Table of contents:
- What happens if you wear contact lenses while showering?
- 1. Acanthamoeba
- 2. Acanthamoeba keratitis
- How to prevent eye infections when using contact lenses?
Are you a contact lens wearer? This tool is already very popular. Not only does it make your vision clearer, it makes your eyes look more expressive and dramatic. Do you remove contact lenses in the shower? If not, what is the medical opinion, is this dangerous? Or is it okay? Check out the reviews.
What happens if you wear contact lenses while showering?
Contact lenses are actually very safe if worn properly. The lenses themselves are designed to be used for a long time every day. However, there are certain times when you need to remove the lens. Especially before contact with any water, including bath water.
Maybe some of you are lazy to take off your lenses in the shower. However, this can lead to infection which can lead to pain, vision problems and blindness. Here are some things that are very likely to happen when you use your lenses in the shower.
1. Acanthamoeba
Bathroom water may contain acanthamoeba, microscopic organisms that naturally occur in the environment. These organisms can live in sea water, lakes and rivers.
It is very likely that acanthamoeba also lives in the bath or shower water that you normally use every day. Besides being able to cause pain, acanthamoeba can cause infection.
2. Acanthamoeba keratitis
Acanthamoeba keratitis is an eye infection caused by acanthamoeba, which gets into the eye through water.
Acanthamoeba keratitis is most common in contact lens wearers. Bathing with contact lenses increases the risk of infection because the lenses can trap water that contains these organisms.
Once acanthamoeba is in your eye, it releases a protein that dissolves in the cornea, which is in the outer layer of the eye. Then, these organisms will attack the cornea of the eye and will start to eat the corneal cells.
How to prevent eye infections when using contact lenses?
Using contact lenses can increase the risk of corneal infection. This occurs because contact lenses reduce the amount of oxygen to the cornea. Although it cannot be completely avoided. You can prevent eye infections in the following ways.
- Always wash and dry your hands before attaching or removing your lenses.
- Remove lenses before showering or swimming. Try not to get your contact lenses in contact with water.
- Always try to remove contact lenses before bed. Even if you wear lenses that can be worn for a certain period of time and are designed to be worn while sleeping, it is strongly discouraged to wear contact lenses continuously. When we close the eye with the contact lens that remains in the eye, the amount of oxygen to the eye becomes thinner. This causes the surface of the eye to become susceptible to infection. In addition, the germs in the lens will stick to the cornea while we sleep.
- Use a special cleaning fluid recommended by your doctor or pharmacy to clean and soak your lenses. Do not use water or other liquids, because sea water, pool water, even distilled water, can contain acanthamoeba organisms. which can cause an eye infection.
- Always discard used cleaning fluids. Do not reuse liquids that have been used.
- Gently rub your lenses while cleaning with cleaning fluid. Be careful not to tear it.
- Pay attention to the expiration date and throw away the expired lens immediately.
- Clean every day and change the lens storage box once a month to keep it clean.
If you wear disposable contact lenses, you do not need to clean them because they are not designed for reuse. Never use disposable lenses for more than a day, as the ability to kill infectious germs that are owned by disposable lenses is lost in one use.
