Summer Swimming and Contact Lenses – a Bad Combination?
It's July and really time for swimming (pools, lakes, rivers, oceans, or even the backyard sprinklers) in British Columbia.
It's a time when we should remind ourselves about the potential dangers of wearing their contact lenses when playing in the water.
Shedding New Light on a Potentially Blinding Eye Infection*
* PS
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourages eye care providers to inform their contact lens-wearing patients about the risk for Eye infection associated with improper contact lens hygiene practices and recommends that patients contact their eye care provider if they experience symptoms of eye irritation or infection.
CDC has developed 4 key messages that eye care providers can give patients, and parents of young patients, about contact lenses safety:
1. You have only 1 set of eyes so treat them with care. Reduce the risk for AK and other eye infections by following all eye care professional and manufacturer guidance for cleaning, storage, and use of contact lenses and contact lens cases.
2. Do not "top off" the solutions in your lens case. In other words, don't ever reuse any lens-disinfecting solution. Instead, always discard all leftover solution after each use. Used lens solution can be contaminated with bacteria and amoebas. In addition, used solution is not as effective at disinfecting lenses.
3. Be sure to clean, rub, and rinse your lenses, and air-dry your lens case each time you remove your lenses from the case. Rubbing and rinsing your contact lenses with disinfecting solution will aid in removing microbes and residues, including biofilms, which are slimy build-ups of bacteria and mold that can cause eye infections like AK.[3,4] In addition, recent studies indicate that dried films of disinfection solutions may harbor Acanthamoeba that are more resistant to disinfection. Thus, ideally, lens cases should be replaced at least every 3 months.
4. Try to avoid exposing your contact lenses to any water. Do not rinse or store your lenses in water. Minimize contact lens exposures to tap water in the bathroom and kitchen as well as to recreational water in swimming pools, hot tubs, lakes, rivers,
and oceans.