Whether you don’t know or just don’t care about the guidelines, it’s time to pay attention to what your Dallas optical specialist tries to tell you each year at your annual eye exam: Poor contact lens care can lead to vision problems that can be easily avoided.
You Did What With Your Contact Lenses?
The majority of contact wearers will claim diligent adherence to the rules. In a recent survey by a clinical professor of ophthalmology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, though, a different story came to light.
Of more than 400 contact lens users, just 2 percent were found to actually follow the rules of proper contact lens care. Among the misuses most reported:
- Swimming or showering while wearing contact lenses
- Sleeping in contacts
- Using lenses longer than recommended before discarding
- Topping off solution in case rather than discarding and refilling daily
- Never replacing lens cases or replacing only after eye exam
The study, by lens solution manufacturer Bausch + Lomb, found that consumers had turned to such bizarre products as baby oil, beer, coke, petroleum jelly, lemonade, fruit juice and butter as alternatives to contact lens solution. Many additionally report using saliva or tap water -- which Dallas optical service providers will tell you can potentially contain hundreds of damaging micro-organisms -- as a solution when inserting their lenses. Not only can these items be damaging to your eyes, they could also cause pain and discomfort when inserting contact lenses.
Why Is Proper Lens Care So Important?
There are a few reasons to follow the guidelines of proper lens care that your Dallas optical specialist recommends. The first, and most important, being your continued eye health.
Improper cleaning and wearing habits can lead to a range of infections -- some relatively minor, others that could lead to extreme pain and vision loss. For example, showering or swimming with lenses in can expose your eyes to Acanthamoeba, an organism commonly found in tap water and lakes. When left untreated, this parasite can burrow into the cornea and cause vision loss.
Such eye infections for contact lens wearers are rare, but the likelihood of suffering from an infection is even less when the appropriate precautions are taken.
Another good reason to follow good contact lens hygiene? Your own comfort! When contact lenses are properly cleaned, stored and worn, they will be more comfortable for the wearer.
It’s time to start taking better care of your eyes, and there’s no better way to do that than by choosing the top Dallas optical service center. Call Carter Eye Center today and schedule your eye exam!
