![]() UV rays are found to be responsible for the clouding of eye lens. A probable reason as to why the eyes swell up can be the inflammation of the cornea that occurs as one of the side effects of this sunburn condition. With the course of time, swelling increases. Similar to many eye problems, whenever the eyes detect some unusual happening, they get swelled up and cause pain if the condition becomes worse. In fact, red eyes is a very common phenomenon in snowy areas or areas at higher altitudes because of the air that dries out the eyes. Since the condition is more like a sunburn, the eyes of the patient with photokeratitis tend to become fully red as the first prominent sign of infection or a disease. The disease readily gets noticed when the body shows any of the following symptoms: Somewhere between 30 minutes to 12 hours after continued exposure to UV rays, the person might start developing symptoms of photokeratitis. Lives at higher altitudes ( chances of developing snow blindness ) or lives in the sunbelt ( direct exposure to UV rays ).Uses mercury vapor lamps, incandescent bulbs or spends a lot of time working in an environment that contains a UV light source.Spends a lot of time outdoors with direct and prolonged exposure to the sun.Who is at a high risk of getting Photokeratitis?Ī person is clearly at a high risk of getting photokeratitis if he/she: Some halogen, fluorescent and incandescent lights.But these rays already get absorbed by the ozone layer and hence do not cause much harm to the eyes.Īpart from the sun, various other sources of ultraviolet rays include: Apart from UV-A and UV-B, the sun emits UV-C rays as well. This is very much similar to having a kind of “sunburn” in the eye. These rays damage the epithelial cells of the cornea and cause them to slough off after several hours. These harmful rays coming directly from the sun can do both short- and long-term damage to human eyes and can result in absolute vision loss. The sun is the major and the ultimate source of UV rays. Staring at the sun for too long, such as in the case of watching a solar eclipse directly without using glasses or some special device can also cause a slight burn to the retina which is a long-lasting effect of UV rays.Īs seen above, it is clear that the most important cause of photokeratitis is the only continued exposure to ultraviolet rays ( UV-A and UV-B rays in particular ). These UV rays can reach the eyes through reflection from sand, water, ice or snow. The condition of photokeratitis occurs due to the prolonged and unprotected exposure of eyes to UV rays. Skiing, snowmobiling and mountain climbing are some of the activities that might result in such a type of condition. Snow blindness may also be referred to as freezing of the surface of the cornea or severe drying of the corneal surface due to the dry air. ![]() The air at such high altitudes is also thinner and hence provides less protection against the UV rays. This type of photokeratitis is more common in the North and South Pole areas or at high mountain ranges where there is a massive amount of snow present. It is caused by the UV rays when they get reflected off the ice or snow. Snow blindness is actually a common form of photokeratitis. Photokeratitis, also known as radiation keratitis or snow blindness, is a temporary burn of the cornea ( the clear front surface of the eye ) that results in extreme pain in the eye. It disappears on its own but treatment involves making the symptoms bearable. Photokeratitis is a burn in the cornea caused due to prolonged exposure to UV rays.
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