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I have lights eyes and basically can’t go outside without sunglasses, even if it’s somewhat cloudy. The sky needs to be like completely grey for sunglasses not to be necessary.
What makes you think this is true?
The technical term for ‘light sensitivity’ is [photophobia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photophobia). After 2 minutes searching, I could only find headlines and such agreeing with me or unrelated to eye color (so not very good research to link), but previously I’ve seen statistics that photophobia is reported about 5% more in light colored eyes than dark colored ones. Theoretically, the darker pigment in the eyes can absorb more light than the lighter ones (leaving less to bother the eyes themselves), but in practice light eyes only make people already sensitive to light (migraines, basement dwellers, cognitive bias, other predispositions) just slightly more ~~sensitive~~ likely to report photophobia (important distinction).
It’s noticeable to the point that you feel pain. Like imagine the feeling of “wince” but isolated only in your eyes. It’s like all of your ocular muscles spasm at once and it’s quite painful. If it’s bright enough it will cause tearing as well.
If it’s a bright sunny day and I’m standing next to a large white vehicle, I quite literally cannot hold my eyes open more than a sliver and my hands instinctively come up and cover my face.
I have light eyes and have to be careful even turning my head if I am in or near a bright light … if I’m not careful the flash of light as I’m moving can trigger a migraine. Sucks.
Really? Never Experienced It!
I can’t ELI5, but I have dark brown eyes, and my gf has blue. She comments all the time how she can’t stand it that I never wear sunglasses
Sure, light bounces off of snow and gravel etc, and I’ll have to squint. But that’s about it. Sunglasses while driving, or golfing, is a major distraction. I don’t even wear glasses at the lake.
Yet I got that thing where sunlight makes me sneeze, so there’s that. Can’t have it all
I feel ya, fellow light-eyed friend. It’s like being a vampire, but we sparkle in the sun instead.
Call BS on this. My kids and multiple friends all have light eyes and have normal sensitivity. I have Hazel eyes and can’t be out without high quality sunglasses, even when it’s cloudy.
I don’t think there’s a single answer.
It would not astonish me if people with light eyes are slightly more sensitive to light than people with dark eyes. But unless a study has been done on it (none have that I’m aware of), it would be really hard to say how much.
Within each eye color, too, there’s a spectrum. Some people with light eyes are fine with bright lights. Others hate them. The same goes for people with dark eyes.
Also, short of a study with controlled conditions, this is all very subjective. Anyone who goes from darkness to somewhere bright will have trouble seeing for at least a few seconds. Possibly people who live in darker environments (e.g. Seattle vs. LA) also have a harder time adjusting to bright lights.
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