Your health: CDC says contact lens wearers are doing it wrong
CDC: Contact lens wearers do it wrong
If you wear contact lenses, chances are you've slept in them and on occasion forgot to disinfect them.
Of the 41 million estimated contact lens wearers in the United States; almost everyone is guilty of breaking the rules when it comes to contact care, according to a new survey from the Centers for Disease Control, USA TODAY reports.
Fifty percent of contact users report wearing their lenses while sleeping and 82.3 percent of contact wearers keep their contact lens cases longer than recommended, according to the survey.
While sleeping in contacts or “topping off” the solution in the case instead of dumping it out, may seem like a small infraction, it can cause devastating eye infections and even blindness, according to Thomas Steinemann, a clinical spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
“The lens case can get dirty, and germs from the case get onto the lens or vice versa, and eventually they get onto your eye and attack your cornea,” Steinemann said, adding that infections can happen within 24 hours of wearing a compromised lens.
Contact users answered questions in an online survey administered by the CDC in collaboration with the Contact Lens Assessment Youth group. The survey found that 99 percent of those surveyed are at risk for serious eye infections because of poor hygienic behaviors.
The CDC noted that contact wearers should keep all water away from contact lenses, discard used disinfectant solution from the case and clean the case each day and replace their case every three months.
One-third of those surveyed reported they sought medical help for red or painful eyes related to wearing contact lenses.
Chad Groeschen, 39, of Cincinnati, Ohio, developed a corneal ulcer infected with Pseudomonas bacteria, after sleeping in extended use contacts for almost a week.
“Halfway through the day my eyes started itching, and I thought it was probably allergies, so I popped them out,” he said. “The next morning the vision in my left eye started to turn cloudy.”
How do local hospitals stack up?
International research firm Market Strategies International studied community perceptions of a select group of regional hospital networks to rank Chicago facilities on quality, care and treatment, institutional mandates, nonmedical advantages, service lines and reputation.
Here's how Chicago hospitals stacked up:
1. Northwestern Memorial Hospital
2. University of Chicago Medical Center
3. NorthShore Evanston Hospital
4. Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
5. Rush University Medical Center
6. Loyola University Medical Center
7. Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital
8. University of Illinois Hospital, Chicago
9. Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center
10. Presence Saint Joseph Hospital
11. Mercy Hospital and Medical Center