How to Reduce Glare From a Lens

Photophobia may sound like it means a fear of having your picture taken, but it's actually a medical term that means sensitivity to light and it is fairly common, especially if you wear eyeglasses. Bright overhead lights, computer monitors and headlights coming at you while driving at night can be very aggravating, but there are things you can do with your lenses to help alleviate glare.

Instructions

Reducing Glare

• 1

  Add color to your lenses. Gray or brown lenses are helpful in reducing glare, according to mdsupport.org. The tint can be solid and cover the whole lens or a gradient tint, which is darker at the top and lighter at the bottom. Tint can be added to plastic lenses after you have worn them but glass lenses have to be initially ordered as tinted as the tint cannot be added later.

  Photochromic lenses are plastic or glass lenses that change from dark to light or almost clear. Your eye care practitioner can recommend a lens type that will benefit you most.

• 2

  Order lenses with an anti-reflective (AR) coating. Opticianworks.com notes that this special coating is applied to lenses and helps reduce the amount of light reflected off the lens. AR lenses help with driving at night and under indoor lights. This coating can only be ordered when lenses are first made.

• 3

  Ask for polarized lenses, which are made from a special material that blocks reflected glare from surfaces like sidewalks, water, windshields and anything on the horizon, according to the Macular Degeneration Partnership. Polarized lenses can be clear or tinted and provide comfort and improved vision.