Keep Yourself & Your Eyes Safe From COVID

As Covid-19 is still around it is important you are taking care of yourself. It is possible for people who have caught Covid to present with ocular symptoms, such as conjunctivitis, which is known as pink eye. Pink eye is an irritation or inflammation of the conjunctiva, which covers the white part of the eye. It can be triggered by allergies, a bacterial or viral infection. The essential ways to protect yourself and others is to be sure to cover coughs and sneezes with your elbow, wash hands with soap and water, use hand sanitizer, stay home if you are sick, wear a facemask if you are sick or caring for someone that is sick and disinfect frequently touched surfaces everyday.

Protecting your eyes:

Take a break from contact lenses, this will help minimize hand-to-eye contact. Glasses can help shield your eyes and can act as a protective shield. Try your best not to touch your eyes, if your eyes are itchy use a tissue instead of your finger. Be sure to wash your hands before and after touching your eyes. Lastly, be sure to have a good supply of your medications.

Eye Infections in the Rainy Season

On rainy days we catch a break from the scorching heat, but the rainy season also triggers several air-borne infections. Your eyes become more prone to seasonal diseases with massive bacterial growth and virus outbreaks. The main reason behind increased eye infections is the heavy moisture content in the air, which becomes an easy breeding ground for bacteria, viruses, and other germs. Conjunctivitis, stye and dry eyes are common eye infections in the rainy season. In order to avoid eye infections during rainy season is to avoid touching your eyes, wash your hands frequently, avoid sharing towels, handkerchiefs, and pillows, avoid eye makeup, use protective gears, avoid the swimming pool and avoid rubbing your eyes.

Ripped Contact Lens?

Ripped contacts lens can be very frustrating. We may wonder why lens can’t be made out of stronger material. More than 45 million Americans who wear contacts prefer soft lenses because the soft lens material is a lot more comfortable and is able to let a great deal of oxygen to the cornea, which keeps them healthy. Sometimes comfort comes with the price of the potential for damage. If you do have a lens that is ripped, do not attempt to wear it. Any torn edge can scratch the cornea.

Here are some tips to prevent rips in your contact lenses:

• Try not to use your fingernails
• If your lens gets folded, unfold in solution
• Be sure to keep them moist
• Keep lens case full

Halloween Fun

We are officially in the month of Halloween. It’s a time for costume parties, haunted houses, trick-or-treating, and candy, but it is also unfortunately a time when there’s an increase in eye injuries. Many popular Halloween activities and costumes carry a risk of eye injury and eye infections. Here are some simple tips to avoid eye infection and eye injuries.

• Be sure to practice safe trick-or-treating, it is important to take some safety precautions. Make sure everyone in your group is wearing reflective gear so that drivers can see you easily. It is also a good idea to carry a flashlight so you can see where you are going walking house to house in the dark.
• If you are wearing a mask as part of a costume, make sure it fits properly and doesn’t obstruct your vision. Masks should have large eyeholes so you could see clearly. When masks do not properly could be dangerous for children while trick-or-treating especially because the restrict their peripheral vision. Wigs and eye patches can also obstruct your vision so be sure to use them with caution.
• Some costumes require sharp objects, it is best to skip adding sharp, pointed accessories to costumes. Toy swords and magic wands can increase the risk of eye injury.
• Be careful using any type of costume makeup that could contain chemicals and additives that can possibly harm your eyes and vision.
• Do not wear non prescription contact lenses, these decorative lenses can lead to very serious eye infections and disorders.

Pressure Behind the Eyes?

Pressure behind the eyes does not necessarily have anything to do with an eye problem. There a few causes to the pressure behind the eyes such as migraines and related headaches, sinusitis, graves’ disease, optic neuritis or dry eye syndrome. Glaucoma is one common eye disease that could possibly lead to pressure behind the eyes.  Depending on what your symptoms are like, what your pressure feels like, how long you’ve had it and what might have triggered it, the doctor may do tests through endoscopy, MRI, CT scan, ultrasound, blood test or radioactive iodine uptake.

Winter Eye Protection

Cold weather is just around the corner which means you still need to be taking care of your eyes. Indoor heat and forced air from car vents dries out your eyes just as it dries out your skin. In the summertime, the sun may feel hotter, but since snow is reflective it is important to wear sunglasses that protect you from dangerous UV rays. Winter UV rays can be twice as dangerous compared to summer. When participating in winter sports like snowboarding, ice-skating, and skiing, it’s important to take the time to protect your eyes and yourself from debris, snow and sun.

Even with sunglasses, light gets in from the top, bottom and sides of sunglasses known as Peripheral Light Focusing Effect (PLF) which means only 45% of UV is still reaching the eye. People often also wear contact lenses as an added layer of protection. Wearing UV-blocking contact lenses reduces the PLF effect by 69% for UVA and 96% for UVB.