Chennai: While we have a love-hate relationship with monsoons, they do bring along viral & bacterial infections as well due to the change in weather.  But did you know that ‘eyes’ tend to be affected too during these times? Everyone needs to take a certain level of precaution to enjoy the beautiful weather without any health-related worry.  while there is enough awareness about mouth, nose, and hand protection to stay safe from COVID-19, many may be unaware about protection of their eyes

Therefore, here are some of the major and easy precautions to take during monsoon for good eye care

• Be Hygienic. Always keep face towels, napkins, handkerchiefs, any cloth that you bring near your eyes and your hands clean. Don’t share your personal items like towels, glasses, contact lenses etc. with anyone.
• Wear a pair of sunglasses or specs whenever you leave your house. They prevent our eyes from making contact with any foreign substance and infectious agents like virus and bacteria.
• Treat your eyes with a lot of care. Wash your eyes with cold water daily. Don’t rub your eyes harshly after waking up or removing contact lenses as that can permanently damage the cornea.
• Try to not wear contact lenses during monsoon as they can cause extreme dryness in the eyes and can result in redness and irritation in the eyes. Keep your glasses clean and dry.
• Avoid the waterlogged areas because they contain a lot of virus, bacteria and fungus that can transfer and cause harm easily.
• Eat a balanced and healthy diet to keep your bodies healthy and immune system intact to fight any infection.

The kind of infections that generally happens during the season of rains are not just scary but pretty harmful too. The most common infections that can happen to our eyes are:

• Conjunctivitis or commonly referred to as Eye Flu. It is the irritation or inflammation of the whites of our eyes. It is extremely contagious and spreads through even the littlest of contact. Although the infection goes away in a couple of days it is necessary to keep your eyes covered.

• Stye is an infection when a red painful lump forms near the edge of the eyelid that may look like a boil or a pimple. Styes are filled with pus and can sometimes form on the inner part of the eyelid too. A Stye will start to disappear on its own in a couple of days but applying warm washcloth regularly will help with the pain and discomfort. Don’t try to pop the boil or it will cause even more complications.

• Corneal Ulcer is an open sore on the cornea and results in pus discharge, severe pain and blurriness of vision. It is a severe infection that can result in loss of vision and permanent blindness if not treated properly.

It is important to go for comprehensive eye check-up on yearly basis as it enables your eye doctor to observe and evaluate the health and condition of the blood vessels in your retina, which are a good predictor of the health of blood vessels throughout your body.

The article has been contributed by Ms Kanchan Naikawadi, Preventive Healthcare Specialist, Indus Health Plus