Who besides me has contacts in their eyes as they are reading this? Raise your hand! With all the scuttle about Contacts going around – I wanted to find out how to keep my eyes healthy and safe (because I love my contacts and SO prefer them to glasses).
Like I said – I love my contact lenses. I have a 9 year old that is wearing glasses (I’m also assuming that his brothers will follow since both my husband and I have eyes that aren’t 20/20) so I feel like it’s my JOB to learn and use the healthiest habits with contacts. I’m going to have to teach 3 boys to do it! I know that my son will be asking for contacts soon – and it will be my pleasure to get them for him (contacts aren’t broken/lost like glasses because they are so easily replaced!).
The easiest place to get the answers? Go to the top (right?). So I checked in the American Optometric Association to see their recommendations. I found TONS of great information including this Press Release that answers a lot of questions!
So I was on my way to ensuring that I could give my boys lessons (and lets face it improve my hygiene with Contact Lenses!). I found out a few other details that I’m guilty on that are super important. I’m either not doing them or not doing them as well as I should be. Ok so things for me to work on! Here’s a few things that the American Optometric Association tell us we need to do to keep our eyes healthy and our contacts clean!
- Washing and drying hands before handling contact lenses;
- Carefully and regularly using cleaning solution to rub the lenses with fingers and rinsing thoroughly before soaking lenses overnight in a sufficient multi-purpose disinfectant solution;
- Storing lenses in the proper lens storage case and replacing your case every three months; in addition cases should be rubbed with clean fingers, rinsed with solution, dried with a tissue, and stored upside down every night;
- Using fresh solution to clean and store contact lenses—never re-use old solution;
- Using products recommended by your eye doctor to clean and disinfect your lenses; and
- Removing contact lenses before exposing them to water.
So I have already found a couple of things ~ I’m sitting here Red in the Face for sure! A couple of other things?
- According to the American Optometric Association’s 2015 American Eye-Q® Survey, more than half (59 percent) of Americans wear disposable contact lenses longer than the suggested duration. This bad habit can cause permanent eye damage from bacterial infections and oxygen deprivation.
- Cleaning and rinsing lenses with proper solutions is important to remove mucus, secretions, films or deposits that can build up during wearing and lead to bacterial growth if not removed properly. Sadly, 31 percent of consumers admit to using rewetting drops, and 16 percent use tap water to clean contact lenses instead of a multi-purpose solution.
Want to learn more? And I know I did! You should click HERE to keep reading.
Ok everyone got it? You’re going to schedule an appointment with your Optometrist to make sure you and your contacts are doing great? PHEW. When I was writing this post (and researching), I got hungry (nothing new there). And what do you think of when you think of healthy eyes? Yup of course we all think of carrots. I guess it’s from our mom’s or grandma’s? Either way I knew I had to make a delicious carrot snack. I added in some apples and came up with really yummy Carrot Apple Bread. I do love a quick bread. This was a really yummy. I hope you like it as much as I do!
Carrot Apple Bread
Ingredients
- 2 C shredded apples (I used food processor)
- 1 C shredded carrots (again food processor worked great)
- 1/4 C butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 C flour
- 2/3 C sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1-2 tsp cinnamon
- For the Crumble Top
- 2/3 C flour
- 1/2 C brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 C butter, softened
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350, spray a loaf pan (9x5) with non-stick cooking spray
- In a large mixing bowl blend apples, carrots, butter and eggs
- Add in dry ingredients and beat for 3 minutes
- Pour into loaf pan
- for the crumble top
- Mix ingredients together (using forks, knives or pastry cutter) until it begins to crumble
- Place crumble on top of bread batter in loaf pan
- Bake for 50-60 minutes - or until a tooth pick comes out clean
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
I need an eye check up soon …Eating carrot is my favorite but you apple bread is even more awesome. Like your graphic.
Thanks Patrice For stoppin by! 😉 And yes make that eye appt!
Those are good tips for healthy and clean contacts. I do love the look of that carrot apple bread also.
OMG, I’m dying right now because my eyes felt so dry a few minutes ago so I took out my contacts, as soon as I did my eye started burning because of course I didn’t wash my hands and then I proceeded to place my contacts in a case that probably hasn’t been changed in a year. I’m a bad contact lens wearer, I really need these tips as a reminder. At least I can still see well enough to see that this bread looks awesome!
I’m bad too sometimes! I have to get better so I teach my son the RIGHT way! 😉
I love apple bread, but I’ve never thought of adding carrots. Looks good!
I just had a check up. This looks delicious!
It is good to clean the contact lens good. I do love this bread i would love this.
I love carrots, so I enjoy bread, cakes and muffins that have carrots. Aside from that, I also love snacking on them with a nice dip. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Good tips! I once made the mistake of sleeping in mine, big mistake! 🙂
ME!!! *Raises hands*. My eyes started getting bad when I went to grad school and now I have pre-glaucoma, which means I need all the carrot and apple bread i can get!
The bread looks delicious. I love carrots and I love apples, too. I’m saving your recipe for later.
This sounds absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to try it!
It is so important to take care of your eyes. The bread looks delicious!
I think this is fantastic and really healthy, I wanna make this for my kids they would love it too.
I don’t have contacts in, but I should. 😉 And oh, that’s a great looking snack right there!
My teenager started wearing contacts last year. She doesn’t wear them often, but I’m so glad she’s extremely careful and washes hands.
We love carrots…in fact my wedding cake years and years ago was carrot cake! LOL I think I am going to need glasses soon…this is going to come in handy if I go the contact lenses route when I get them.
I had Carrot Cake too – it was so delish!
I’ll just stick with my glasses. I had contacts for a while and absolutely hated them. I remember my dad rinsing his contact lenses in Sprite and popping them back into his eyes. Yikes!
I love soda breads and have many but with 5 apple trees I’ve got to use what is plentiful.
I hope it tastes as good as it looks! I’ve often exchanged the margarine or butter with
corn oil and it makes for a very moist bread I hope to do that instead of the 1/4 cup of butter.