Envision Newsletter - Wills Eye

Your life can change in an instant. When I was lying
on the sofa in the summer and couldn’t see, it was
like being in prison. It’s just not worth taking a
chance playing with fireworks. I’m really grateful to
the many wonderful doctors who helped me and
took care of me. I’m very thankful.”
“It is like a miracle,” said Giuliana. “We thank God
and the doctors at Wills Eye.”
Even Ben’s doctors are a bit amazed at his recovery.
“It’s a much better outcome than we ever could have
predicted,” said Dr. Rapuano. “All of us who saw
him at the beginning were very concerned that his
eyesight would never return to normal. We would all
say that Ben has made an amazing recovery.”
Dr. Heersink said that experienced doctors say they
have one or two cases in their career that they will
never forget. For her, Ben is that case. “It was so
gratifying to see him getting better and better every
visit,” she said. “He really is a medical miracle.”
Ten Commandments,
continued from page 3
are contaminated, you are
putting those germs right in
your eye.”
Dr. Nagra cautioned that
although some contact lenses
are approved for overnight wear,
wearing them overnight
significantly increases the risk of
infection. “Even if you practice
good lens hygiene, keeping your
contacts in overnight increases
the possibility of contamination
and I generally recommend
against it,” she said.
One way to avoid many of the
issues with contact lens care is to
use daily disposable soft lenses.
is means opening up a new
package of contact lenses each
morning and taking them out
of your eyes and throwing
them in the garbage at night.
Disposable lenses can be
somewhat more expensive than
frequent replacement lenses that
must be cleaned every night,
but daily disposable lenses are
generally a safer option.
Here are the guidelines for safe
contact lens care from the
American Academy of
Ophthalmology:
• Before handling contact
lenses, wash your hands with
soap and water. Rinse and dry
them with a lint-free towel.
• Minimize contact between
your lenses and water. is
means remove your lenses
before swimming.
• Contact lenses should not
be rinsed or stored in water–
not tap water, not sterile
water. Only use approved
contact lens solutions for
contact lens care.
• During cleaning, rub your
contact lens with your finger,
and then rinse the lenses with
solution. is “rub and rinse”
method is considered by some
experts to be a superior way
to clean contact lenses even
if the solution you use is a
“no rub” variety
• Rinse the contact lens case
with fresh solution–not
water, each time. en let the
empty case air dry.
• Keep the contact lens case
clean and replace it regularly,
every three months. e case
can become a source of
contamination or infection
if it becomes cracked,
damaged or dirty.
• Do not re-use solution or
mix bottles of contact lens
solution.
• Do not transfer solution
to smaller bottles.
• Do not allow the tip of the
bottle to touch any surface
and keep the bottle tightly
closed when not in use.
• People who wear contact
lenses need to be examined
annually, even if they are
not having any problems.
An annual exam gives
doctors a chance to check
overall eye health, update
prescriptions and reinforce
proper lens care.
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