“I wrote this review while participating in an influencer campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of HealthyWomen and VISTAKON® Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. and received a promotional item from Mom Central to thank me for taking the time to participate.”
Eye care has always been an important part of not only my upbringing, but of my life. My mom grew up in the 50’s and during this time sunglasses just weren’t something that people wore much and protecting your eyes from the sun was really unheard of. And staring at the sun wasn’t really “frowned” upon. I remember my mother going to the Optometrist when I was about 9 or 10 and she was diagnosed with Macular Degeneration. The Optometrist ask her if she did a lot of “looking at the sun" while growing up, and she had told him that she did. He told her that he was sorry to inform her but because of her staring at the sun while growing up, this had caused her Macular Degeneration. Now, I had no idea what this was so mother explained it to me at the time saying that when you stare at the sun you can give your eyes a “sunburn” and over time after spending many years in the sun like this that you will develop Macular Degeneration. Now I’m not a dr, so don’t go quoting me on what my mother told me 20 years ago! But to me, from my mother being in the sun so much in her years growing up and not wearing sunglasses and her developing this that she started making sure that I had on sunglasses all the time when I was outdoors. And since then I make sure that if I walk out the house {yes, literally everytime} that I have on my sunglasses. I do not want to take any chances. And I have instilled this in my family today. I have mine on and usually use them as a hair band when I run into the store or heck even at church, but I always have them on.
When I had the chance to spread the word about eye health I jumped at the chance because of the story that I had growing up from my mother, the sun, and Macular Degeneration.
However, sometimes sunglasses aren’t enough so grab a hat! Did you know that research shows that by the time a child is 18 that they have had the biggest exposure to UV rays already? That sounds to me like we as parents need to make sure we throw a hat and or some sunglasses on our kids!! We as parents should protect not only our eyes but our kids eyes as well. And for those of you that are contact wearers there are now {which I think is pretty freaking cool} contacts with UV blocking protection! As always when wearing contacts please remember Contact Lenses: Tips for Proper Wear & Care.
**note: although UV-blocking contact lenses are beneficial in helping to protect against harmful UV rays entering into the eye, long-term clinical studies have not been done to show that they directly reduce the risk of any specific eye disease or condition. That is why they should always be worn in conjunction with high-quality UV-blocking sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat.
And don't forget the glare from the beach sand, ocean water, and pool water, heck, sometimes even a sheet or towel will give off an awful bright glare! So just because your hanging out beneath your umbrella on the beach, you still need those sunglasses and hat!
The Sun & Your Eyes: What You Need to Know and check here for additional tips and also visit HealthyWomen.org “Eye Health Center” for more information!
No comments:
Post a Comment