We all know the usual wash your hands, wear a mask, keep a distance that’s been repeated ad nauseam, and work from home. One of the things usually not mentioned is the protection needed for your eyes. 

Between the battery of electronic devices that are the new normal for many of us working from home and the ability of infectious diseases to be transmitted via the eye’s mucous membranes, the eyes can be susceptible to many dangers that we may not think about often. Luckily, a couple of different types of eyewear are available to us that can help us mitigate these issues. They will alleviate the strains we put our eyes through and keep us and our eyes healthy.

Blue Filter Lenses

With as much time as we spend in front of our electronic devices such as computers, phones, and televisions, the strain it places on our eyes becomes apparent. While some research suggests that it’s general digital overuse and not blue light that causes eye problems, the anecdotes from consumers are hard to ignore.

Using blue filtering glasses, we can improve sleep, especially for those who find ourselves on our devices late into the evening. However, many vision-related organizations urge moderation in screen use. Most suggest adopting the 20-20-20 rule. This means that every 20 minutes, you look at an object at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This helps to relax the eye muscles and relieves eye strain. 

In addition to reducing the strain we experienced through the day working on our computers, there are some other benefits of filtering blue light from our devices. Researchers agree that blue light from devices holds back your body’s production of sleep-inducing Melatonin. This hormone helps your body know when it’s time to sleep and wake up. Thus, the interruption of this process will cause issues with your sleep patterns. 

Safety Glasses

On the other end of the spectrum is our time spent outside the home and around others. Eyes are one area of exposure that many people forget about, and as such, don’t take the proper precautions to prevent catching the virus via the eyes.

Well-fitted goggles provide the most reliable and practical eye protection from splashes, sprays, and respiratory droplets. Many styles fit over prescription glasses with minimal gaps. Keep in mind that goggles will only protect your covered eyes and not other parts of the face. However, common sense dictates that using eye protection that keeps your eyes from taking a frontal attack as you walk through a mist of someone else’s respiratory droplets, will give you some added protection. Thus, the more protection you give your eyes, the better chances you have to avoid the virus.

Those who work in the healthcare field and those exposed to large groups, face shields are commonly used as an infection control alternative to goggles. Unlike goggles, a face shield offers some protection to other parts of the face, but must be handled with care as the exposed front of the face shield could carry the virus and if touched, could be transferred to your mouth, nose or eyes, during one of the thousands of times we feel our face every day.

Eyewear alone is not enough.

With all the available options, what is most important is remembering that these products alone will not keep you healthy and safe. These are tools to use in concert with social distancing, washing of hands, hand sanitizers, not shaking hands, face coverings for yourself, those around you, and quarantining yourself when you don’t feel well. All these measures will help all of us not catch the Coronavirus COVID-19. Stay safe. 

The post Protective Eyewear: Take Care of Your Eyes & Stay Healthy appeared first on Quick Med Care.

Don’t just change your behavior to avoid being infected,
but instead assume you are infected
and change your behavior to avoid transmission.

Dr. Dacelin St. Martin

You Can Spread the Virus and Not Even Know It

The most common way of spreading the coronavirus is through coughs, sneezes, and spittle while speaking from an infected person – up to 48 hours BEFORE they start feeling sick. You see, therein lies the tricky part of spreading COVID-19; up to 25% of people may never feel symptoms but still carry and transmit the virus.

It’s suggested that we leave the medical-grade masks for the professionals, as there is currently a shortage. However, we can still do our best reduce the spread and #FlattenTheCurve.

Do-it-yourself masks work great in a pinch and can offer protection from infected respiratory particles.

Get Creative with your Masks

Different types of fabric will work when making a DIY mask. Cloth t-shirts are simple to repurpose and convert easily to a mask. Actually, any tightly woven fabric will work: bandannas, scarves, and even (clean) shop towels. Avoid synthetic or polyester fabrics as the virus tends to survive on these surfaces.  

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What’s key is that your mask is made from a tight-fitting and tightly woven material that will catch as many respiratory droplets as it can. The CDC has some additional information about fitting as well as instructions on how to make a mask yourself here.

Here are a few rules to follow to help prevent spreading COVID-19:

     •Inspect the mask for any holes or tears to make sure that it’s intact
     •Wash your hands with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer (60% alcohol) before putting on the mask
     •Cover your nose and mouth with the mask and make sure no gaps exist between it and your face
     •Avoid touching the front of your mask while wearing it as this can lead to you infecting yourself
     •If you do touch your mask, wash or sanitize your hands immediately
     •When your mask gets damp, replace it
     •Do not reuse these single-use masks
     •Remove your mask from behind rather than touching the front of the mask
     •Discard or wash the used mask immediately and clean your hands again

Try and stay home as much as you can, but when you must go out be sure to do what you can to prevent the spread of this virus. With or without symptoms, you can do your part and protect those around you. Be loving, caring and be a hero by protecting those around you. Encourage those that wear mask by thanking them for wearing the covering or mask. They are showing that they care. 

Share this message with as many people as you can. Use Facebook and other social media links to get it out to your family and friends.

If everyone covers up, we can really slow COVID-19 down and get rid of this monster. 

The post Do Your Part! How a Cloth Mask/Covering Fights the COVID-19 Spread appeared first on Quick Med Care.