What Causes A Sensitivity To Light?

Lighter Eye Color

An individual affected by a sensitivity to light may experience this hypersensitivity as the result of them having a lighter eye color than others. The pigmentation in an individual's eyes does not only occur at the surface layer, and is actually contained in multiple layers of an individual's eye. The pigmentation in the eye is the result of a substance called melanin, which is also what gives the skin its pigmentation. The purpose of melanin is to deflect harmful rays from the body tissues to prevent cellular damage. Therefore, individuals who have a darker eye color like brown and black have eyes that can deflect and protect the eye tissues from the bright rays of the sun and other artificial lights easier because they contain a higher concentration of melanin. Individuals who have lighter eye colors like blue and green do not have as much melanin, which can lead to an oversensitivity to bright rays of the sun and artificial light because the light is not deflected away from the tissues as well.

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