Acute eye damage

Acute eye damage due to UV radiation results in painful conjunctivitis and corneal inflammation.

High-intensity UV radiation can damage the front parts of the eye within hours or even minutes. It can lead to:

• inflammation of the cornea (photokeratitis)
• inflammation of the conjunctiva (photoconjunctivitis).

In the process, the outermost cells of the cornea and conjunctiva are destroyed. This damage manifests as severe eye pain six to eight hours after exposure to UV radiation and feels like having sand in the eyes. Because new cells are constantly being formed in the cornea and conjunctiva, complete healing occurs one to two days after the condition first appears.

Conjunctivitis and corneal inflammation can occur where the eyes are exposed to high levels of UV irradiance. This can happen, for example, when people spend time on mountainous, snow-covered areas under a clear sky or carry out arc-welding work without eye protection. These diseases are known among mountaineers as "snow blindness" and among welders as "flash blindness" and occurs relatively frequently in these situations.