Posted by: Mann Eye in Eye Health, LASIK, News and Events

In a world that has quite suddenly renewed its focus on health and hygiene, people everywhere are paying more attention to things like proper hand-washing techniques and being mindful of not touching their eyes, noses and mouths. If you haven’t watched this video of Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson helping his baby daughter Tiana wash her hands to the tune of “You’re Welcome,” the hit rap from his 2016 Disney movie “Moana”, allow us to make your day. 🙂 

Covering sneezes and coughs and doing a bang-up job of washing your hands was always a good idea, but thanks to the COVID-19 days we are walking through as a global family, health and hygiene has taken center stage.

In addition to washing your hands frequently, keeping your distance and not touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands, here are some pro tips for staying safe! 

Our Favorite Stay-Well Tips

  1. Stop wearing contacts. Opt for glasses or consider LASIK instead. (more on this later!)
  2. Grab some Q-tips. You can use them to push keys at ATMs and check-out kiosks to avoid touching the screens.
  3. Make a mask. This will keep your nose and mouth safe, and going with a homemade version leaves the more heavy-duty versions for healthcare workers.
  4. Keep plastic bags on you. No gloves? No problem. Use a plastic bag at the gas pump and when grabbing things off shelves. Properly dispose of them after each use.
  5. Clean things you use a lot. Your phone, pens, keys, keyboards – give them an extra “scrub” with an appropriate disinfectant.
  6. Put tissues in your pocket (or purse). Keep tissues on you so that if you cough or sneeze (allergies!), you can use the tissue and throw it away. And, these work if you have an itch on your face or nose too!
  7. Get rid of packaging. Take your groceries (or take-out meals) out of the packages when you get home and throw the packaging away.
  8. Put one hand in your pocket. When you have to venture out to the stores, keep one in your pocket while shopping so that you’re using only one hand.
  9. Be patient at the grocery store. If someone’s already on the aisle, head to another one until they’re done. Remember, we’re all in this together. Smile at each other, and know this won’t be forever.

Download our handy “Tips for Staying Healthy” infographic here.

Shelve the Contacts 

The American Academy of Ophthalmology recently published recommendations for “coronavirus eye safety,” including how to limit the spread of COVID-19 infection and best practices for contact lens wearers. Recommendations included ways to properly clean, store and wear lenses, but more notable was the recommendation to shelve the contacts completely and wear eyeglasses instead. Why?

Since one of the main CDC recommendations is to avoid touching our eyes, it makes sense that not wearing your contacts at this time will help with that. At a minimum, you touch your eyes when putting your contacts in every morning and again in the evening when taking them out. Realistically, contact lens wearers likely touch their eyes many more times throughout the day. Hello, dry and irritated eyes?! People should just keep everything away from their eyes these days. Glasses are better than contacts, but LASIK is better still.

LASIK is a Healthy Choice

We’d like to take the AAO’s recommendation one step further. Experts have agreed for years that LASIK is a healthy choice and many, many studies have shown it to be a safer vision-correcting solution than long-term negligent contact use.

At Mann Eye Institute, the health and wellbeing of every patient we are honored to serve, are now and always have been, our top priorities. We love to talk to people about the freedom and convenience LASIK offers.

Still Here to Serve You

With a focus on the health and safety of our patients and our team, some of our offices remain open and are fully equipped and prepared to serve your ocular emergencies. More details here.  Most eye surgeries, including LASIK, cataract surgery and other vision-correcting procedures are being postponed for a time, although we are happy to discuss these life-changing procedures for our patients who ask about them.

Questions? Our live chat feature is available to you 24/7.

Click here to read FAQs and see what we’re doing to keep you safe

See Tomorrow Better

Texas, we’re here for you. We want you to know that even in these uncertain times, Mann Eye Institute’s commitment to the many communities we serve remains strong. We’ve been Texas’ trusted eye care provider for 42 years and counting, an honor we never take lightly. 

Let us help you See Life Better on the other side of this world health pandemic.