Tips from Your Copperas Cove Eye Doctors
Contact lenses can be worn safely throughout all months of the year. However, every season brings different environmental conditions and activities to take into consideration. Both air conditioning and the bright sunlight of long summer days may lead to scratchy dry eyes, which can make it hard to wear your contacts. Blossoming flowers and freshly cut grass can contribute to annoying symptoms of eye allergies. In addition, you may wonder if it’s safe to keep your contact lenses in while diving into a chlorine-rich swimming pool or riding the ocean waves.
Contact Lenses Underwater
In general, eye doctors do not recommend wearing contact lenses when swimming in any type of water, be it a chlorinated pool, lake or ocean. Yet realistically, we know that many Copperas Cove contact lens wearers don’t switch to eyeglasses every time they spend a day in water. If you intend to wear contacts while swimming, our best recommendation is to wear daily disposable contact lenses.
Many dangerous organisms, such as acanthamoeba (which can threaten your healthy vision), live in water. We advise our Copperas Cove patients to wear daily disposables and toss them in the garbage immediately after swimming. This will prevent harmful bacteria from clinging to the lenses, breeding on the surface of your eye and causing infection. It is also recommended to wear goggles over your contact lenses (although prescription goggles are the ideal solution!).
Air Conditioning and Contact Lenses
A/C is a lifesaver from the harsh summer heat, yet it also dries out your indoor environment. When you’re in the car, point the vents away from your eyes. Lubricating eye drops for contact lenses may also keep your eyes moist.
Protect Your Eyes from UV Rays
Nowadays, there are contact lenses with UV protection. Ask us to show you the options in our Copperas Cove contact lenses collection! However, even though these contact lenses do protect part of your eyeballs against ultraviolet light, they don’t do anything for the parts of your eyes and eyelids not covered directly by the contacts. That’s why a pair of quality sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection is essential! Even when you’re wearing contact lenses, you need sunglasses for healthy vision in the summer.
Summer Allergies
If you suffer from seasonal allergies, pollen and other airborne irritants can adhere to your contact lenses and irritate your sensitive eyes. Rubbing your eyes to relieve the itchiness will only make your symptoms worse. Daily disposables can offer a great solution – as the problematic allergens don’t have time to collect on the contact lens surface before you throw them out.
With a little planning and attention to summer safety, you can enjoy your Copperas Cove contact lenses throughout the whole season of lazy hazy crazy fun!
