Do You Have Enough Protection From the Sun?
I didn’t know it was possible to get a sunburn on your eye until it happened to me. I thought I was safe—having thoroughly basted my uncooked chicken-colored skin with SPF 50—but my eyes were vulnerable, and I woke up the next day feeling like I’d been punched in the face.
Know this: your eyes can be sunburned, and they’re not the only body parts you’re likely to forget to protect from dangerous ultraviolet rays. So the next time you step outside, make sure you’ve done all you can to keep these neglected areas of the body safe.
Your eyes: Eye sunburn has a much more clinical name: photokeratitis. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, it can affect the cornea (the clear part of the eye over the pupil) and the conjunctiva (the clear tissue that covers the white part of the eye and the inside of the eyelids). For me, it manifested as an irregular pea-sized red splotch over the white bit and healed within about three days—a typical recovery time.
Excerpted from Popular Science
