I’ve always caught myself squinting when I walk to and from classes on a sunny day, but never really thought anything of it. I just assumed everyone was as sensitive to the sun as I was, until I heard someone say that people with light eyes are usually more sensitive to sunlight. Although sunglasses always do the trick, I was still curious to find out what the reason was behind blue and green eyes being more sensitive than brown eyes.
Dr. Anupama Horne, a Duke ophthalmologist (a doctor who specializes in eye and vision care) claims that having light eyes is definitely a contribution to the reason for our awkward squinting when looking into bright lights. She makes it clear that photophobia mainly affects people with lighter eyes due to the smaller amount of pigmentation in the multiple layers of our eyes. Photophobia is used to describe light sensitivity, or discomfort in bright lights. People who have photophobia cannot avoid the effects of lights such as the sun or fluorescent lights. Photophobia also causes people to have a hard time seeing anything or concentrating in bright lights, as well as being a source of pain around the eye. If you catch yourself rubbing your eyes or squinting when you’re in bright light, there’s a good chance you may have photophobia.
The reason that people with darker eyes, or brown eyes, don’t have as much trouble with the sun is because the pigmentation helps them avoid the glare from the sun or from bright lights. Another doctor, Francesca Marchetti, explains that people with lighter eyes also have a better chance of macular degeneration (when light-sensitive cells began to die) as they grow older. Since I have light eyes, it was important for me to also find out what can be done to prevent anything harmful from happening. Staying away from the sun, wearing hats and keeping your sunglasses on are a few things you can do to protect your eyes. Light eyes are a blessing, and a curse.
http://www.dukemedicine.org/blog/#!/myth-or-fact-people-light-eyes-are-more-sensitive-sunlight
http://www.knowledgesalad.com/useful/light-colored-eyes-really-sensitive-bright-light/
I have blue eyes and I squint most of the time, even when it’s cloudy. I know people get jealous and always say that they want my color eyes because they hate their “poop” colored eyes but if the sun wouldn’t affect me as much, maybe I should get my eye color changed if that is even possible! The article was very interesting to read!
I found this blog post really relatable! Whenever me and my friends would go to the pool and lay out, some of them would always complain that they couldn’t even lay face up because their eyes hurt. And now that I think about it, the ones who complained had blue eyes. I always found this ridiculous and thought they were just being weak! If only I had known! What do you think would happen if they were wearing brown colored contacts? I found some information here:
http://www.medicinenet.com/photophobia/symptoms.htm
Wow I never even thought about my eye color causing me to be more sensitive to the sun. Its so obvious but it never crossed my mind. My eyes change color from green to blue so clearly the sun might be tough only eyes but it makes a lot of sense that it affects me more than someone with brown eyes duet the amount of pigmentation in my eyes. Unfortunately for us green and blue eyed people, we have to deal with some painful sun but its definitely worth it because we have the cooler eyes by far.
Every time I walk to science with my friend Anna, I forget my sunglasses and complain to her about how sensitive my eyes are to the sunlight, and I find myself squinting painfully all the way to class. This is extremely interesting and informative considering I have always wondered if everyone’s eyes are as sensitive as mine are! I have also noticed this when I’ve walked with my roommate (who has dark eyes). I always say how the sun hurts my eyes and she hardly even squints!