Don’t take this advice lightly.
A world-renowned ophthalmologist is offering tips for selecting and wearing sunglasses after a TikToker shared a “cautionary tale” about allegedly purchasing “cheap” sunglasses that didn’t protect against harmful UV rays.
“Because I decided to buy trendy-a– sunglasses that were like $5 from Amazon, I am paying the ultimate price,” TikTok user @courtney_courtney declared in a clip last week that drew over 4 million views before she removed the video and two follow-ups about her plight.
Courtney claims she was diagnosed with pinguecula — harmless yellow-colored growths on the white part of both her eyes — after wearing black, oversized glasses with plastic lenses.
She acknowledged that the glasses alone did not cause the common condition, admitting that sometimes she didn’t wear sunglasses at all because she didn’t want to mess up her makeup.
Nevertheless, she said her eye doctor was “appalled” when she showed her the black pair. “In a very professional way, she pretty much said, ‘You have s—ty-a– sunglasses, and now you f—ed up your eyes,’” Courtney revealed on TikTok.
The manufacturer of Courtney’s sunglasses is unclear. She declined to comment when reached by The Post.
Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler, who founded the Boxer Wachler Vision Institute in Beverly Hills, told The Post that even a cheap pair of sunglasses made in the US “will have excellent protection.”
“The issue is buying cheap sunglasses on Amazon could be made in other countries without the same quality standards as the United States,” he added.
Years ago, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established guidelines that require nonprescription sunglasses and fashion eyewear to be tested for UV and visible light transmittance. (There are separate recommendations for prescription lenses and safety eyewear.)
The American Cancer Society advises looking for a label that says “Meets ANSI UV Requirements” or “UV absorption up to 400 nm,” which means the glasses block at least 99% of UV rays.
Sunglasses with the “cosmetic” label block about 70% of UV rays.
Other countries have their own standards. Be cautious if there’s no label.
Boxer Wachler said he once brought a UV meter to Venice Beach in California to measure sunglasses at various shops.
He said he found some pairs made in China that had “almost no UV protection despite being tinted.”
“These sunglasses would lull people into a false sense of security of being protected when in fact they were not and would be experience damage to their eyes,” he told The Post.
Boxer Wachler counsels wearing proper sunglasses all the time outdoors — even on cloudy days since UV rays still penetrate clouds.
Experiencing redness, bloodshot eyes, or yellow spots that don’t go away after a good night’s sleep could be a sign of permanent sun damage, Boxer Wachler said. Adults should get an eye exam every year.
If you have sun damage on the whites of your eyes, Boxer Wachler suggests exploring WhiterEyes conjunctivoplasty, a 15-minute “painless” cosmetic procedure he pioneered that can make the sclera white again by treating the tissue that contains the visible spots.
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