Beware of the glare: it is vision's enemy

It has been extensively proved that, as like UV rays, the glare can also be very harmful for the health of our eyes.

Its effects, which set in both in the short and long term, can damage vision and put a strain on the well-being of our sight.

The beach, for instance, and many outdoor situations subject eyes to light that is ten to twelve times higher than recommended.

When we speak about the glare, we generally only refer to light reflected by snow, the sea and sparkling surfaces. There are, in practice, 4 types of glare numbering: 'distracting' glare (caused by reflection on the lens surface), 'annoying' glare (which can also occur outdoors and is caused by intense light when the eye is unable to adjust to a further increase in brightness), the one called 'disabling' glare (caused by light that is too bright) and, 'blinding' glare, which is produced by the combination of intense light and light mirrored by smooth sparkling surfaces.

And what about negative effects? The annoying glare, for instance, makes one narrow his eye and turn away even at low levels of brilliance, thus causing constriction of the pupil and closure of eyelids with subsequent strain to eyes.

Instead we speak of disabling glare when light intensity reaches ca 10,000 lumen, which, in practice, prevent vision.

The disabling glare makes objects present a lesser contrast than the one they would have without the glare. Light is so intense and blinding in such cases that the eye is unable to distinguish what is 'hidden' by the very glare. The disabling effect can occur, for instance, when we look at a car's headlights at night with the risk of running into a dangerous situation.

We can avoid such drawbacks and keep our eyes rested and comfortable by adopting some highly effective precautionary measures. These number, for instance, photochromatic lenses that perfectly adjust to light conditions and eliminate the glare by either absorbing or mirroring its light.

Photochromatic lenses Transitions with their antiglare coating are an excellent solution to avoid disorders brought on by the glare. They improve contrast perception.

Transitions lenses' special technological feature is that they are perfectly clear indoors and automatically darken to adjust to outdoor light; they maintain light at comfortable levels and reduce the strain on our eyes whenever we move from indoors to outdoors and vice versa.

And for those who are keen on aesthetic features we should mention that eyewear fitted with photochromatic lenses lessens the need to narrow eyes when there is a glare, thus delaying the onset of wrinkles.

Marketed in opticians stores, Transitions photochromatic lenses are compatible with all types of visual defects (myopia, presbyopia and astigmatism). Produced in a variety of materials and types (monofocal, bifocal, progressive), they can be worn by anyone at any age.

The choice of leading international eyewear manufacturers, Transitions are the only WCO certified (World Council of Optometry) lenses. The WCO is one of the highest international authorities in the eyewear sector.