Everything You Want to Know About Polarized Lenses

Important Tips:

1.  Many patients benefit from polarized lenses. Although you may have heard of these as "specialty" lenses,  polarized lenses can appeal a broad range of patients. They're recommended for anyone who:

• Drives more than a few minutes a day

• Wears contact lenses.

• Drives a truck or bus.

• Works outdoors, such as in construction or landscaping.

• Has an outdoors hobby, such as gardening.

• Spends time near the water boating, fishing or water skiing.

• Spends time near the snow, namely skiing or snowmobiling.

• Hunts or target shoots.

2. Polarized lenses reduce surface glare.
Glare can cause problems ranging from discomfort to serious visual impairment. For most of us the biggest threat is glare from road surfaces, oncoming windshields and the hood of your car. Eliminating glare has many advantages. Two key ones your patients would be interested in:

• Comfort. Polarized lenses reduce squinting, which can cause eyestrain and tension.

• Visual acuity. Glare reduces your vision and at times can be extreme enough that you can not see objects through it.Polarized lenses offer particular advantages for fishermen and women and boaters. When wearing polarized lenses, you can see much more deeply into the water.

3. Polarized lenses offer the most protection for eyes.
Polarized lenses protect your eyes in two ways. All polarized lenses come with a filter that protects your eyes from direct UV light, and another filter that blocks reflected UV light. UV radiation can contribute to age-related cataract, pterygium, cancer of the skin around the eye, photokeratitis and corneal degeneration. Sunglasses that do not contain UV protection and are not polarized allow the harmful UV rays to come through. They may even increase the potential damage because they cause your pupils to dilate, allowing even more harmful UV light into your eye.

4. Polarized lenses block reflected light while allowing direct light to come through.
Direct light waves vibrate in all directions, but reflected light waves vibrate in the same direction. This creates glare. Bright, flat surfaces such as water or pavement are the primary sources. Polarized lenses block the light reflecting off these surfaces. The polarized lens contains a special filter that blocks reflected light with a molecular "fence."

5.  You can get polarized lenses just like the lenses you normally wear.
Polarized lenses come in a variety of styles and materials, so you can order a lens like the ones you normally wear. You can order them in plano, single vision, bifocal and progressive addition powers. They're available in regular plastic, high index (or extra thin) plastic, impact-resistant polycarbonate and glass.

6. Polarized lenses are sometimes confused with photochromics.
Polarized lenses are tinted one color. They remain that color (usually gray or brown). Photochromic lenses change their tint according to the brightness of the light you're in; they are lighter indoors than outdoors. However, you can order polarized photochromics. These lenses are polarized and they change from light to dark as you go from indoors to outdoors.

7. Polarized lenses cost more because they are more complicated to make.
Polarized lenses are really three layers bonded together. The polarizing filter is integrally bonded with two pieces of optically ground lens material. In a sense, you have six different lenses in each single pair of polarized sunglasses.

Teresa Lui OD          Palo Alto Optometrist       Optical Boutique        650-321-9525   info@drteresalui.com