If you wear prescription eyewear, then you know you face a dilemma every time the sun shows up. Do you stay with your every day prescription glasses? Doing so puts you at great risk of the aging effects brought on by the sun, such as deep lines and wrinkles brought on by squinting. Also, your normal prescription glasses provide no UV protection, which could lead to serious damage to your eyes over time. So apparently the answers is we must have to carry around a separate pair of prescription sunglasses and swap them with our everyday pair when we are in the sun, right?
Thankfully, there is another option. By investing in transition lenses, we can wear the same pair of eyeglasses both inside and outside. With transition lenses, when we are inside the lenses stay lighter, and when we go out they quickly darken and provide UV protection from the sun.
Transition Lenses, also known as photochromic lenses, are pre coated with chemicals that respond quickly to sun light. These lenses are made of glass and have sterling silver chloride or sterling silver halide embedded inside the lenses. Plastic transition lenses contain natural photochromic molecules. The molecules with these compounds are very clear and translucent in light which does not contain UV rays. However, as soon as they are put in sunlight they begin to change color. The UV rays causes the molecules to change shape, absorbing this light. This causes these eyeglasses to become darker and turn into sunglasses. When the UV light is removed, the molecules quickly return to their previous state and the sunglasses become clear again and turn into eyeglasses.
This darkening process happens relatively quickly. Transition Glasses become dark inside one minute, though they may continue to darken for up to fifteen minutes at which time these eyeglasses reach their darkest state. Going the other way is a little slower. Most Transition Eyeglasses are noticeably lighter within 2 minutes and the eyeglasses are almost entirely clear within five minutes. However, the clearing process at times may take up to fifteen minutes to reach their most transparent state.
The stronger the UV rays, the darker the lenses become. This means that this effect will not always be consistent. It will depend on the time of day and how strong the sun is.
Transition glasses don’t darken without of UV rays. It is important to note that UV rays do not enter our cars because they are deflected by the windshield. In a car, transition lenses will remain lighter because of the absence of UV rays.
However, transition lenses are certainly not just for prescribed lens wearers. Sports people yearn optimal protection from their sunglasses may consider investing in a pair of eyeglasses with photochromic properties. These sunglasses have darkened lenses which become much darker when the UV light hits them. Because these lenses never are lighter, they are really best worn outside.
Because the chemicals contained in transition lenses work to filter out UV light, transition lenses provide 100% UV protection.
Brighton Optical offers a very large selection of the latest Eyeglasses, Sunglasses on display in Buffalo NY. They also have an onsite staff optometrist. If you want great eye care in Buffalo NY, check them out!