Monday, April 7, 2008

Wash your eyes!

I have been commuting to work on my bike these days. It has been great fun and a great stress relief! The weather is gorgeous in Austin right now, so riding is just such a pleasant experience. In 1 month I will probably be complaining about the sweltering heat, but right now it is heaven!

Unfortunately, Austin is an allergy city. We have pollens in the air all year round and this makes for irritated eyes. When I was riding long distances before Weapon X was born, I had some eye issues caused by sweat and other irritants in the air.

I want to make sure to avoid the eye issues, so I have been flushing my eyes with saline after every ride. I have not had any issues yet, so that says something.

There are MANY options for saline or artificial tears, so feel free to shop around. Some have thimerosal, a preservative ingredient with Mercury. If the idea of putting Mercury in your eyes makes you uncomfortable, read the labels. Also consider reading the labels of your contact solution and mascara, because many of these also contain thimerosal.

If you do end up with a stye, or chalazion my opthomologist recommended wetting a wash cloth with water as hot as is comfortable. Press it against your eye(s) for 10 minutes multiple times per day. This should help the stye heal on its own. This works, and it pays to do this as soon as you feel irritation coming on. I had a few really bad experiences, and that was enough to last a lifetime!

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