With bright winter weather, perfect track conditions and pleasant temperatures are many to go to the mountains. In addition to warm winter clothing and sunscreen, you should never forget to always wear sunglasses. This is because not only our skin but also the eyes are subject to sunburn.
"Sunburn", or snow blindness, is the common term for light damage to the ocular surface due to excessive or unprotected exposure to ultraviolet rays. In the mountains, UV rays are stronger than in the plains. Furthermore, in winter the sun's rays are reflected by the snow; which favors an eye injury similar to sunburn.
Prevention
Here's how to best protect your eyes from snow blindness.
• Wear certified sunglasses with high protection against UV rays. Plastic lenses are recommended for children due to the risk of an accident.
• Further side protection of the goggles also protects against lateral radiation.
• Contact lenses with UV protection only partially help, as they leave unprotected parts of the eye exposed to light. Therefore, contact lens wearers should always wear sunglasses.
Symptoms
Often the disturbances occur with some delay after they have gone from 3 to 12 hours. The following characteristics indicate a possible snow blindness:
• red and inflamed eyes
• severe eye pain
• the sensation of a foreign body in the eye
• more abundant tearing
• Eyelid cramp (blepharospasm) or a protracted closing of the eyes due to sensitivity to light.
Treatment
If you suffer from any of the symptoms mentioned above, the recommendations listed below should help you soothe the pain:
• cool eyelids with cold compresses;
• rest in a pleasantly darkened room;
• remove any contact lenses, to avoid further rubbing;
• non-prescription drugs such as paracetamol or ibuprofen can also be taken to relieve pain;
• in case of the severe pain, it is recommended to apply an ointment or drops to the eyes and to go to the doctor.