Photo By User: slavoljubovski On Pixabay.
If you’re like me, you have poor eyesight and can’t stand the feeling of glasses. When I don’t wear my glasses, I am considered legally blind. I cannot see past the end of my nose, so what am I supposed to do? When I wear glasses, the nose pads get sweaty or oily from my face, irritating my skin. I continuously have to push my glasses up, and if I want to go outside, I have to fumble about with a second pair of glasses to swap out. Thankfully, I found relief in my contact lenses. I love the versatility of putting them on and going about my day without a care in the world. I don’t have to worry about my oily face, nor do I have to worry about the sun blasting my eyes since I can just slip on a pair of sunglasses. It made me take a step back and think. How often do you change your contact lenses?
Eye Health Is Good Health
Consider the fact that you use your eyes for everything. This reality of life may not shock you, but often it is overlooked. The integrity of your eyes is dependent on how well you maintain them. As per the CDC, here are a few things to consider when it comes to your eye health:
- Maintain a healthy diet consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Ensure you eat enough vitamins and minerals, like the ones found in carrots, to benefit your eye health.
- The CDC also recommends washing your hands properly when you plan to touch your eyes or clean your contacts.
You should clean out your contacts daily and make sure not to wear them while sleeping!
Change Your Contact Lenses
It may seem easy to stick to your usual routine. Wake up, brush your teeth, go to work, you know, the usual. What isn’t on a lot of people’s radar is changing out their contact lenses. The number of people who consistently wear their contacts past the recommended date would surprise you. A study conducted by Perfectlensworld.com showed that out of the total number of people surveyed on whether or not they change their contacts correctly, a staggering 50% responded that they do not. YIKES! The study also showed that many people don’t take the correct care in properly washing their contacts before use, and the study also found people were not changing out their contact solution! I, for one, am completely guilty of this as well. It is much easier not having to worry about changing my routine, but it could come back to haunt me one day.
The Dangers Behind Wearing Contacts Past Their Prime
This interesting tidbit was actually brought to you by an ophthalmologist (eye surgeon), Dr.Leng. He writes in his blog, “You see, my friend found herself in between jobs and on the trip of a lifetime to Southeast Asia. She planned on traveling to Thailand, Vietnam, and other exotic locales in one of the hottest and most humid locations on earth. Amongst all the things she remembered to pack (her swimsuits, her sunscreen, and her toothbrush), she did not remember to pack any contact lens solution or a lens case.” The story continues as Dr. Leng recounts the story of his friend going to Vietnam and never removing her contact lenses. He describes the dangers of the event, saying, “The story ended well; she just had contact lens overwear syndrome and no eye infection, but it could have been a lot worse—like blind-forever-from-a-horribly-aggressive-bacterial-or-fungal-eye-infection worse.” The doctor followed up that statement with a horrific photo of a corneal ulcer, which is also known as keratitis. That image alone made me remove my contact lenses and switch to my glasses for the next few days.
Not everyone who wears contact lenses will experience keratitis (thankfully), but you do raise your risk if you do not follow your optometrist’s instructions. When researching information for this article, I came across a Reddit user who explained the scenario as follows: “Just because you drive your car without wearing your seatbelt and don’t crash doesn’t mean you don’t need your seatbelt. That one day you do crash, you’ll be wishing you had worn it.” In short, switch out your contact lenses; your eyeballs need oxygen too. Sleeping in your contacts increases the risk of bacteria buildup, which can lead to keratitis. This disease is a dangerous bacterial infection that can lead to irreversible damage to the eye. Make sure to change your lenses frequently!
Did you like this article? Check out this one from our sister site: Grapes Help Your Eyes And Brain.
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