Healthy Eyes While Travelling
It’s easy to let your health slip when you’re travelling. After all, you probably have much more exciting things to be getting on with than thinking about what kind of sunglasses you’re wearing, but sadly eyes are often the first things to face danger.
Most of the time when you’re travelling it won’t be in the tropics, where you can suffer horrific effects such as river blindness and parasites, but that doesn’t mean you need to let your eye health slip.
Sunglasses
One of the most fun things about the run up to a holiday is buying all the essential kit – and if you can afford it, designer sunglasses are a very nice part of this.
I mean, they look much nicer, have a brand name on them, and must be better quality, right?
Unfortunately not.
A recent survey discovered that designer sunglasses costing £100 did NOT do a better job at filtering out harmful UV rays than £1 sunglasses. Some glasses may be tinted, but offer no protection against UV (other than a noticeable decrease in glare) – in the US, some are even labelled UV Protective when they aren’t.
Colour and darkness of the sunglasses’ lenses aren’t necessarily an indication of their protection – look out for labels showing that they are 97-100% UVA and UVB resistant.
UV exposure is terrible for your eyes – it accelerates the cataract forming process, increases risk of cancer in the eyeball and on eyelid skin, and shades which don’t protect from UV allow your pupil to let in harmful radiation.
Most of us are concerned with finding sunglasses that look good on our faces, but it’s also important that they fit properly, wrapping around the face and shielding your eyes completely, even from the side.
Air Quality
Many cities around the world have bad air quality, which can lead to eye irritation, especially after a long day out and about.
Water tends to be a great relief, as are saline and tear drops, and funnily enough contact lens wearers are actually less likely to suffer than their naked-eyed counterparts as the lenses are able to protect the eye from allergens and pollutants. Contact wearers should still make sure that they have a pair of glasses with them, in case of an eye infection, especially when travelling somewhere tropical.
When one eye is sore and red, it’s likely to be related to a piece of grit caught in your eye. If it starts in one but spreads to the other, it’s more likely to be something like conjunctivitis.
Soreness
You’re more likely to suffer with soreness in your eyes in hot climates, and there are situations more likely to occur than others.
Blepharitis is a soreness and redness of the eyelid rims, which can be soothed with a gentle cleansing between the eyelashes with a damp cotton bud.
An incipient stye is a small spot or zit on the eyelid, usually experienced as tenderness in one very small spot. They aren’t fun, but they’re also harmless, and will go away soon. You can help this along by applying a hot compress.
Yellow scleras can be a sign of liver damage, but may also be hepatitis E or malaria. In any case, you should be seen immediately!
Inflamed eyelids may result from a number of issues such as overuse of sunscreen, eye rubbing, and mosquito bites. Try not to rub the itchy eye, sit up straight for a while and use a cold compress to relieve some itching and swelling.
Specific Concerns
If you’re travelling somewhere tropical, it’s incredibly important that you understand the potential risks you might face.
Loa-loa – this is a parasite which is transmitted by dee and mango flies, usually in Western and Central African forests. It comes about as a 7cm worm, which moves throughout the host’s body, sometimes appearing in the eye. Usually this will cause severe itching.
River blindness – technical name onchocerciassis, this itchy worm parasite comes from blackflies in the tropical Americas, and central Africa. You usually won’t become infected until the black fly has repeatedly bitten, and the only real danger comes from leaving it untreated for many years – so if you’re careful, it should be easily taken care of.
What Can Help
- Good quality, wrap-around sunglasses
- Keeping eyes hydrated and cleaned
- Bring back-up glasses if you wear contact lenses
- Be especially careful between 12 – 2pm, and at high elevation
- Wear a wide-brimmed hat