Dr. Grossman’s Blog

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What kind of contact lens wearer are you?  Do you follow the rules that your doctor and your lens manufacturer outlines?  Or are you someone who stretches things a bit?

According to the results of surveys analyzed in the journal Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, the majority of lens wearers fail to comply with recommendations related to lens insertion, wear, and care.  The following figures are pulled from two independent online surveys of frequent contact users:

- nearly 50% fail to wash their hands before lens insertion and removal

- 75% do no rub their lenses with disinfecting solution (though many products claim to be “no rub” new research shows that rubbing the contacts before and after wear may be beneficial)

- there was “generally low compliance” when it came to replacing lenses as often as directed

- only 46% dump used solution and fill storage cases with fresh solution when storing lenses; the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention cites this practice as helping to prevent eye infection

- while one third of respondents clean their lens case daily, another 33% admitted they only clean their cases monthly or even less frequently

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com “Contact Lens Wearers Are Significantly Non-Compliant Before, During, And After Contact Lens Wear, Studies Show”

The University of Miami has sent  its high-tech mobile eye clinic over to help the people of Japan.  The 12-meter van, which was created in 2004 to help aid in the early detection of amblyopia, glaucoma, and macular degeneration in people who do not usually have access to health care, will remain in the tsunami and earthquake stricken areas for three months.

Specifically, the Vision Van is expected to help people who have suffered eye injuries as well as contact lens wearers whose corneas have been damaged after wearing their lenses for weeks on end.  They will also help people who have lost their glasses during the disaster and people who were previously diagnosed with eye diseases.  The van will be staffed by Japanese doctors.  Source: The Mainichi Daily News

An increase in the use of contact lenses may be making ulcers of the cornea twice as common.  A study of over a million Californians showed that people who wore contact lenses were 9 times more likely to suffer from corneal ulcers.

Researcher Dr. David Gritz of Montefiore Medical Center in New York told Reuters Health: “As new contact lens innovations become available, and people hear that they can wear these contact lenses for weeks or a month without taking them off, they do just that. They don’t realize the dramatic increase in risk it causes them. Our eyes do need breaks from contact lens wear.”  He went on to say, “Contact lenses can even act as a bandage over eye irritation, covering up symptoms.”

People infected with HIV were also nine times more likely to develop the condition than those who were HIV negative.

Follow our Vision Wellness Protocol and prevent ulcers of the cornea and other eye conditions by taking care of your entire body.

Recurrent erosion syndrome (RES) refers to repeated episodes of superficial spontaneous abrasions that cause eye pain. Erosions are “scratches” on the surface of the cornea. The cornea is more susceptible to scratches when the cells of the outer layer of the cornea are loosely attached to the underlying tissue. Often, there is no identifiable cause for these erosions.

Symptoms include mild to severe eye pain, redness, tearing, and light sensitivity and occasionally blurred vision. Most patients report symptoms after waking. During REM sleep, contact between the moving cornea and the eyelid can cause abrasions.

People who suffered an eye injury in the past, from a fingernail scratch or a paper cut, for example, are more likely to develop RES but the condition can point to an underlying case of  corneal dystrophy.

Source: Digital Journal of Opthamology

For more on how nutrition can promote eye health visit Natural Eye Care.