Protect your eyes and look great in pair of prescription sunglasses from Custom Eyecare – for driving, the beach, or just walking around outside. Enjoy protection from glare and UV without compromising on clear vision.
Choose a stylish sunglass from our fashion range and have it fitted with your individual prescription lenses by our expert qualified optical dispensers. At Custom EyeCare, almost of the sunglasses in our range are ‘prescriptable’, meaning they can take a prescription lens.
Select your preference of a dark, medium or light tint with our expert guidance. Or, you can choose polarising prescription lenses, which are great for fishing, boating and reflected glare situations. Polarising lenses are available in either grey for no colour distortion, or brown for better contrast on hazy days.
We can even put multifocal lenses into prescription sunglasses so that you can check your mobile phone, look at your watch, and read in the sun!
Sunglasses and UV damage
Why protect your eyes from UV?
We wear sunscreen to protect our skin from harmful Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, but we can’t sunscreen our eyeballs! The best way to protect our eyes from the sun is with sunglasses.
Ultraviolet light is invisible, high energy rays from the sun, that contributes to ageing of the skin and skin cancers. The sun’s rays contain both UV-A and UV-B. UV-A radiation is less damaging, but can penetrate much deeper into the eye and cause injury. UV-B is more damaging, and most UV-B is absorbed by the eyelids, the front surface of the eye or cornea, and the crystalline lens inside our eye.
Sunlight contains much more UV-A than UV-B and neither provides benefit to the eye, nor contributes to vision. Optimal sun protection should reduce both types of UV radiation to safe levels.
Since UV radiation is reflected off surfaces such as snow, water and sand, the risk is particularly high on the beach, while boating or in mountain areas. The risk is greatest during the mid-day hours, from 10 am to 3 pm, and during the summer months. UV levels are also greater at high altitudes.
Children are at a higher risk of sustaining ocular damage from UV radiation than adults. Children typically spend more time outdoors and their ocular structures are more permeable to UV radiation. As a general rule of thumb, if an adult is wearing sunglasses, then kids should be too.
Sun damage, known as Solar ultraviolet radiation is cumulative, so over time can cause an inflammation of the front surfaces of the eye and eyelid cancers. Australians have a much higher rate of eyelid cancers than the rest of the continent because of our climate, and our eyelids are a difficult place to apply sunscreen correctly. .
Sun damage can also cause pterygiums and cataracts. Pterygium is a growth of tissue on the white of the eye that may extend onto the clear cornea where it may distort or block vision. Cataracts are cloudiness of the lens inside the eye that develops over many years.
All sunglasses sold at Custom Eyecare follow the Australian standard AS/NZS 1067:2003 for UV protection.
Our advice for UV protection to prevent eye damage is:
- Always wear sunglasses in combination with other UV protection measures such as remaining in the shade, wearing a hat and sunscreen.
- Wraparound, close fitting, large-lens sunglasses provide the best protection through reducing direct and reflected UV radiation and glare reaching the eyes.
- Make UV eye protection part of your everyday routine, even on overcast days.
- Talk to your optometrist or our dispensing team of sunglass experts, to help you choose the right pair.
- Fashion sunglasses aren’t UV safe.
- Children are at a higher risk of sustaining ocular damage from UV radiation than adults.
- Individuals whose work or recreation involves lengthy exposure to sunlight are at greatest risk.
“What about the sunnies I just bought from Bali”?
The risk is you just don’t know if they have the proper amount of UV protection. They may feel ok, and the tint may be dark enough to reduce the glare but there is a risk of UV damage to your eyes if there is not the correct UV filter in the lens. The UV filter in the lens is invisible, like the sunscreen we wipe into our skin. Just because it feels fine doesn’t mean it is.
Are Prescription Sunglasses Right for Me?
UV protection is important in our Australian climate.
Both sustained and intermittent exposure to UV rays can damage even the most accurate eyesight – the sun does not discriminate, nor does it relent, even in winter. Sunglasses protect your eyeballs, ensuring your sight remains unimpacted by bright weather… even if you need a prescription to get you from A to B.
Thinking about our sunny Australian summer brings to mind the famous slip, slop, slap campaign. So while you’re slipping on breathable fabrics, slopping on mounds of sunscreen and slapping on a hat to keep the heat off your head, you should also be sliding on your favourite shades to complete a protective sun hygiene routine.
Maybe you’ve never considered investing in prescription sunglasses before now, or perhaps you’re unaware of just how much sunglasses can improve your day to day, from the moment you get in the car to reading a book on the beach or spending time with friends outdoors. Don’t let your prescription hold you back – take a moment to learn more about prescription sunglasses lenses, from polarising to multifocal. Most patients swear that once you’ve had sunglasses made to your prescription, you will never go back!
We’ll work with you to identify the right frames to suit your prescription needs and budget, discussing thickness, coverage, colour and style. Lens selection usually relies on two things, appearance and function. You have two options to add the UV filter and darkened lenses into a pair of prescription sunglasses.
Polarising Lenses
Polarising lenses are ideal for people who spend their lives on the coast or near high-glare environments. These specialised lenses filter intense beams of light reflected off horizontal surfaces such as water, windscreens and concrete. Polarising lenses improve sighted detail and remove surface glare. Although seafarers swear by polarising lenses, they can be extremely useful in everyday situations away from the water. Polarised sunglasses are perfect for driving as they minimise the impact of glare caused by the road surface, pavement or car bonnets.
The Drawbacks: Polarising lenses can make some LCD gadgets tricky to see, and some car window tinting already has some level of polarisation which can interact with the lenses. They also cost a little more than non-polarising sunglasses.
Tinted Sunglasses
Not everybody chooses polarising lenses, in fact, Australia is packed with people who prefer the all-round use of non-polarising lenses. Customise your sunglasses to suit your needs and style preferences more completely with non-polarised lenses and pay a smidge less for the pleasure! Non-polarised lenses offer more choice in the customisation of lens tint and darkness, you can choose any colour you like! They include a UV filter within in the lens also so both options are great to protect your eyes from sun damage
Multifocal sunglasses
Multifocal sunglasses are perfect for the over 45s crowd, focusing their vision in sunny situations, ensuring anything from menus to travel guides to small print appears entirely readable to the protected eye. Put these sunglasses to work in every outdoor context, including going for a run or taking a weekend drive – you won’t struggle to see the speedo or read a map with multifocal sunglasses!
Clip-Ons
Far-flung from the dodgy days of the 80s and early 90s, clip-on sunglasses are no longer the public embarrassment they once were. Magnets have transformed the clip-on industry, meaning your everyday frames are also your sunglasses with the aid of one small attachment – although no one will know. Unless you tell them. Although only a couple of brands have jumped on the magnetised band-wagon, clip-ons remain a legitimate, cost-effective choice.
Ready to take the plunge? Do you still have questions? Our team of Custom Eye Care experts are always ready with the answers you need to make the right decision for you.
If you’d like to have your prescription updated before ordering your prescription sunglasses, book an appointment for an eye and vision check at Custom EyeCare Newcastle. Otherwise, you can go ahead and enquire about ordering your prescription sunglasses straight away.
