The human eye is a wondrous factor.
It’s thought of the physique’s most advanced organ after the mind and comprises over 2 million working elements. About 80% of all studying occurs by way of imaginative and prescient.
So how can we maintain our eyes in tip-top situation? And what ought to we by no means do if we wish them to remain as wholesome as doable??
That’s what we — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, the hosts of HuffPost’s “Am I Doing It Mistaken?” podcast — requested Dr. Amanda Redfern, an ophthalmologist and assistant professor at Oregon Well being & Science College’s Casey Eye Institute, when she not too long ago dropped by our studio.
Hearken to the total episode by urgent play:
″[Sleeping with contact lenses in your eyes] is unhealthy. It’s actual unhealthy. Don’t do it,” Redfern instructed us, including that this even applies to naps. “It’s like a sport of Russian roulette.”
That’s as a result of you may get a corneal ulcer, which is an an infection on a part of the attention {that a} contact covers.
“It’s not going to occur each time, however when it occurs, it’s horrible,” Redfern stated. “It may be so unhealthy you may, in actually horrible instances, lose your eyeball.”
In much less extreme conditions, Redfern stated you may find yourself with a scar in your cornea.
“If that scar is within the centre of your imaginative and prescient, that might have an effect on your imaginative and prescient completely, except you get a corneal transplant,” she stated.
Redfern additionally warned us to not interact in any exercise that might trigger lenses to develop into compromised or contaminated, together with swimming in a pool or lake whereas sporting contacts or even showering with them.
“The issue with contact lenses is that it’s going to sandwich micro organism between the lens and your cornea, and you may get contaminated after which have all of the issues we talked about,” she stated. “Generally, we frown upon something the place your eye goes to reveal to one thing nonsterile.”
That features utilizing faucet water to rinse or retailer lenses.
When requested what she would recommend if somebody have been on trip and forgot to carry contact lens resolution, pushing them to decide on between sleeping whereas sporting contacts or utilizing faucet water to retailer them, Redfern refused to choose both selection.
“Each of these are terrible choices,” she stated. “I’d moderately you [throw the contacts out] and simply stroll round a bit of bit blurry for the weekend.”
One factor Redfern does need us to do to maintain our eyes wholesome? Use eye safety extra usually.
“I at all times put on eye safety if I’m doing a home undertaking the place I’m hammering, sawing — something the place one thing can fly at my eye,” she stated. “At all times put on eye safety, as a result of I really spend half my time seeing hospital consults and the trauma that you just see is simply loopy.”
If you find yourself getting one thing lodged in your eye, don’t attempt to take away it your self. As a substitute, tape a paper cup over your eye and instantly see a medical skilled.
“Pulling it out in an uncontrolled trend [could cause] the interior contents of the attention to return out with it,” Redfern stated.
She additionally busted some myths about different actions which may be dangerous or useful for the eyes (spoiler alert — studying in the dead of night isn’t going to wreck your imaginative and prescient), why we get floaters (and after we ought to see a physician about them), and much extra.
Hearken to the total episode above or wherever you get your podcasts.
And for extra from Redfern, try her Instagram web page.
Want some assist with one thing you’ve been doing flawed? E mail us at AmIDoingItWrong@HuffPost.com, and we’d examine the subject in an upcoming episode.