Protecting Your Eyes From Viruses

Scientific experts say that viruses can be spread through your eyes.

In this article, we have gathered some important safety information to protect your eyes during the Coronavirus outbreak and from general colds, flus and bugs that are transmitted virally. Please remember to wash your hands at regular intervals and limit contact with your face where possible.

Good contact lens hygiene practices are difficult as they involve physically touching the lens. Wearing glasses can help minimise the amount of times you touch your eyes. ‘There’s more to this than meets the eye’ a common phrase that perfectly describes the current climate in the UK and the rest of the world.

Can wearing glasses help reduce the risk of transmission?

Wearing glasses limits eye contact over the use of lenses. Oxford Eye Hospital recommends wearing glasses instead of contact lenses to protect your eyes and reduce the spread of viruses.

“Wearing glasses at the moment reduces the risk of contact lens-related complications, and reduces the need to touch your face,” Oxford Eye Hospital consultant said.

Oxford’s Eye Hospital further recommended mirroring that of many Ophthalmology experts, stating that glasses can serve as a protective barrier to airborne droplets containing any virus. It is very important to clean your frames on a regular basis for this very reason.

If you do wear contact lenses, wash your hands thoroughly for 20 seconds and make sure that you dry them properly before putting your contact lenses in. It is safe to wear contact lenses, but if you feel unwell the advice is to wear glasses instead.

The advice is to clean your glasses regularly

Giles Edmonds, Clinical Services Director at Specsavers, explained:

“Make sure you clean them thoroughly, not forgetting the nose pads and sides, and dry them with a clean glasses cleaning cloth.”

“Once your glasses are clean, keeping them that way can be tricky, especially if you take them on and off throughout the day. If you do have to place your glasses down on a surface, make sure you clean your glasses again before putting them back on.”

“When putting your glasses on or taking them off, it is almost impossible to do so without touching your face. Make sure your hands are clean before doing so by washing them with soap and water.”

It is very good practice to clean your glasses throughout the day. Use disinfectant wipes to remove any bacteria from your glasses and when you are not wearing them, place them in a protective case, if possible. A glasses cleaning solution that contains a surfactant will help to remove surface microbes that may be harmful. Make sure you clean them thoroughly and regularly.

“But I don’t wear glasses?”

If you do not need to wear glasses, but you want to wear eye protection to reduce the number of times you touch your eyes, there is an option. Blue light glasses would help to reduce the number of particles reaching your eyes, acting as a protective barrier.

More about Blue Light Lenses

Blue light lenses block harmful blue light, from sources such as televisions, computer screens and phones, which can cause eye strain, dry eyes, headaches and more. You can easily buy a pair of blue light glasses online here and have them delivered to your door.

We recommend glasses over contact lenses, but it is an individual’s choice

Glasses can provide an added barrier in the fight against any virus, reducing the need to touch your face and eyes. Rubbing your eyes subconsciously is a transmission method and by wearing glasses could reduce the natural urge.

Finally, it is important to know that there are no studies showing that you are at a lower risk of contracting viruses by wearing glasses. However, we do believe there is evidence that supports the case for you to bring out your traditional frames to lower eye contact where possible.