People who have eyesight problems and those who need to wear glasses for reading still need to wear sunglasses when going outdoors on a sunny day. Wearing ordinary reading glasses or prescription lenses is not enough to protect a person from the ultraviolet rays of the sun. To provide for the needs of people who have eye problems but are keen to explore the outdoors during bright, sunny days, a number of brands of prescription sunglasses have been introduced by manufacturers.

Prescription sunglasses are a much better option than carrying clip-ons that had to be attached to ordinary prescription glasses when the wearer has to be in a bright, sunny spot. For one, they would be lighter to carry and the owner does not have to look for these extra pieces whenever the need to use them arises. Technology has also helped enhanced the way these sunglasses are designed that they are now available even for presbyopic people. Bifocal and progressive lens types are also available and most of them can be used for basic and high prescription needs.

Some sunglasses are designed as photochromic eyepieces. Photochromic glasses have the ability to darken in sunny conditions and revert to a lighter shade when the wearer moves indoors. Some experts have warned, though, that photochromic lenses are not as effective in blocking UV rays as some sunglasses that are particularly designed for this purpose. In general, it is much better to ask an eye expert for advice or have the lenses assessed in terms of the amount of UV light that can pass through them.

Most prescription eyepieces are designed just like ordinary sunglasses and a lot of the fashion and designer brand sunglasses of today can carry prescription lenses. A number of wraparound sunglasses, though, are not compatible with prescription lenses and their severely curved wraps sometimes cause vision distortion. Some of the brands that offer sunglasses that can carry prescription lenses include Bolle, Oakley, Live Eyewear, Izod and Panoptx.

In terms of colors, sunglasses with brown shades are much more preferable than other colors. Brown is considered the best color for sunglasses since it provides the wearer with the widest light spectrum and is also known to block blue light effectively and offer optimum contrast. Gray, on the other hand, is best for bright environments, particularly if the wearer is going to the beach where the brightness of the sun's rays is magnified by the water.

For people who have eye conditions, prescription sunglasses are a necessity when they need to go outdoors particularly in bright, sunny conditions. Consumers who are looking for such sunglasses need not worry about options since a vast array of brands and models are already available in the market.