01/28/2026
❄️Snow fact ❄️
Snow blindness, or photokeratitis, is essentially a sunburn on your cornea (the clear, outer layer of your eye).
Extreme Reflection:
Fresh snow is highly reflective, bouncing back 50% to 80% of ultraviolet (UV) rays.
Delayed Symptoms:
Like a skin sunburn, you often don't notice the damage until hours after the exposure. Symptoms include pain, blurry vision, a gritty feeling, swelling, light sensitivity, and seeing halos around lights.
Treatment:
-Move indoors into a dim or dark room to avoid all further UV exposure.
-Remove contact lenses immediately, as they can slow healing and increase the risk of infection.
-Rest your eyes by keeping them closed as much as possible.
-Apply a cool, clean compress over your closed eyelids for 10 to 15 minutes at a time to reduce pain and swelling.
-Use preservative-free artificial tears to keep your eyes moist and soothe the irritation, much like using aloe vera for a skin sunburn.
When to seek medical help:
-Symptoms worsen or don't improve within 24 to 48 hours.
-You experience severe pain that over-the-counter medication doesn't relieve.
-Your vision doesn't return to normal.
-You develop signs of infection, such as thick discharge, worsening redness, or a white spot on your cornea.
