Today I’m sharing 5 things I would NEVER do as an ophthalmologist!
Eye Rubbing
I get it...rubbing the eyes can feel so good. But don’t do it! The most obvious reason is that you risk giving yourself a scratch on the cornea. or even worse, and infection, which can be really painful and vision threatening. But did you know that with constant eye rubbing you can actually thin and weaken the cornea? This is a condition called keratoconus, which results in a cone-shaped cornea or even cornea swelling and scarring. If this becomes severe, you might need to wear a hard contact or even have a cornea transplant.
If you have allergies and severe itching, you can try over the counter antihistamine drops or see your eye care provider.
Sleep in contact lenses
When you sleep in contact lenses, you are decreasing the amount of oxygen that gets into the eye. The cornea gets small scratches and dry spots from contact lenses and when you sleep with your contact lenses, you are asking for a cornea ulcer. In the best case scenario, a cornea ulcer will cause a lot of pain in the eye and in the worst case scenoario you can lose the eye.
Swim with contact lenses
That includes hot tubs, lakes, oceans, steam rooms. I wouldn’t even wash contact lenses in tap water because not only is our tap water dirty, there is a parasite called acanthamoeba that is commonly found in tap water. Unfortunately this parasite can get in the eye and cause some of the worst eye infections ever. Instead of tap water, wash your contact lenses with sterile solution you can buy at your local drugstore or from your eye doctor.
Use Visine
This is the tip that surprises everyone the most because you can find VIsine EVERYWHERE (B-roll to visine at drugstore). But Visine contains Naphazoline, which is a vasoconstrictor. This medication decreases blood flow to the structures to the eye, including even the retina, and after the initial effect wears out can result in rebound redness, where the eye looks worse. So many patients will put in more Visine and start a cycle of dependence and potentially destruction (B-roll: graphic of vicious cycle). If you have dry eye, I would encourage you to watch my video about dry eye, which is linked below.\
Ignore Sudden and/or New Eye Symptoms
Don’t ignore sudden eye symptoms. Flashing lights, new floaters, curtains in your vision, sudden loss of vision, eye pain, severe eye redness are all reasons to seek professional care immediately. Like most things in life, the earlier we can diagnose and treat the better the outcomes.
I hope these tips were helpful!