Eye Care Basics – Protect Your Vision, Boost Your Health

Wearing contact lenses is fairly straightforward. But after a few years (or years and years) of wearing lenses, it can seem like not such a big deal to fall asleep in them or skip a few steps when cleaning them. Taking proper care of your contacts and following instructions can help keep your eyes healthy.

Be sure you:

• Replace your contacts according to the schedule provided by your doctor or brand.
• Replace your contact case every three months to reduce the risk of contamination or infection from a dirty or damaged case.
• Remove contacts before showering or swimming.
• Use a sterile solution to clean contacts, and don’t use water or saliva to rewet them.
• Wash hands thoroughly before handling contacts.

Screen time isn’t just bad for the brain and body: It’s bad for our eyes. Considering that Americans spend approximately 10 hours a day looking at a screen, it’s important to take some simple steps to help protect your eyes.

Staring at a screen – whether it’s a computer, phone, tablet or TV – can strain the eyes from the exposure to the blue light of digital devices. Symptoms of digital eyestrain include:

• Dry eye
• Eye fatigue
• Headaches
• Irritated or itchy eyes
• Red eyes

You can protect your eyes from digital eyestrain by:

• Keeping screens an arms-length away
• Limiting screen time
• Making sure the lighting in the room is brighter than the device you’re using
• Raising the contrast of your screen
• Using a humidifier where you work to help keep eyes moist
• Using a matte screen filter to cut glare
• Wearing glasses more often

Did you know that eyes need at least five hours of sleep to rest and replenish? Sleep helps our eyes work properly and protects our vision. Not getting enough sleep may cause:

• Dry eye
• Eye spasms
• Popped blood vessels

Make sure you get enough “shut eye” by going to bed at the same time and aiming for at least seven hours of sleep each night.