Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: sebastianganson on 06/07/2013 12:32:27

Title: At what age do eyes become sensitive to bright sunlight?
Post by: sebastianganson on 06/07/2013 12:32:27

A couple of days ago our family went to the local pool for fun in the sun.  Silly me, I forgot to bring along my sunglasses and found myself sitting in the kid's pool squinting and partially blinded by the bright sunshine that was also reflecting from the water and the light colored material used for the pool floor.  Shielding my eyes, I did a quick scan of the pool area and saw that most every adult had sunglasses while most every child did not.  My questions are:

At what age do our eyes typically grow more sensitive to light and lose ability to adjust (in full disclosure I do wear corrective lenses, so that may also have an impact)?
Would it have been better for everyone at the pool to wear sunglasses, and were the kids there doing more harm to their eyes than we perhaps realized?

Thanks!
Sebastian 

Title: Re: At what age do eyes become sensitive to bright sunlight?
Post by: Lmnre on 07/07/2013 22:41:34

From birth.

It's dangerous for babies when adults put them (face up) in a stroller and allow the sunlight to fall on their faces. I often see these babies squinting, to which the adults are totally oblivious. Why do they think their babies are squinting? I would guess it's even harmful if the sunlight is not in their eyes, but their face-up position still forces them to look at the bright sky. The sky isn't just blue, it's also ultraviolet, which is harmful to eyes.

babies eyes sunlight danger (https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=babies+eyes+sunlight+danger&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&tbs=&as_filetype=&as_rights=)

Title: Re: At what age do eyes become sensitive to bright sunlight?
Post by: distimpson on 09/07/2013 22:03:19

Had sun sneeze as long as I can remember, kind of weird:

"The photic sneeze reflex (also known as photoptarmosis, colloquially known as "sun sneezing") is a condition of uncontrollable sneezing in response to numerous stimuli, such as looking at bright lights or periocular (surrounding the eyeball) injection. The condition affects 18–35% of the population, but its exact mechanism of action is not well understood."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex)

Title: Re: At what age do eyes become sensitive to bright sunlight?
Post by: Matildasmith on 10/07/2013 08:29:13

I guess for the babies..the eyes are pretty much sensitive...so i think they should be avoided exposure to bright sunlight..

Title: Re: At what age do eyes become sensitive to bright sunlight?
Post by: alancalverd on 11/07/2013 08:24:10

I wonder if the ageing problem is more to do with contrast than overall brightness? I sometimes find it difficult or even painful to drive with a bright cloudy sky intruding in my visual field whilst I'm trying to concentrate on traffic on a black road and pedestrians moving in shadows. On the other hand, as I've got older, I'm less inclined to reach for my sunglasses when flying above cloud in midday sunshine. 

Title: Re: At what age do eyes become sensitive to bright sunlight?
Post by: Hayseed on 21/10/2019 18:10:41

Water flicker is one one the fun things about water, especially for kids.

Most male eyesight starts failing in the early 40s.

I only wore sunglasses for driving, lot's of chrome long ago.  Polarization is a great thing. But in the space of about 3-4 weeks in my early 40s, I couldn't read without close or large print and in a constant state of squint.

Glasses corrected the problem, and to this day I have a smooth wrinkle free forehead.