on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Now that summer is here, you may be wondering how to protect your eyes. From being out in the sun, to swimming in pools or the ocean, there are plenty of instances where you need to take extra care of your eyes. Here are some easy tips that you can use to protect your eyes while enjoying all that summer has to offer:
- Protect your eyes from the sun: Eye damage from the sun can affect surface tissues and internal structures such as the cornea and the lens. Make sure that you wear sunglasses that protect against UVA and UVB rays.
- Make sure to wear eye protection when doing home improvements: It is important to protect your eyes while doing things such as mowing the lawn, sanding down planks, or any other home improvement projects. Eye injuries that require surgery can happen even from something as routine as yard work.
- Wear protection when playing sports: Eye care professionals recommend wearing protective eye wear such as safety glasses and goggles, safety shields, and eye guards while playing sports . Using protective eye wear can prevent serious eye injuries from sports equipment. Here is a helpful list of sports according to eye injury risk . You can talk to an eyecare professional about the right type of protective eyewear and to ensure proper fit.
- Avoid wearing contact lenses when swimming or showering: Wearing contact lenses when swimming may cause an Acanthamoeba keratitis infection. Acanthamoebakeratitis has also been isolated from virtually all water sources—from pools to hot tubs to showers.
Summer is a fun time of the year so make sure to enjoy it! Just remember to be good to your eyes too while enjoying the season.