CDC to 40 Million Contact Lens Wearers: You're Doing It Wrong?!?!
Nearly 41 million American adults wear contact lenses and
virtually every single one is doing something to get germs in their eyes, a new
federal survey shows.
And
they're paying for it. Nearly a third admit they've gone to a doctor because of
red or painful eyes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
Half
or more of wearers admitted they slept or napped while wearing lenses. About 55
percent said they just topped off solution instead of changing it and rinsing
the case. And 61 percent swam while wearing lenses.
And
this survey only included adults. Teenagers may be even more likely to slip in
their contact lens hygiene, CDC said.
"Approximately
one third of contact lens wearers reported ever rinsing their lenses in tap
water and 16.8 percent reported ever storing their lenses in tap water,"
the CDC report reads.
More
than 90 percent of people with rigid or "hard" lenses sometimes
rinsed them in tap water, the team found.
"Even
household tap water, although treated to be safe for drinking, is not sterile
and contains microorganisms that can contaminate lens cases and contact lenses
and cause eye infections," CDC said.
The
CDC surveyed 1,000 people for its study.
"Contact
lens wearers represent a significant proportion of the U.S. population, and
their contact lens hygiene habits put them at risk for painful, costly eye
infections that could lead to vision problems," the report reads
"Nearly one
million U.S. health care visits for
keratitis (inflammation of the cornea) or contact lens complications occur
annually, at a cost of $175 million. The largest single risk factor for
microbial keratitis is contact lens wear."
The
CDC recommends: washing hands with soap and water and drying them well before
touching contact lenses; taking out contacts out before sleeping, showering or
swimming; rubbing and rinsing contacts in disinfecting solution each time they
are removed; and rinsing the case with contact lens solution, drying it and
storing it upside down with the caps off after each use.
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