National Sunglasses Day in the United States Date in the current year: June 27, 2024

The main goal of National Sunglasses Day is to highlight the importance of wearing sunglasses for your eyesight. Most people know that UV exposure is damaging to the skin so they apply sunscreen to prevent sunburn and skin cancer. But have you ever thought about the damage caused by the sun’s UV rays to your eyesight?

A full day outside in the sun without sunglasses can cause issues such as red or swollen eyes, blurred vision and hypersensitivity to light. Exposure to very bright sun may result in sunburn of the eye (photokeratitis). Its symptoms include watering eyes, extremely swollen eyelids, and a gritty sensation in the eyes. They may last for several days. Although conditions caused by short-term UV exposure do not result in permanent eye damage, they are extremely uncomfortable.

If you have a habit of not wearing sunglasses ever, the effects of sunlight exposure accumulate over time and may lead to more serious problems such as pterygium or pinguecula (benign growths on the eye), cataract (clouding of the lens of the eye), AMD (age-related macular degeneration), or even eye or eyelid cancer, which is very rare but not non-existent.

Ideally, you should wear sunglasses all the year round regardless of the weather because UV exposure may damage your eyesight even when it’s cloudy and cold outside. It is important to make sure that your sunglasses protect from both UVA and UVB radiation. This information can usually be found on a label or sticker on the glasses.

If you don’t want to look weird wearing sunglasses in winter, you can try other kinds of UV-protective eyewear, for example, glasses with photochromic lenses. Such lenses darken when exposed to sunlight and return to their clear state when there’s no sunlight exposure. Other lens options that offer UV protection include anti-reflective, mirror-coated, and polarized lenses. Anti-reflective coating is a great option because reflected sunlight is even more damaging than direct sunlight.

National Sunglasses Day was launched by The Vision Council, a US-based nonprofit trade association that represents optical industry manufacturers and suppliers. It promotes growth in the industry through industry networking events, research, education and training, consumer outreach, advocacy, and strategic relationship building.

The easiest way to join the celebration of National Sunglasses Day is to put on your shades, snap a selfie, and post it on your social media with the official hashtags #NationalSunglassesDay and #SunglassSelfie to spread the word. If you sometimes forget to wear sunglasses, this is the perfect occasion to make wearing them a regular habit regardless of the season. Many sunglasses manufacturers offer various deals to celebrate National Sunglasses Day, so make the most of these deals, buy yourself a pair of cool shades and don’t forget to wear them.