What Are Polarized Sunglasses?

Polarized sunglasses are designed so that they can reduce the glare you see from some surfaces – these surfaces include (but are not limited to); glass, the hood of a car, water and snow. The main purpose of these polarized lenses being in sunglasses is that they can give a lot more clarity in environments that are very bright. Their ability to reduce glare means that polarized sunglasses are great for people who spend a lot of time outdoors.

How Do They Work?

The lenses used in polarized sunglasses have a filter on them, this filter blocks out all horizontal light waves that are travelling from a surface to your eyes. By having openings that only allow vertical light through is what will stop you from seeing the glare – this is not a benefit you get with normal glasses or sunglasses.

Advantages of Polarized Sunglasses

Firstly, as previously mentioned, one key benefit of wearing polarized sunglasses is that you can have much better vision in bright light. This improvement can mean that you can spend longer outside and have much less strain on your eyes. Having this freedom to enjoy the outdoors with less chances of eyestrain or any side effects of that, such as, headache or difficulty concentrating etc. Therefore, especially for people who do a lot of gardening or outdoor sports, weaning polarized glasses could be extremely beneficial.

Furthermore, two more benefits of wearing sunglasses with polarized lenses is that they can provide you with much more contrast and a lot less colour distortion (as shown in the photograph on the right). Being able to have much more distinction and clarity in the view in front of you can help you to enjoy experiences much more and distinguish things in coming up in front of you which may have been difficult to see using any other type of glasses or lense. This also describes the big benefit behind having no glare or reflection as a result of polarized lenses.

Disadvantages of Polarized Sunglasses

Despite the very clear benefits shown above, there also some downsides to using polarized sunglasses. One of these disadvantages is that they can cost a third more than normal sunglasses, on average. Therefore, for anyone working with a slightly tighter budget a pair of these sunglasses may not be the most practical for your bank account.

Additionally, while they can be useful for driving in direct sunlight, they can also be slightly more complex as the polarized lense can have a negative reaction to the tints on some windshields – this is something you’d definitely have to consider before wearing these to drive.

Are They Better For Your Eyes?

On one hand, polarized sunglasses are better for your eyes as they can sharpen your vision. Having improved vision in direct light which would usually make it very difficult to see things that are in front of you can save you a lot of stress and potential disaster in distracting and/or dangerous situations.

However, unlike most normal sunglasses, polarized lenses provide no protection from UV light. Exposing your eyes to too much UV light can cause some problem, including the deterioration of the skin surrounding your eyes.