Glare is a visual sensation caused by excessive brightness and light in your visual field that your eyes can't manage correctly. While it doesn't pose a direct threat to your sight, it can cause discomfort and interfere with your tasks, even momentarily blinding you if it's too strong. This can be very dangerous, especially while driving or working with certain tools.
How is it caused and what can you do to reduce its impact? We tell you in this article.
What causes glare?
Our eyes work by reflecting light from the objects that we look at. When the light reaches our eyes' retina, special cells called photoreceptors transform the light into electric signals and send them through the optic nerve to the brain, which turns them into images.
When light is direct and intense, for example from strong sunlight or a powerful lamp, it can produce glare when reflecting from certain objects and surfaces, such as :
- Another car or a puddle on the road while driving.
- On a computer screen or smooth and glossy surfaces, such as windows or glass tables.
- On the snow while walking outside on a winter's day.
Prolonged exposure to glare can also cause eye strain and fatigue, and certain eye conditions can cause us to develop a heightened sensitivity to light which in some cases can make glare unbearable.
Glare normally worsens as we age and the lens in the eye loses its transparency. This is the case with cataracts. Conditions that affect the iris and the pupil can also be responsible for excessive glare, since they regulate the amount of light entering the eyes.
How to avoid glare?
The easiest way to reduce glare round the house is to be mindful of where you put lamps and other sources of light so they don't create glare. You can also change the position of the TV screen or your computer if they receive direct sunlight while using them.
There are also different tools and visual aids to help you, especially when you're out and about:
- Applying anti-reflective coating to your glasses is one of the simplest ways to reduce glare. One or more layers of coating will be applied to each side of the lens, allowing for a better flow of light and reducing glare. How many layers will be applied differs and it's generally decided by your eye specialist. It can be used in combination with other methods.
- Transition lenses are another fantastic way of dealing with the issue. They have been around for a while now, offering flexibility when it comes to environments where the amount of light differs. They look like standard prescription glasses when in the shade or dimly lit places but once in the sunlight, they will become darker on their own to protect the eye from the light.
- Polarized lenses are another solution. They are very popular for driving and for winter and water sports. The way they work is related to the nature of light: it can reflect vertically or horizontally. Glare is horizontally oriented light, and the chemicals in the polarising coating block out horizontal light and allow vertical light to pass through.
- Tinted lenses. Certain sunglasses and clip-ons have a special tint that reduces light transmission and glare. They can be an ideal alternative to traditional sunglasses for people with low vision.
In Conclusion
These are some of the things you should know about
Glare is a visual sensation caused by excessive brightness and light in your visual field that your eyes can't manage correctly. While it doesn't pose a direct threat to your sight, it can cause discomfort and interfere with your tasks, even momentarily blinding you if it's too strong. This can be very dangerous, especially while driving or working with certain tools.
How is it caused and what can you do to reduce its impact? We tell you in this article.
What causes glare?
Our eyes work by reflecting light from the objects that we look at. When the light reaches our eyes' retina, special cells called photoreceptors transform the light into electric signals and send them through the optic nerve to the brain, which turns them into images.
When light is direct and intense, for example from strong sunlight or a powerful lamp, it can produce glare when reflecting from certain objects and surfaces, such as :
- Another car or a puddle on the road while driving.
- On a computer screen or smooth and glossy surfaces, such as windows or glass tables.
- On the snow while walking outside on a winter's day.
Prolonged exposure to glare can also cause eye strain and fatigue, and certain eye conditions can cause us to develop a heightened sensitivity to light which in some cases can make glare unbearable.
Glare normally worsens as we age and the lens in the eye loses its transparency. This is the case with cataracts. Conditions that affect the iris and the pupil can also be responsible for excessive glare, since they regulate the amount of light entering the eyes.
How to avoid glare?
The easiest way to reduce glare round the house is to be mindful of where you put lamps and other sources of light so they don't create glare. You can also change the position of the TV screen or your computer if they receive direct sunlight while using them.
There are also different tools and visual aids to help you, especially when you're out and about:
- Applying anti-reflective coating to your glasses is one of the simplest ways to reduce glare. One or more layers of coating will be applied to each side of the lens, allowing for a better flow of light and reducing glare. How many layers will be applied differs and it's generally decided by your eye specialist. It can be used in combination with other methods.
- Transition lenses are another fantastic way of dealing with the issue. They have been around for a while now, offering flexibility when it comes to environments where the amount of light differs. They look like standard prescription glasses when in the shade or dimly lit places but once in the sunlight, they will become darker on their own to protect the eye from the light.
- Polarized lenses are another solution. They are very popular for driving and for winter and water sports. The way they work is related to the nature of light: it can reflect vertically or horizontally. Glare is horizontally oriented light, and the chemicals in the polarising coating block out horizontal light and allow vertical light to pass through.
- Tinted lenses. Certain sunglasses and clip-ons have a special tint that reduces light transmission and glare. They can be an ideal alternative to traditional sunglasses for people with low vision.
In Conclusion
These are some of the things you should know about glare. We hope you have found our tips and recommendations useful, but make sure to check with your eye specialist if glare is seriously affecting your daily life or if it becomes difficult to manage.