the sun’s harmful UV rays. The UV protection is unrelated to the colour and density of the tint in sunglass lenses, so you can choose any lens colour and darkness you like, as long as your optometrist verifies that the lenses provide 100% UV protection.
Polaroid Lenses
If you want the best protection from glare and bright reflections of light from water, sand, pavement and motorcar hoods and windshields, then polaroid lenses offer significant relief.
Contact Lenses
Even if you wear contact lenses (and non-prescription sunglasses over your contacts when you go outdoors), a separate pair of prescription sunglasses still is a good investment. The prescription sunglasses give you the option to remove your contacts if they feel dry or uncomfortable at the beach or elsewhere outdoors and still be able to see clearly and comfortably on sunny days.
Also, wearing your contact lenses while swimming is a bad idea because it increases your risk of severe eye infections like acanthamoeba keratitis. Swimming without your contacts and having your prescription sunglasses poolside is a much better plan.
Unlimited lens options
Prescription sunglasses are available for virtually any lens prescription, including multifocal lenses if you are presbyopic. Though glass lenses provide the best optical quality, they are no longer the most popular choice for sunglasses. This is because they are much heavier than lenses made of other materials, and they can shatter easily. However, they are still available if you request them. Another sun wear option is to purchase prescription spectacle lenses that have a photochromic tint that darkens automatically in sunlight. This is particularly handy if your daily routine involves moving between indoors and outdoors a lot. However, many photochromic lenses don’t darken very well behind vehicle windshields and a fixed tint will always be the better option.
Protection against UV radiation should be seen as essential in South Africa since exposure can lead to serious ocular problems. Moreover, performance can be greatly enhanced in sport and outdoor activities, by wearing quality prescription sunglasses.