Glare is experienced when an intensely bright source of light enters your eyes while contrasting with much lower levels of brightness from surrounding areas in your field of vision. In simplified terms, the bright spot throws out your eyes' brightness meter and the resulting glare causes you eye strain, discomfort, fatigue and temporary vision loss.
Most people are highly sensitive to glare, and experiencing it feels uncomfortable. It can also cause a serious safety hazard when you are driving, because you can experience a temporary "road blindness".
Glare can come either from a direct light source such as when you are looking in the direction of the sun, or it can be reflected off bright and / or reflective objects, including cars, the sea, wet road surfaces, and light-coloured buildings, roads, and pavements. On bright, sunny days, you will experience both these types of glare.
By wearing polarised sunglasses you can significantly reduce direct and reflected glare, resulting in less eye fatigue. The polarising filter in the best quality polarised lenses scatters virtually all reflected light.
If you wear glasses, the simplest and most cost-effective way of protecting your eyes from glare is to wear polarised clip on sunglasses.
If you are particularly sensitive to glare, the most effective solution is to wear wraparound sunglasses. 7eye AirShield sunglasses have the addition of a protective eye cup that cuts out even more glare than standard wraparound sunglasses, and wearing them can be highly beneficial for people with sensitive eyes.