"It turns out I.sunburned my eyeballs," he said on his television show, Anderson Live. Television journalist Anderson Cooper experienced snow-free snow blindness first-hand a few years ago when he spent a couple hours on a boat in Portugal without sunglasses and ended up "blind for 36 hours," according to his report of the incident.Īfter the day in the sun, he woke up in the middle of the night with symptoms of burning eyes and a feeling there was sand or grit in his eyes. Sure the lenses block 100 percent of UV rays.īut water and white sand also are highly reflective of the sun's UV rays and increase the risk of snow blindness. Sunglasses with a close-fitting, wrap-style frame or snow goggles. To prevent snow blindness on the slopes, wear Combined, these factors can double your risk of getting sunburned eyes, compared with being outdoors at lower altitudes in the summertime. Also, skiing, mountain climbing and snowboarding usually take place at relatively high altitudes, where the sun's UV rays are stronger. In fact, snow can reflect more than 80 percent of the UV rays that fall upon it. The terms "snowblind" and "snow blindness" have become popular because snow is highly reflective of ultraviolet radiation. Though photokeratitis is commonly called snow blindness, the condition can (and often does) occur in the absence of snow. And like sunburned skin, by the time you notice symptoms of snow blindness, you've already been in the sun too long. The medical term for snow blindness is photokeratitis ("photo" = light "keratitis" = inflammation of the cornea).Įssentially, snow blindness is caused by a sunburned eye - or more specifically, a Snow blindness is a painful, temporary loss of vision due to overexposure to the sun's UV rays. ![]() Thankfully, it's a condition that is totally preventable.
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