EYE HYGIENE

EYE HYGIENE

Hygiene is the maintenance of healthful practices, or proper care for the body, keeping it clean and healthy allowing you to look and feel your best. 

Good hygiene should naturally be extended to the eye since the eye is the window through which the mind sees. Healthy eyes must be maintained for preservation of good vision.  No one is ever comfortable looking into a swollen, red and pus-filled eyes (except a doctor examining the eye). 

REASONS FOR EYE HYGIENE

Proper eye hygiene is necessary to prevent bacteria, dirt and foreign particles on the face from getting into the eye. It also prevents transfer of infection either from person to person or from one eye to another. Good eye hygiene helps to prevent against infections such as blepharitis (inflammation of the eyelid), conjunctivitis (inflammation of the conjunctiva), meibomianitis (inflammation of the meibomian/oil gland) etc.

WHAT TO DO

Taking the following measures could help one avoid these uncomfortable conditions.

Wash your hands always especially before touching your eyes. Your hands come into contact with a lot of things during the course of the day and minute organisms and dirt attach to the hands. We are very quick to rub our eyes with our hands and if these organisms get into the eyes, it could lead to an infection or irritation. Therefore, try as much as possible to keep your hands clean at all times. 

‘Clean hands’ is thus the first step to healthy eyes.

Keep your fingernails short and neat. This prevents dirt and bacteria from gathering underneath the nails and entering the eye on contact.

Use a clean handkerchief or clean tissue to clean your eyes. This is even better than using your hands especially when you cannot readily wash them.

Clean your eyelid and eyelashes. Dip cotton buds in warm water containing few drops of mild baby shampoo and use this to clean your eyelid margin and lashes. This can be done once a week. Sterilised eye cleaning pads can also be used. The aim of cleaning the eyelids is to remove the debris of dead skin cells and bacteria that can gather on the eyelids.
 

Do not rub your eyes if they itch. Rubbing your eyes can often make them more itchy and painful. Instead, keep blinking and allow your tears to dislodge and wash away any irritants. You could also wash your hands, wash out your eyes with clean tap water or sterile eye irrigating solution, and wipe your eyes gently with a clean towel or tissue.

Wash your face daily. Wash your face with mild soap preferably morning and night.

Clean off makeup. Ladies! This is especially important for healthy sexy eyes.  If you wear light eye makeup, you can easily remove it by washing your face and your eyelids with a gentle soap or cleanser. As you wash your face, simply wash the area of your eyelids -with eyes closed- with your fingertips to help remove eye makeup residue. Do this at bedtime and also in the morning. Avoid using creamy soap bars or creamy cleansers as they can block delicate meibomian gland openings. 

However, if you wear heavy eye makeup, you may need to use a light make up removal products. Do not use baby oil or Vaseline.  After this, wash your face as earlier explained. Also, when taking off your makeup always move the cotton pad inward toward your nose. If you rub in the other direction the lower lid can be pulled away slightly creating a pocket where debris can get in.

Use sunglasses while outdoors. If you don't normally wear glasses, you can put on sunglasses to keep dust, dirt or other objects away from your eyes when outdoors. Appropriate sunglasses will also protect everyone's eyes from harmful ultraviolet rays.

In conclusion, if you pride yourself as a clean person, then take the extra step and give your eyes the care they need. Remember ‘Prevention is better and cheaper than cure’.