Summertime is almost here!
As we all know, the summer can take its toll on your eye. Increased sun exposure, pollen, allergies, chlorine in pools, and increased exposure to sunlight, are a few of many ways your eyes are overwhelmed during the summer months.
As we approach this Memorial Day Weekend, we thought we would offer these three quick summertime eye care tips to keep your eyes healthy!
1. Wear Sunglasses with Complete Ultraviolet Protection
Let’s start with the most obvious – sunglasses. We have heard it repeatedly to keep our skin protected from ultraviolet rays, but our eyes need as good of protection as your skin. The ultraviolet rays that come from the sun reflect off surfaces such as water or sand.
The best way to protect your eyes from UVR exposure is to purchase and consistently wear sunglasses with 100-percent protection against both UVA and UVB rays. Many brands of sunglasses offer this protection, so you have a wide variety of choices. It is equally important to wear them even on cloudy days throughout the summer solstice.
Prolonged exposure to sunlight can increase the long-term risk of developing conditions such as cataracts, pterygium, and photokeratitis – to name a few.
2. Wear eye protection during outdoor activities
Whether swimming, sailing, water skiing or scuba diving, it’s important that you take precautions to protect your eyes.
Wear protective eye equipment to shield your face and eyes from potential damage. Wear goggles when swimming, sports glasses on the baseball field or basketball courts, and even some sort of eye protection for yard work. The objective is to try to protect yourself, as much as possible, from contact with foreign bodies that can cause a corneal abrasion (a surface scrape of the cornea).
Most corneal injuries heal in a day or two without too much pain or difficulty. However, some situations, such as woodworking or yardwork, can present a higher risk of long-term injury. If a piece of debris lodges into the eye – more than the surface of the cornea can be impacted.
3. Increased Hygiene for Outdoor living
It can be tricky for contact lenses wearers to keep up hygiene levels required for proper lens care – especially when camping or staying.
If you have difficulty keeping your contact lens care routine when camping, consider wearing your eyeglasses instead. If you are going to be active swimming, boating, jet skiing, or any sort of water sports – consider purchasing daily disposable contact lenses for your vacation so that you don’t have to worry about contact lens solutions while vacationing.
Always remove your contact lenses before showering or using a hot tub because there could be contaminants in the water which may lead to a particularly nasty eye infection. Wearing contact lenses increases the risk of contracting such an infection.
If you are a contact lens or glasses wearer, prescription swimming goggles are available at a modest cost. Visit our Optical Shop or CALL US NOW at 781-234-0275 to learn about our great SUMMERTIME DEALS for disposable contact lenses and prescription sunglasses to learn more.
HAPPY SUMMER 2023!
