Happy National Sunglasses Day! #NationalSunglassesDay

*Disclaimer: I was asked by the Vision Council to participate in this webinar in exchange for a blog post. I received a sunglasses, a cooling towel, and other summer accessories, from the Vision Council in exchange for my post.

I recently participated in a webinar - Healthy Bodies, Healthy Eyes: Protecting Vision from UV Radiation, which was presented by Dr. Justin Bazan, OD.  The webinar was sponsored by the Vision Council and the primary focus was how and why we should protect our eyes.  

A few tidbits I learned is:

- 1 out of 4 American rarely or never wear sunglasses

- 2 out of 3 Americans leave they eyes unprotected on cloudy or rainy days

- 3 out of 10 Americans do not protect their eyes in the winter 

Personally, I was shocked to read this!  I find I squint a bit on rainy days or winter days (hello reflection on all of that white stuff that continuously falls to the ground!) - of course it would make sense to wear sunglasses year round - in all types of weather - sunny, rainy, cloudy, snowy - heck just wear them all of the time....even at night!  You know...like Corey Heart says.  (I seriously LOVE this song!)

AND did you know that athletes are amongst the group of people who wear sunglasses the least?  Crazy!  With all of that time we spend outside - sweating our asses off, training for all of those races - we don't protect our eyes?  

Oh wait - I'm SOOO guilty of that.  I usually have a hat or visor on - but sadly that is not enough.  So before you head out on your next run or bike ride.... grab those sunglasses and protect your eyes!  

And you don't have to drop a ton of money on sunglasses to make them good sunglasses.  Just make sure your sunglasses of choice have - protection from UVA/UVB rays, lens colors that cut the glare and are from a sunglasses retailer that follows industry standards.  

Now - get your sunglasses on and take a #SunglassSelfie #NationalSunglassesDay and tag @OpticalIndusty!  

Time celebrate!