Going
to college and perhaps living in a dormitory can be an exciting and hectic time
for students. But, it’s worth mentioning some common sense tips to preserve eye
health and avoid eye problems for college students. College students can be susceptible to a host of vision
and eye problems such as injury, infection and increased nearsightedness that
can be avoided with a little bit of “smarts” and awareness.
Don't
Shower or Swim with Contact Lenses. Acanthamoeba is a parasite that lives in
water and can cause a rare but serious eye infection called Acanthamoeba
keratitis. According to the CDC, 85 percent of Acanthamoeba eye infections occur in contact lens wearers,
one of the main risks being exposure of lenses to water. To avoid this
dangerous infection, do not wear contact lenses in showers, hot tubs or when
swimming in lakes or pools. Also, never use water to clean or store contact
lenses; only use sterile contact lens disinfecting solution and a clean contact
lens case.
Get Out. We all want you to
get good grades, but
spending much of their time studying indoors, puts you at risk of becoming more
nearsighted, or myopic. A recent study found that more than 50 percent of
college graduates are nearsighted, with vision worsening for each year in
school. Other research shows that spending more time outdoors can protect
vision from getting worse. Take a break-get outside
when possible.
Wash
Your Hands. Conjunctivitis, or “pink eye” spreads really fast in schools
and dorms. We know of a report where an outbreak struck more than 1,000 Ivy
League college students! Avoid rubbing the eyes and wash hands with soap to
avoid catching and spreading pink eye, not to mention other infections.
Give
Your Eyes a Break.
Dry eye from intense long hours of computer or video display terminal use can
be a real problem for college students. To help avoid dry eye symptoms of
burning, gritty red eyes, follow the 20-20-20 rule. Look at something 20 feet
away every 20 minutes for 20 seconds. Because dry eye can also cause
painful corneal ulcers, which are open sores on the front part of the
eye, blink regularly and fully to keep eyes moist.
Don't
Share Makeup.
Harmless as it may seem, sharing makeup is a surefire way to spread infection such
as herpes keratitis among friends. Infection-causing
bacteria grow easily in creamy or liquid eye makeup. Stick to your own makeup
and throw it away after three months. If you develop an eye infection,
immediately toss all of your eye makeup.
Stay
in the Game. Did you know that nearly 1 in 18 college
athletes will get an eye injury playing sports? Common injuries, like scratches
on the eye surface and broken bones near the eye socket, happen most often in
high-risk sports such as baseball, basketball and lacrosse. Athletes should
consider wearing polycarbonate sports glasses to help keep stray balls and
elbows from hitting their eyes.
In college, taking care of their eye health
may be the last thing on your mind but we wanted to share some common sense
tips. If you or someone you experiences an eye health or vision problem please
call
Alabama Eye & Cataract Center in Birmingham at 205-930-0930, visit Alabama Eye &
Cataract Center,
Google+ or www.facebook.com/alabamaeyeandcataractcenter.
