7 surprising reasons to wear your best pair of shades

Just as it can damage your skin, the sun can do a number on your eyes. Among other things, ultraviolet (UV) rays can increase your chances of contracting debilitating conditions like

cataracts and even cancer. “I can honestly tell when somebody was born and raised in Florida [and] when they weren’t,” says Kimberly Caracci, an optometrist at the Cleveland Clinic Florida.

She explains that she can tell apart her patients who spent years in the Florida sun just by the damage it did to their eyes. Still, no need to stay inside to avoid the sun’s harmful rays.

Sunglasses are an efficient — and stylish — way to protect your peepers, as long as they provide 100 percent UVA and UVB protection. Here are 7 good reasons to wear them: UVA AND UVB The sun

emits ultraviolet (UV) radiation that can be harmful to our skin and eyes. UVA and UVB stand for different wavelengths that pose different risks to our body — including skin aging for UVA

and sunburn for UVB. Both can increase your risk for skin cancer. 1. NOT PROTECTING YOUR EYES ON A SUNNY DAY COULD LEAD TO EYESTRAIN AND HEADACHES. You may have experienced this on a

particularly bright day. “If I don’t wear sunglasses, and you tell me to drive for an hour in sunny conditions, I will certainly have a headache,” says Alister Gibbons, M.D., an

ophthalmologist at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and an associate professor at the University of Miami. Squinting because of the light could fatigue your eyes, which might in turn lead to

eyestrain and headaches. 2. YOU CAN GET SKIN CANCER ON YOUR EYELIDS, TOO. The skin on your eyelids is the thinnest on your body, but it’s hard to protect it against the sun’s harmful rays.

Putting sunscreen on your eyelids can lead to irritation or styes, Caracci says, which makes sunglasses a must. Protecting your eyelids with sunglasses could also slow your skin’s aging

process and limit the formation of wrinkles. 3. THE SUN CAN CAUSE SMALL GROWTHS ON YOUR EYES. These small bumps, called pingueculae and pterygia, grow on the conjunctiva, which covers the

white part of your eyes. The more you expose your eyes to the sun, the more likely you are to get one of these bumps. Wind and dust are also believed to cause their formation. While a

pinguecula may contain deposits of protein, fat or calcium, the American Academy of Ophthalmology explains, a pterygium (also known as surfer's eye) is a growth of fleshy tissue that

may start as a pinguecula. “If [a pterygium] grows close enough to the center of the cornea, it will very much drop your vision,” says Peter J. McDonnell, M.D., director of the Wilmer Eye

Institute and a professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.