You are likely just like many adults suffering from low vision acuity in low light settings like, nighttime driving, TV, Movies, theaters… BUT, did you know that one simple habit could help preserve your night vision?

That’s right, putting on a high quality sun lens when you go out into bright daylight, can help preserve your night vision. In fact, for every 10 minutes of bright daylight you are exposed to, you need 20-40 minutes for the daylight “bleached” pigment of the rod cells (rhodopsin) to recover your night acuity. Over time this recovery slows or lessens to a degree of noticeably poor vision in darkened spaces and night driving.

Everyone knows to wear full spectrum UVA/UVB protected lenses to reduce the harmful invisible light rays from damaging the back of the eye (retina), but not everyone recognizes that even the visible light that creates your day-vision, when unfiltered or too bright, can also cause damage to the cells of the eye.

Want to know why your child is afraid of the dark? It is because during unprotected outside playtime in bright daylight, their light receptor cells are being “bleached” and this makes night-time feel extra dark to children and causes night driving acuity to be poor for adults at younger ages than their counterparts that wear sunglasses routinely.

The good news is, wearing quality, light-filtering sunglasses year-round during the brightest times of the day, at all ages, may well help you preserve the activation time of your night vision and future night vision acuity. Only rock-stars on bright stages need to wear sunglasses at night, but the rest if us would do well to remember that while not all light is harmful to our vision, improperly filtered light definitely is, and it has long-term implications for our vision acuity in all lighting conditions. So, wear your sunglasses, protect your kids, and give the gift of better night vision to the whole family this year.

All day long we are reminded not to touch our faces, eyes, nose or mouth for fear of picking up unwanted bacteria or a virus. Even when the world is not in mid-pandemic mode, your eyeglasses have to be cleaned just like you have to wash your hands to stay sanitary. However, during this pandemic it is of utmost importance that you clean you glasses when you come in from public spaces and that you not use your dry cloth on your lenses until your eyeglasses have been sanitized properly.

There is no need for special spray or antibacterial wipes to accomplish a good clean. When basic soap like dawn dish soap is available, that will serve you fine. Any dish or hand soap that is sans aloe or lotions will clean most eyeglass materials and lenses too, without harm. I encourage you to consider how often you touch your eyeglasses through the day. Even when your eyeglasses fit you well, it is not uncommon to develop a habit of touching them, lifting them off your nose briefly, and there are those of you who even choose to push them up on top of your head. You’ll get no lecture from me about any of these habits as I possess all of them myself. However, it does mean that now, more than ever it is important to keep your eyeglasses as clean as you are keeping your hands.

Step one: wet your frame and lenses (as long as it is not wood or other delicate, porous materials)

Step two: put a dot of dish soap (without aloe or lotion) on your index finger and rub it with your thumb until lightly sudsy

Step three: rub your thumb and forefinger over the lenses and temples (arms) and rinse clean under running water

Step four: dry your eyeglasses thoroughly. Any low lint paper product that feels soft to the touch and without grit may be used, though ideally you would use your polishing cloth given with your eyeglass purchase. You don’t want water trapped in nose pads or between the lens and frame to turn your eyeglasses green so dry thoroughly. If you choose to blow dry your eyeglasses do so on low or no heat and never high heat (this can cause damage to frame or lenses).

Extra deep clean tip: sometimes you get grime caught in places that are hard to clear. Use a baby soft toothbrush to clean nose pads and lens grooves when needed.