How to protect your eyes? OPHTHALMIC EDUCATION (12) [Archives:2000/39/Health]

Mahfouth A Bamashmus FRCSEd, FRCOphth
Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon
Ibn-Al-Haitham Clinic
University of Science & Technology, Sanaa
Allah created human beings and looking at the human eye you can believe in the ability of our lord. Sight is very important and everyone takes care of his or her eyes. Most eye diseases spread in our community can be prevented or treated in the early stages. Following the preventive methods in dealing with eye diseases can prevent a large number of people from being visually impaired. It also decreases the cost of treating a large number of these diseases and decreases the burden on the community in taking care of the partially sighted or blind people.
Here are some advice and instructions on how to protect your eyes from wrong medications: –
Get rid of used eye drops and ointments. Most eye drops last only for one month after opening the bottle. In addition to that bacteria can reach these bottles if they are left for a period of time and that can lead to serious eye infections.
Keep all eye drops and medicines in a safe place and keep them away from the reach of children.
If you develop a red eye, you should visit your eye doctor. Avoid using drops available at your home. Some of these eye drops can be very dangerous to your eyes if they are used to the wrong disease.
Take care of your contact lenses. You should clean them and use the right disinfecting materials as advised by your eye doctor or optician. Serious eye infections can happen if you dont take care of your contact lenses appropriately.
Avoid using drops that contain components of steroids or its derivatives without the supervision of an eye doctor. Using these drops for a long period of time can cause real damage to your optic nerve and can lead to blindness.
If the doctor prescribed an eye drop to a member of your family for a specific eye disease and you developed the same symptoms, you should not use the same medication. The reason behind that is many eye diseases has similar symptoms and signs but the causes and treatments are completely different. Avoid using eye drops prescribed to other people.
If your eye has been exposed to chemicals, you should clean the affected eye immediately with large amount of water. Then, you should seek medical advice as soon as you can.
Yemen is full of smuggled eye drops and medicines. Ask your pharmacist if the drops you are buying are smuggled or not and avoid using them because many of them have lost their chemical effect and some can be damaging to the eye.
Routine eye exam by an eye specialist is very important. It is your sight and your eyes need every care they deserve.
Reference: PAACO educational leaflets, Cairo

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