There are several eye observances in the month of October, but today we are focusing on contact lens safety!
Protect Your Eyes
Contact lenses can offer a secure and reliable way to correct your vision when handled correctly. In actuality, over 45 million Americans wear contacts lenses. However, if you do not properly care for your contact lenses, wearing contact lenses can increase your risk of developing an eye infection.
Benefits
There are numerous potential advantages to wearing contacts. Remember that all contact lenses—even cosmetic lenses that don’t correct vision but alter the color or appearance of the eye—are medical devices that require a doctor’s prescription if you want to get the most out of your experience wearing contacts.
Complications
One of the most severe side effects of contact lens use is microbial keratitis, a rare infection of the cornea (the clear dome covering the colored part of the eye). Other issues that are frequently related to contact lenses typically result in milder symptoms or none at all. They may go away by temporarily removing your contact lenses or by using eye drops your eye doctor has prescribed.
The Science
The majority of contact lens wearers do not adhere to proper contact lens hygiene, despite the fact that doing so is essential to maintaining eye health and preventing eye infections. There are a couple of extremely serious and occasionally blinding types of eye infections, that had three outbreaks in the US since 2006. In order to help prevent these outbreaks, contact lens wearer’s hygiene and the requirement for consistent information regarding the use and maintenance of contact lenses is of utmost importance.
Germs and Infections
For most people, having good vision is essential to performing daily tasks. In order to improve their vision, many people all over the world use contact lenses in addition to glasses and eye surgery. Although wearing contact lenses has many advantages, there are risks involved, particularly if wearers don’t maintain healthy habits and care for their lenses and accessories. Most complications can be easily treated by an eye doctor if patients seek care quickly. Nevertheless, more severe infections can result in discomfort and even irreversible vision loss, depending on the underlying cause and how long the patient waits to seek treatment.
Contact Lenses and Water Don’t Mix
Soft contact lenses may swell, change shape, and adhere to the eye when exposed to water. This is uncomfortable and can scratch the cornea, which makes it simpler for germs to infect the eye and cause inflammation. The cornea is the clear dome that covers the colored part of the eye. Most water contains bacteria and is frequently found in tap water, lake water, well water, and other water sources. Water contains a variety of germs that can lead to eye infections.
Contact Lenses and Children
If children take good care of their contact lenses, they can wear them successfully and safely. In order to promote healthy wear and care practices and lower the risk of eye infections and other complications, this frequently entails having the support of a parent or other adult.
For more helpful eye care and vision care tips, please visit our main blog page.
Source: https://www.cdc.gov
Image by Gedesby1989 from Pixabay