No Fried Eyes TM: Kurtis USA Launches UV Awareness Campaign

Kurtis USA announced today the launch of its “No Fried Eyes” campaign, an awareness program designed to educate parents, children, teens and adults who surf about another serious and often ignored hazard of prolonged UV exposure: eye damage.
“Everyone is aware of the need for sunscreen on their skin but more and more research has shown the cumulative damaging effects of sunlight on the eyes. This UV exposure is especially damaging during water sports with the double assault of the sun coming from above and the reflection coming from below,” says Dr. John Hovanesian, a leading eye surgeon with Harvard Eye Associates and internationally renowned researcher and speaker on pterygiums and other eye diseases.

Kurtis USA is built on the foundation that no surfer should suffer from eye diseases such as pterygiums (callous-like growth on the eye that can impair vision), cataracts or macular degeneration because of prolonged exposure to the sun and wind.   

“The pterygium surgery was painful, left a scar and my surgeon informed me that because they can grow back I should decide whether surfing was worth it,” comments Kurt Shipcott, a lifelong surfer and Kurtis USA founder and CEO.  “That wasn’t an option, and after finding no eyewear that truly suited the action-oriented nature of surfing, I decided to develop my own.”

Kurtis surf goggles, launched this past summer, are an industry first for male and female surfers of all ages.  The goggles are lightweight, float, extremely flexible, soft on impact, polarized, 100% UVA/UVB, and include a leash system. They are currently offered in two wrap-round styles, the Duke and the Kaiser Bowls, both named after surf breaks in Hawaii.
“For a long time we (eye doctors) have been trying to get surfers to wear sun protection but nobody has designed a pair of sunglasses that they can live with,” states Dr. Hovanesian. “It is a great relief finally to see an option that offers the protection we want and the flexibility they want."
Dr. Gregory Char, a native of Hawaii, surfer and optometrist adds, “If you are outdoors a lot, especially on the water, you should have protective eyewear. It is a must. You are getting the reflective light in those conditions which is more intense.” 

The “No Fried Eyes” campaign will be supported through its message on t-shirts, hats, stickers, the company website, Myspace pages as well as educational materials distributed in select ophthalmologist and optometrist offices.  

For more information visit kurtisusa.com