What Are Welding Glasses?
Welding glasses are a type of medical glasses designed to block light in the short wavelength band (500 nm or less) and allow other light to pass through. Since light with a wavelength of 500 nm or less is a cause of glare, effectively blocking such light with color filter lenses makes life more comfortable. Sunglasses are also available as glasses to reduce glare.
Welding glasses, but sunglasses are fashion-oriented and have insufficient light-shielding functions, such as making the wearer appear darker in dark places. Welding glasses, which provide appropriate contrast adjustment, are a different matter.
Uses of Welding Glasses
Welding glasses are used as medical glasses to reduce glare. In particular, they are used to support the comfort of patients suffering from cataracts, glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa, and age-related macular degeneration. In addition to this, they can also be used by those who are prone to glare and difficulty seeing and by workers in the field where harmful light is generated.
There is a wide range of lens colors available, so it is necessary to select the most appropriate color lenses after confirming the actual feeling of use. Some colors may not be suitable for daytime or nighttime driving.
Principle of Welding Glasses
The following explains the principle behind welding glasses, which cut-off wavelengths of light of 500 nm or less. Light with a wavelength of 500 nm or less, including bluish-white light and ultraviolet light, has a high energy content and is easily scattered. The extremely easy scattering causes glare and glare that makes the outline of an object blurred and unclear. This phenomenon is called contrast reduction. Light-shielding lenses suppress this phenomenon by cutting off only the bluish-white light of 500 nm or less, thereby enhancing contrast.
Welding glasses cut wavelengths of 500 nm or less, but there are also lenses that cut wavelengths of 400 nm or less, each with different characteristics.
- Welding Glasses That Cut Wavelengths of 500nm or Less (CCP)
General welding glasses cut wavelengths of 500 nm or less. They are reasonably priced and can be used like sunglasses.
- Welding Glasses That Cut Wavelengths of 400nm or Less (CCP400)
CCP400 glasses allow moderate transmission of wavelengths in the 400-500 nm range, allowing for a more comfortable field of vision, while completely blocking light of 400 nm or less, thus maintaining glare reduction and improved contrast. A wide range of color variations are available, making them ideal for people who want to lead a more comfortable life.
Prices of Welding Glasses for Medical Use
The price of welding glasses for medical use varies depending on the purpose of use, such as single vision, double vision, bifocal, or polarized lenses. Based on the price of the lens for each purpose of use, the price is largely determined by the functionality added to the lens.
Welding glasses can be publicly subsidized as a prosthetic device.
The three necessary conditions are as follows:
- That photophobia is noted.
- No treatment is preferred over the use of welding glasses for the reduction of photophobia.
- The selection and prescription must be made by an ophthalmologist as stipulated in the administrative guidelines for the provision of prosthetic devices.
It should be noted that it is a prerequisite that Levels 6 to 1 of visual impairment are approved. The application must be made by a physical disability certificate holder.
An eligible person who meets these conditions receives a written request for judgment at the welfare office and submits a medical judgment form and an estimate for welding glasses. They will have these exchanged for a prosthetic device issuance ticket and submit it to the optician together with the prescription. After that, the applicant will receive the welding glasses made.
Welding Glasses for Nighttime Driving
The way light enters the eyes differs between nighttime and daytime. When driving at night, we experience a strong glare from the headlights of oncoming cars. Therefore, the required welding glasses must have lenses that suppress glare but do not interfere with nighttime driving.
To make this possible, colored lenses that enable nighttime driving have been developed. Welding glasses are available with brown, yellow, and green lenses, respectively.
The brown and yellow lenses can be used not only at night but also at all times by wearing spectacles with power lenses. Green lenses do not offer the same nighttime visibility as brown and yellow lenses, but can be expected to reduce flickering when using a computer.
The development of welding glasses using these colored lenses has enabled the development of glasses with visibility in the dark and light shielding properties that reduce the glare of light.