If you are active, you are probably excited to go snowboarding, skiing, ice skating, and do other winter sports. While those winter sports may be a lot of fun, you want to make sure that you take the time to protect your eyes. You should do outdoor winter activities with eye protection so that you can protect your eyes from debris, snow, and from the sun. If you are active, you may want to talk to your eye doctor about your lifestyle needs so that your eye doctor can recommend what is best for you. Here are some ideas that you can discuss during your next eye exam:
Ask About Protective Eyewear:
Activities in the snow such as skiing, snowboarding and sledding should be accompanied by goggles that also have UVA and UVB protection. On a sunny winter day, snow can reflect 80% of all UV rays. Light reflecting from the snow can damage eyes; even if the rays may not seem as strong as the summer months.
Learn More About Contact Lenses:
If you don’t have contact lenses, ask your eye doctor about wearing contact lenses for sports. Contact lenses means that you won’t have glasses falling off during winter sports, fogging up when you come in from the cold, or just being clunky under protective eyewear that you have to wear. Some benefits of wearing contact lenses during winter sports are: wider field of peripheral vision, less vision distortion, and more vision stability. To find out what contact lens may be right for you, take this helpful Find Your Contact Lens quiz.
These are just a few ideas to get the conversation about winter sports started. For more specific questions about winter sports and your eyes, make sure to talk to an eye doctor. If you don’t have an eye doctor already, CooperVision has a Find An Eye Doctor tool that you can use.