Get ready for summer with SunSync Elite lenses

VSP’s SunSync® Elite lenses protect against the effects of too much sunshine—without needing to carry an extra pair of glasses.

The sunny skies of summer mean picnics at the park and afternoons at the beach. Longer days mean walks or jogs after work and more time overall with Mother Nature. That's the good news.

The bad? More time outside means more sun exposure. And, of course, while getting in the sun has many benefits—vitamin D absorption, improved mood, and better skin, to name a few—it can have some risky effects as well. You likely know about the increased potential for skin cancer and other skin ailments. But exposing your eyes to sunlight for too long can be damaging, as well.

According to optometrists, prolonged sun exposure can lead to everything from cataracts to cancer. These issues don't occur immediately; rather, they are the product of years and years of ultraviolet (UV) exposure. Even on cloudy days, UV light can find its way through haze and thin cloud cover.

That's a lot to take in, especially since all you wanted to do was catch some sun. The solution, however, isn't to stay inside and avoid sunlight. Instead, it's to be aware of the risks and work to mitigate them when you're outside.

Innovation in Lenses

One key way to do that is through the use of glasses that offer UV protection, which can help minimize the harmful rays that reach your eyes. Specifically, you should look for lenses that block 99 to 100 percent of UV light (specifically the wavelengths known as UVA and UVB).

Thankfully, if you wear glasses, protection from UV rays is now a “set it and forget it” option. With the right light-reactive lens, you can get full UV protection as soon as you step outside. When you go back indoors, you won’t have to wait minutes at a time for your glasses to fade back to clear—that potentially awkward phase when you’re wearing what appear to be dark glasses indoors. All you need is the right technology.

Light-reactive lenses won’t get as dark as sunglasses. But VSP’s SunSync Elite lenses offer 100 percent UV protection. They’re not the only light-reactive lenses that can make that claim. But VSP has re-engineered the SunSync Elite lens at the molecular level to overcome the major barrier to the adoption of light-reactive eyewear: the time it takes for them to fade back to clear.

Gaining Clarity

If you step outside the office to grab a coffee, SunSync Elite means you no longer have to spend minutes feeling like you’re wearing sunglasses indoors. It’s UV protection plus innovation, all in a fashionable frame.

"In an average situation of walking into an indoor space, SunSync Elite lenses will return to clear in seconds and function just like regular lenses,” says Alan Burt, vice president of product management and technical education at VSP Optics. What’s more, Burt says, SunSync Elite reduces exposure to blue light from screens, which defends against digital eye strain.

"SunSync Elite light-reactive lenses achieve revolutionary fade back speed because of a process by which we reimagined how light-reactive dyes interface with a lens,” Burt says. “Then we built SunSync Elite using new ideas, new chemistry, and a completely new manufacturing method, completely differentiated from how all other light-reactive lenses are constructed."

In fact, independent testing shows that SunSync Elite lenses clear up faster than any competitor.

Combine the quick fade, the ability to handle natural light, and other factors, including superior UV and blue light defense, and you can see SunSync Elite is the answer to indoor-outdoor glasses problems. It’s an option exclusively available to VSP Network Providers, offering you the ability to provide a first-of-its-kind lens and a one-of-a-kind patient experience. SunSync Elite light-reactive lenses, help your employees see clearly in all situations—a one of a kind experience.