36 THE QUEENS COURIER • HEALTH • OCTOBER 7, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
health
Are your contact lenses causing dryness?
Here is how you can help address it
With so many people working from
home or attending school virtually this
past year, many of us have been spending
a lot more time looking at screens.
Although Zoom meetings and streaming
our favorite shows may continue to be the
daily norm, all this time on digital devices
may be straining our eyes.
For contact lens wearers, excessive
screen use can lead to contact lens dryness,
which is experienced by approximately
one third of the 45 million lens
wearers in the United States. According
to one survey among contact lens wearers,
29% of patients cited contact lens dryness
as a main obstacle to wear, and some
people even drop out of contact lens wear
altogether due to this discomfort.
If you’re one of the many people struggling
to combat contact lens dryness, it
may be time to fi nd a contact lens, like
Bausch + Lomb INFUSE®, that maintains
nearly all of its moisture for 16 hours
(based on a laboratory study).
By their nature, contact lenses alter
the balance of the eye’s surface, making
it important to fi nd a lens to maintain
hydration and help minimize symptoms
of contact lens dryness. If you’re experiencing
contact lens dryness and discomfort,
here are a few tips that can help:
Look away from your screen
Give your eyes a break by taking time
away from screens and follow the 20-20-
20 rule: for every 20 minutes spent looking
at a screen, look at something 20 feet
away for 20 seconds.
Recognize symptoms of
contact lens dryness
Determining if contact lens wear is contributing
to your dryness can be the fi rst
step in supporting your eye health, and
your eye care professional can help identify
the right contact lens for your vision
needs.
Find a supportive contact lens
A contact lens like Bausch + Lomb
INFUSE® is exceptionally moist, soft and
fl exible. Visit www.bauschinfuse.com for
more information.
Stay hydrated
Insuffi cient water intake can cause the
eyes to stop producing tears and feel dry.
Be sure to drink enough liquids throughout
the day and avoid caff eine if possible.
Keep your environment free
from dust and dryness
Be sure to clear away dust on a regular
basis and use a humidifi er if the air in
your home seems too dry.
In an increasingly digitally connected
world, our eyes have to work overtime.
Advances in contact lens technology are
giving people more options to address
their symptoms as a result of increased
screen use, such as contact lens dryness.
Make an appointment with your eye care
professional to see if a lens like Bausch +
Lomb INFUSE® may be right for you.
INFUSE is a trademark of Bausch &
Lomb Incorporated or its affi liates.
— Courtesy of BPT
Frailty, vulnerability and aging
Th e elderly, because of reasons of pride
or because of mental impairment may
not always state their problem or problems
directly. Tolerance and patience
may be required in teasing out the issues.
Oft en a great deal of trust must be present
before a frail elder will confi de in a
professional who may be caring for them.
Working with this group of older individuals
simply takes more time to form
a strong relationship to be eff ective. Th at
relationship must also include a sincere
and caring attitude. Th e older individual
in return for that care may worry
and want to give “gift s” of some sort to
staff and caretakers. It is their way at an
attempt of feeling less dependent and an
attempt to have greater control over their
situation.
It is important to remember that older
adults are survivors, people who have
lived through major world wars, social
upheavals, and personal hardships. Th e
researcher, Ebersole said it best, “Th ese
folks have survival capacity and there is
little we understand at present of the elements
of this endurance. Is it love of life,
courage, determination, stubbornness?
Perhaps a bit of each.”
Adult Protective Services
Adult protective services is a subspecialty
of aging that deals with the frail
elder. Th ese services have evolved over
several decades to the immense growth
in the numbers of older people who need
assistance with their activities of daily living.
Adult protective service workers deal
with people who tend to have complicated
problems and many urgent needs, all
of which usually present themselves at
the same time. To deal with what seems
like chaos, workers need guidelines.
A theory of intervention with the
frail, vulnerable elderly has already been
advanced by the Human Services and
Development Institute. Th e theory is as
follow:
When interests compete, the elderly
client is the only person you are charged
with serving.
When interests compete, the adult
elderly client is in charge of decision
making until he or she delegates responsibility,
voluntarily, to another or until
the court grants responsibility to another.
Freedom is more important than safety
i.e.: the individual can choose to live in
harm or even self-destructively, provided
he or she is capable of choosing, does
not harm others, and commits no crimes.
In the ideal case, protection of the
elder adult seeks to achieve simultaneously
and in order of importance the following:
freedom-safety, least disruption
of lifestyle and least restrictive care alternatives.
What then is the future for a frail
and vulnerable aging population? Recent
statistics indicate a continued increase
of a frail elderly population that are
being maintained by an advanced medical
technology while experiencing, with
time, an increase in functional defi cits.
Multiple alternatives to institutional
placement are available throughout our
nation’s communities. Th ese alternatives
are also cost eff ective when off ered in the
context of comprehensive, coordinated
health care that includes respite care and
home health care.
Here are several of the alternatives to
institutional care:
• Geriatric crisis outreach
• Neighborhood support networks
• Community nursing centers
• Telephone peer networks
• Adopt a Grandparent program
• Adult residential day care.
• Final Th ought
It has been said that the progress of civilization
can be judged by the total fraction
of human beings who achieve longevity
while maintaining a life of meaning
and purpose. Th is thought becomes
our goal as professionals as well as society’s
goals.
Quotable Quote: “All great achievements
require time.”
Sheldon Ornstein Ed.D, RN, LNHA
Dr. Sheldon
Ornstein is a registered
professional
nurse with a
doctoral degree in
nursing organization.
He has specialized
in the care
of older adults
and has published
many articles on the subject. He has
done post-graduate work in gerontology
and has taught at several universities.
In 2013, he was inducted into
the Nursing Hall of Fame at Teachers
College, Columbia University.
/www.bauschinfuse.com
/WWW.QNS.COM
/www.bauschinfuse.com
