You can get sunburn not only on the skin, but also in your eyes. This can be uncomfortable and, in the worst case, result in consequential damage. We explain to you how to avoid sunburn in the eye.
With high sunlight, you can suffer a sunburn on the skin. But not only your skin, but also your eyes are susceptible to too much UV radiation. Maybe you even had a sunburn in the eye. This happens to some people, for example, while skiing or tobogganing without safety glasses, which is why one speaks colloquially of “snow blindness” in the eye.
Contrary to the naming, this does not only occur when skiing. You can also get a sunburn in the eye on the beach in summer or at certain other activities if you do not protect yourself sufficiently. While light sunburns in the area of the eyes can only be uncomfortable and painful, stronger burns can lead to permanent damage. It is all the more important to protect your eyes well.
We explain to you how sunburn arises in the eye, how it can be treated and how you can prevent snow blindness.
What is sunburn in the eye?
Sunburn in the eye is an acute inflammation of the horn and conjunctiva or keratoconjunctivitis photoelectrica. It arises similarly to a classic sunburn: the top layers of cornea of the eye, which normally absorb a large part of the UV radiation, burn due to too much sunlight. They swell, which means that the dying cells remove uncontrolled and there are inflammatory reactions.
According to the Techniker Krankenkasse, this usually only appears six to eight hours later through the following symptoms:
- increased sensitivity to light
- Foreign body feeling in mind
-
Red, tearful and swollen eyes
- itchy eyes
- burning eyes
- see blurry
- Stuck up to severe pain in the eye
- In the event of a serious combustion, a multi -day blindness
When does sunburn come in mind?
Sunburn in the eye arises when a lot of UV radiation comes into the eye. This often happens when skiing: the snow reflects the sun. If you do not wear ski glasses in sunny weather, then you get reflected sunlight in the eyes all day and can easily burn it. Hence the name “snow blindness”.
But even in other situations in which your eyes get a lot of UV radiation, sunburn can occur:
- In glacier hikes
- in the solarium when you go to the sunbed unprotected
- On the beach because the bright sand and the water also reflect the sun
- If you drive a long car on sunny days without sunglasses (this is also the author of this article herself after five hours of sunny drive)
- When electronic white without eye protection
In principle, snow blindness can always occur if your eyes are exposed to sunlight for a long time. Even a few minutes of direct UV radiation can damage the eye, according to the Federal Office for Radiation Protection.
Tip: Always check the UV index when the weather. It gives you valuable information about the strength of the sunlight.
What are the consequences of snow blindness?
Slight inflammation of sunburn on the eye usually heal on their own within a few days, provided you protect your eyes accordingly. Because the dead cells in the eye can regenerate, as can that of the skin. Headaches and visual disturbances can still stop for a few weeks, even if the inflammation has already healed, according to the Techniker Krankenkasse.
If it is more serious inflammation, the snow blindness can cause scars in the tissue. These can permanently affect your eyesight. According to optician This Bräuer, a number of complications can occur on the eye in the event of severe snow blindness. The risk of this increases if you often get a sunburn on your eye or do not cure it sufficiently. Repeated strong stress on the eyes due to UV radiation can primarily promote eye problems in old age.
It is therefore important that you get in the eye quickly in the case of sunburn in order to avoid any complications as far as possible. It is of course best to protect your eyes so that there is no sunburn in the eye.
Sunbly -burned eyes: what to do now
The treatment of a sunburn on the eye was always best done by walking to a doctor. This is particularly important in order to be able to rule out other eye diseases with similar symptoms. According to Bräuer, the symptoms of snow blindness can also be triggered in the eye in other diseases such as a glaucoma.
When treating a sunburn on the eye, the focus is on the following steps:
- Treatment of pain by painkillers
- Protecting the eyes to enable regeneration and prevent further damage (in some cases an eye association is created; bed rest is often also recommended)
- The prevention of further complications, for example antibacterial eye drops against infections
Note: With a sunburn in the eye, you should not wear contact lenses and try not to rub or scratch the eyes. For first relief, you can put a damp cloth on the closed eyes.
So you protect yourself in the eye from sunburn
With some uncomplicated measures you can effectively protect yourself and prevent snow blindness:
- Use sunglasses with UV protection for outdoor activities. According to the Techniker Krankenkasse, you recognize this by the markings with the CE sign and protection class three. You can find beautiful models here: Sustainable sunglasses: good UV protection and little plastic.
- When skiing and other activities with snow or ice cream, it should be best for protection class four, special glacier glasses on the glacier. You can find this information on the bracket on the side. Read more about this in this article: Categories for sunglasses: that is what they stand for
- Also make sure that the sunglasses protect against the side from sunlight. There are also suitable glacier glasses for skiing.
- Wear suitable safety glasses when welding.
- Use the protection for the eyes provided in the solarium (it is best if you don’t even go to the solarium, according to the German Cancer Aid).
Note: In addition to your eyes, your lips can also get sunburn, as well as your face and scalp. So good sun protection is important for the whole body. It is not enough to apply cream of the arms and legs. With sufficient sun protection, you can not only prevent unpleasant sunburns, but also avoid unsightly consequences of too much sunlight, for example premature skin aging or even skin cancer.
Read more on utopia.de:
- Winging the eye: causes and how you calm the twitching eyelid
- Blue light filter and night mode: Do you really protect your eyes?
- Irritated eyes: you can do that
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