{"id":127361,"date":"2017-06-29T10:29:24","date_gmt":"2017-06-29T14:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?post_type=school-college-post&p=127361"},"modified":"2017-06-30T11:35:07","modified_gmt":"2017-06-30T15:35:07","slug":"summer-sun-not-easy-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2017\/06\/summer-sun-not-easy-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Sun Not Easy on the Eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer is here and with that come some reminders about protecting ourselves from sun exposure and damage due to ultraviolet rays, particularly to the eyes and face.<\/p>\n

The area around the eyes has the thinnest skin on the body, and it\u2019s often where sun damage first shows itself, in the form of elasticity loss, brown spots, fine lines, discoloration, and in extreme cases, skin cancer.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, in many cases, this damage is the result of years of exposure to the sun earlier in life and cannot be reversed. The good news is, several cosmetic treatments are available.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dr. Madina Falcone, UConn Health ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon (Photo by Janine Gelineau)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere are multiple issues with prolonged sun exposure,\u201d says Dr. Madina Falcone<\/a>, UConn Health ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon. \u201cI see patients present with wrinkles, growths on the eyelid skin such as seborrheic keratosis, and of course skin cancer. The most common skin cancer is basal cell carcinoma, however sun exposure also increases the risk of squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.”<\/p>\n

As for the eyes themselves, a combination of sunglasses and broad-brimmed hats is the best way to protect them. Sunglasses labeled \u201c100% UV protection,\u201d which block both ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B rays work best. Oversized or wraparound styles offer more coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cUV exposure is theorized to play a role in cataract formation, it may contribute to age-related macular degeneration (AMD),\u201d Falcone says. \u201cNinety-nine percent of the UV rays are absorbed by the anterior structures of the eye, so the retina is actually quite well protected. There are studies currently looking into the UV-B rays and their impact on the retina and AMD. UV exposure is also linked with formation of pterygium (overgrowth and solar elastosis of the conjunctiva) as well as photokeratitis (inflammation of the cornea).\u201d<\/p>\n

And the sun doesn\u2019t have to be burning bright on a clear day to be harmful.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UV rays penetrate the clouds easily, so sun protection is advisable throughout the year,\u201d Falcone says. \u201cBlurred vision and \u2018sandy feeling\u2019 eyes could be an indication of dryness that would be associated with photokeratitis.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to wearing sunglasses and broad-brimmed hats, Falcone recommends using sunblock on the face and making sure to have routine eye exams.<\/p>\n

More information about eye care at UConn Health is available at health.uconn.edu\/eye-care<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summer is here and with that come some reminders about protecting ourselves from sun exposure and damage, particularly to the eyes and face.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":127380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1868],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2010],"class_list":["post-127361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meds"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 05:11:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127371,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127361\/revisions\/127371"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/127380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127361"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=127361"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=127361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}