This Week is Contact Lens Health Week 2018 - August 20-24
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), American Academy of Ophthalmology and American Academy of Optometry have joined together to promote healthy habits for contact lens wearers. Messages on this theme include healthy contact lens hygiene habits, the risk associated with improper contact lens use, and regular visits to an eye care provider. Social media is using the hash tag #OnePairTakeCare to boost this campaign. There are videos worth seeing on facebook by American Academy of Ophthalmology and to check them out follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/AcademyEyeSmart/videos/10156181002367463/
It is estimated that over 40 million Americans are contact lens wearers. These same individuals are at risk for infection if they don’t follow guidelines for how to wear, clean, disinfect, and store their lenses. Infections can lead to serious long term effects – even to the extent of vision loss and needing a cornea transplant. To avoid the affects of infection follow guidelines outlined in the article. A partial list is as follows ~
Wash hands thoroughly before handling contacts
Don’t sleep in contacts
Keep water away
Don’t top off solution
Replace lens case at least every 3 months
To read the rest of the story please click on this link: https://www.cdc.gov/contactlenses/index.html
The CDC also has videos that tell the personal stories of individuals who, at first, did not follow the guidelines.
Videos on the CDC link tell the personal stories of individuals who had not followed the guidelines. The videos include ~
- Ryan’s Story – Water and Contacts Don’t Mix
- Te’s Story – Don’t Sleep in Contacts
- Whitney’s Story –Keep Water Away from Contacts
- Patient Story – Jim – Improper storage lead to infection and vision loss plus the wait for a corneal transplant
- General Contact Lens Use – CDC's Dr. Jennifer Cope
Look for these videos that will be shared via our Social Media each day the week of August 20-24th
