 Poster: A snowHead
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Was out skiing on Saturday, it was pretty cloudy and flat light do I wore yellow sunglasses most of the day and a few hours without glasses. All felt ok.
Then in the evening I had itchy, gritty eyes. By morning they were swollen and sore. Still the same today, spent yesterday indoors out of the light.
It could just be an eye infection, but it seems an odd coincidence. The google reveals the same symptoms for mild snow blindness.
Very odd as my companion skies without glasses all day. Anyone else suffer from sensitive eyes. Hopefully it will clear up over a day or so.
Be carefull out there, apparently cloudy days are just as troublesome as bright days!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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stevev, does sound like snow blindness to me, ouch!
Even when there is cloud cover the sun is still very strong at altitude - which is why you will sometimes find you get more burnt on cloudy days as you forget about the strength of the sun. So always where sunscreen and sunglasses / goggles!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Ouch! Does indeed sound like snow blindness. I once had a similar problem after a day's surfing on a very sunny Pembroke beach. Unfortunately didn't find anything to sort it out other than staying out of bright sunlight. Cleared up after a day or so though...
Ouch again!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I have fairly sensitive eyes which means I wear sunglasses often, and goggles ALL the time when skiing/boarding. Other wise my eyes hurt and I'm squinting like mad and I'm half blind...
That and as a teenager, seeing the state of my mates eyes after he'd spent an entire day without goggles or glasses... 
That was the best advert for sunglasses/goggles ever...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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stevev, A timely warning, a mate had a similar experience only with much worse symptoms...he ended up coming to dinner in his goggles because he couldn't even stand artificial light...much to the amusment of other diners! Mr HH has suffered from arc-eye in the past which is the same sort of thing...horrible.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I am not quite bad enough to be working wearing goggles, but am looking forward to home time so I can crawl back into my darkened room.
I think some low light goggles might help. I have yellow glasses but they probably leak light in at the side.
I must be sensitive as my mate skies all day without any eye protection and seems fine
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Snow blindness is caused by ultra violet light, I believe, and that comes back off the snow even in cloudy conditions. So I suppose one should wear sunglasses at all times. I must admit that I don't always wear them in cloudy weather. In the past I have sometimes had eye trouble after skiing but not so much recently. I do wear normal specs, so I vaguely hope that they filter some of the UV light (probably not very scientific!). Usually the problem clears up within a couple of days.
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If i get yellow goggles, for flat light, do they still filter the UV out.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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stevev,
yes they should...
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Snowblindness is pretty much sunburn to the retina.
Always wear protection on cloudy days and your pupils are more dilated and therefore even more open to reflected UV.
"Photokeratitis is the medical term for a sunburned eye and snow blindness. The front of your eyeball, the cornea, is subjected to high levels of UV radiation in mountain areas, on snowfields and on sandy beaches. Around two hours on snow and six hours on sand are enough to burn the eyes.
Unlike solar maculopathy, sunburnt eyes hurt. The pain can be severe but usually doesn’t occur until several hours later and a ‘snow-blind’ skier may blame the late night instead. Even the additional symptoms of red eyes, swollen eyelids, light sensitivity and blurred vision may not convince the person of the real cause. In any case, photokeratitis is not permanent. The affected eyes should fully recover within a few days."
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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stevev, I use persimmon lenses even in bright light. They do make you squint a bit but fully protect the eye from UV A and B.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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what's that?
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pam w, Hehehe... google takes 2 secs... basically damage from staring into the sun.
Solar maculopathy is a degeneration of the macula associated with phototoxicity ‘excessive light’. It is considered to particularly result from photochemical damage to the retina associated with ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, although thermal effects associated with longer wavelengths may play an additive role.
Damage to the retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) from the sun is dependent upon the time of exposure, solar factors including the position in the sky and ocular factors including the crystalline lens spectral absorbance and the individual level of pigmentation. There is usually intense bleaching and shedding of photoreceptor outer segments and loss of RPE function.
Other phototoxic maculopathies have also been reported:
Ophthalmic instruments or the operating room lamp, if ultraviolet radiation is not filtered out
Welder’s maculopathy can occur, usually accompanied by the more common photokeratitis. If severe, a macular hole may form
Laser exposure. The type of retinal damage depends upon the wavelength of light, exposure time and power level. A laser (thermal) burn such as from krypton or argon laser is seen almost immediately, unlike a phototoxic burn.
Symptoms
There is usually a history of solar exposure or viewing an eclipse. Typically, symptoms first occur several hours after exposure. There may be complaints of blurred vision, central or paracentral scotomata, metamorphopsia, chromatopsia or headache.
Signs
Vision may be decreased to 20/40 or even 20/100, often bilaterally. A solar maculopathy is usually less than 0.2mm in diameter, corresponding to the size of the retinal image of the sun. First signs of phototoxicity occur in the first one to two days, with a small yellowish foveal or parafoveal lesion and mild pigmentary changes and retinal oedema. The yellow spots are intraretinal, presumed to be xanthophyll pigment. Chronic RPE pigmentation effects are variable, ranging from de-pigmentation to hyper-pigmentation or RPE hyperplasia. Classically, the chronic lesion is described as reddish with sharply demarcated edges, somewhat like a stage 1A macular hole.
Prevalence
The condition is rare (approximately 1/10,000) and mainly reported in at risk groups: Military personnel, sun bathers, religious sun gazers, solar eclipse viewers and users of psychotropic drugs.
Significance
Solar maculopathy is a preventable cause of visual loss.
Differential diagnosis
Macular hole (Stage 1), central serous chorioretinopathy, macular oedema, age-related macular degeneration.
See also
Stargardt’s disease, Cone dystrophy.
Management
Additional investigations
Amsler grid will often demonstrate central or paracentral distortion (metamorphopsia). Fluorescein angiogram may show a small window defect or be normal. There may be chronic decompensation of the blood retinal barrier.
Ocular coherence tomography enables assessment of damage to the individual layers of the retina and RPE over time. Initially, the retinal layers show increased reflectivity, with changes to the RPE and choroid appearing one to two weeks later. In the chronic condition, months to years later, a lamellar retinal hole is usually evident corresponding to the damaged photoreceptors and RPE. The overlying neurosensory retina is attenuated and thinned. The vitreoretinal interface will be normal.
Advice
Prevention is the preferable treatment for solar maculopathy, since there is no specific treatment once damage has occurred. Patients and the public may benefit from health education programs regarding sun-gazing, particularly prior to a solar eclipse or in areas with a reduced ozone layer.
Prognosis
Generally, retinal tissue damage due to solar maculopathy is reversible to some extent, with improvement in acuity occurring within two to four weeks of exposure. Some patients experience a small persistent scotoma despite restoration of normal acuity. If there has been extensive damage to the photoreceptors and the RPE (initial acuity 20/200 or worse), there may be localised retinal atrophy and degeneration, with less favourable visual prognosis.
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