When you purchase a pair of contact lenses, you have a lot of options to choose from. However, the one option you should never decide against is UV protection. Here are three reasons why getting UV protection on your contact lenses is a good idea, even if you wear sunglasses outdoors:

Contact Lenses Worn Constantly

Chances are if you need contact lenses, you're wearing them almost all of the time - even while you're asleep if you choose a variety that's safe to sleep in. UV radiation is prevalent nearly all the time when you're outdoors if there's daylight. Many people don't realize that UV radiation can still harm your skin and eyes even if it's cloudy outdoors. This makes it difficult to protect your eyes from UV radiation since wearing sunglasses during poor lighting conditions can make it unsafe to drive. Contact lenses with UV shielding don't tint your vision, so they're a great option to keep your eyes safe even on cloudy days.

Contact Lenses Protect Indoors

UV radiation can harm you while you're indoors, too. UV rays are capable of penetrating through most glass, including the glass in your windows at work or at home. Of course, wearing sunglasses indoors isn't exactly practical, and if you wear prescription contacts, you won't get the added UV protection that most prescription glasses can provide. Thankfully, contacts can also offer UV protection, so you should make sure that your next pair shields your eyes from UV rays.

Contact Lenses Shield Most Important Part of Eye

Contact lenses obviously don't cover the entire surface of your eye, but they do cover the most sensitive parts. The retina, cornea, and pupil are all covered by contact lenses, so if your contacts offer UV protection, those three areas are much safer from UV radiation damage than going without any protection.

It's still a good idea to wear sunglasses outdoors since the other parts of your eyes could still be at risk of conditions like photokeratitis, which is essentially a sunburn to the eye. However, as long as you're wearing your contacts, the portions of your eye that are responsible for allowing you to see will be protected, which will reduce the risk of UV radiation-related vision loss in the future.

If you're due for a new pair of contacts or are considering trying them for the first time, make sure that the pair you purchase offers UV radiation protection. Contact a doctor that can give you a contact lens that protects you from UV light.