Keeping Your Eyes Healthy While Eye Doctors are Closed

Posted on April 23, 2020 in Vision Health

For everyone’s health and safety, optometrists and other eye doctors are being urged not to see patients during the COVID-19 pandemic except for urgent or emergency care. This is important for two reasons:

1. Limiting contact between doctors and patients is key to helping reduce the spread of COVID-19;
2. It’s important to conserve vital disposable medical supplies (like masks and face shields) so they can be used in hospitals where they are most needed right now.

Keeping your eyes healthy at home

As we’re all adjusting to our new environment, like working from home and kids being off from school, it’s more important than ever to continue healthy habits. Common sense precautions such as washing your hands, covering your cough, and not touching your nose and mouth can significantly reduce your risk of infection. Here are a few more ways to keep your eyes healthy during this time:

• Stock up on eye medication if possible. If your insurance allows you to purchase more than one month of essential eye medicine, you should do so.
• Regularly disinfect contact lenses. Contact lenses should be disposed of daily or regularly disinfected according to instructions from the manufacturer and your eye doctor.
• Discontinue lens wear if you’re sick. It’s recommended that contact lenses should not be worn if you feel ill with cold or flu-like symptoms.
• Consider switching to glasses. Substituting glasses for contact lenses can decrease eye irritation and forces you to pause before touching your eyes.

Call your eye doctor for guidance in the following situations:

• You notice changes in your vision (like blurry, wavy, or blind spots in your field of vision).
• You notice new floaters or flashes in your vision.
• You suddenly lose some vision.
• You have eye pain, headaches, red eye.

Need glasses or contacts?

If your glasses break or you run out of contacts, there are a number of online retailers including Glasses.com, ContactsDirect, LensCrafters, TargetOptical, and Ray-Ban.com. These providers are ready to support members practicing safe social distancing who may require new glasses and contact lenses. Many online providers are offering members free expedited shipping and no-cost returns for added convenience. If your prescription is expired, please contact your vision provider before ordering new glasses or contacts.

Most eye doctors are still available for urgent eye health needs. When in doubt, call your doctor’s office and together you can determine next steps.

Looking for an in-network eye doctor? View network lists here.