Should I Wear Contacts During the COVID-19 Pandemic?
As mentioned above, wearing contacts requires you to touch your own eyes—something that the CDC has specifically recommended people try to avoid. So should you switch to glasses for the time being, if you have them?
There is some evidence that wearing glasses may be safer in general, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) has recently suggested that contact wearers should consider switching to glasses during the pandemic if possible—especially if you find you tend to touch or rub your eyes a lot more frequently when wearing your contacts (besides just having to put them on and take them off.)
Glasses may also provide a small layer of protection against airborne droplets that contacts won’t—although obviously this protection is incomplete and cannot be considered reliable safety equipment.
That all being said, there are as of yet no studies conclusively proving that contact wearers are necessarily at higher risk of COVID-19, especially if they practice good hygiene. That includes avoiding touching your eyes unnecessarily, washing your hands thoroughly before putting your lenses in or taking them out, and following the recommended guidelines for cleaning and disinfecting your contact lenses.
You can read the AAO recommendations here. Also, check out our blog post on 4 big mistakes that many people make with their contacts.
Whatever You Choose, Trust Sight Eye Clinic to Get You the Corrective Lenses You Need
Remember, you don’t have to choose one or the other. Many of our patients appreciate the flexibility of having both available—for example, contacts for exercise and sports, and glasses for the day-to-day stuff.
And regardless of what you choose, Sight Eye Clinic is here to help.
Our optical department is open and ready to assist you with picking out and adjusting a great pair of frames. In addition to taking extra CDC-recommended precautions to keep you and our staff safe while you try out your glasses, we are also asking you to schedule an appointment beforehand to limit the flow of traffic and number of people in our office at any given time.
And if you’re interested in trying out some contacts for the first time, we can help with that too. We’ll measure your cornea, figure out what type of contacts is likely to fit you best, and then make sure you get what you need (and are comfortable using them).
To schedule an appointment for either an eye exam or a consultation with our optical team, give us a call today at (616) 772-2020.
