More People Than Ever Are Going Blind Because of Their Contacts
There has been a significant rise in a disease that causes blindness among contact wearers. Fortunately, the disease is preventable. The disease is called Acanthamoeba keratitis. I used to wear contacts before I had Lasik, and that is something I've never heard of. I would have remembered because well, look at those words (LOL). Have you heard of it?
While it's still very rare, the fact that there has been an increase, means people need to be reminded. It's worth it considering there's no coming back from blindness... You are three times more likely to get this disease if you fail to clean your lenses, aren't a great hand-washer, and/or you swim or go in a hot tub while wearing your contacts.
- Visit your eye care provider for regular eye examinations.
- Wear and replace contact lenses according to the schedule prescribed by your eye care provider.
- Remove contact lenses before any activity involving contact with water, including showering, using a hot tub, or swimming.
- Wash hands with soap and water and dry before handling contact lenses.
Clean contact lenses according to instructions from your eye care provider and the manufacturer’s guidelines (Never reuse or top off old solution. Never use saline solution or rewetting drops to disinfect lenses. Be sure to clean, rub, and rinse your lenses each time you remove your lenses.) - Store reusable lenses in the proper storage case.