Driving in a vehicle and staring into the sun to see traffic lights is one way that the sun has played a part in causing cataracts at least for some. This is pause to wonder if the sun is the only fiery flame that has such an effect on the health and vision of eyes.
The campfire has long been an icon for gatherings where cooking or storytelling may bring prolonged eye-contact with the devilish beast. Staring into the flames may be a smaller scale simulation of the sun. The flames unleash gases, heat and burns with its touch. The campfire is tiny in comparison to fires on a destructive binge, but candle flames are yet on a minute scale compared to the campfire.
Candle flames take on many lives; in pumpkins, spells and scent but the miniature flames still passes gas, emits heat and burns when its touched, perhaps this is partly why flameless candles are gaining popularity.
Campfires and candle flames, it would seem, have much in common with the sun except but one thing which may make them slightly more risky in the moment than the sun is. It is their close range which comes from their earthly proximity that could make them a bit more dangerous. They are not in space. They are in the direct line of whoever chooses to ignite and view them.
Protecting the eyes from potential damage caused from exposure to campfires and candles flames may be handled in the same way as daily protection from the sun. Taking precautions to protect your eyes internally through vitamins and herbals and externally through sunshades with UVA and UVB properties may slow or eliminate potential cataracts and maintain eye health. A big deterrent is to avoid looking directly into the flames. If you look directly at the sun even briefly you can experience floating sunspots or circles that mystically appear in your line of vision including peripheral. The sunspots may not last long, but they may be a sign that some damage to the health of your eyes occurred. You might experience sunspots by staring into the flames of the campfire or candle. This to, could be a sign that some damage to the health of your eyes occurred.
The short and long-term effects may not be established as to what kind of damage to vision campfires and candle flames might do. It may even be something that researchers aren’t looking into, but it’s something to be pondered.