Eye Protection Basics - How to Choose the Best Safety Eyewear

By Alicia Connolly


Why You Need To Purchase Eye Protection

The United States Federal Government has extensive legislation and a system of guidelines that has been designed to keep its citizens safe and healthy. The governing body that regulates this legislation is known as OSHA, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration. According to OSHA every year approximately $300-500 million dollars are spent in the U.S. because of eye injuries. OSHA estimates that 90% of all eye injuries can be prevented through the use of proper protective eyewear, other estimates put forth by OSHA regarding job-related eye injuries conclude that over 3 million workers' vision is at risk daily and that out of those 3 million workers over 2000 are actually injured every business day, from these 2000 job-related eye injuries 10-20% result in temporary or permanent vision loss. OSHA requires employers to provide appropriate eye protection to their workers while on the job because it is an investment worth making!

Eye Protection - What to Look For?

The American National Standards Institute also known as ANSI is the recognized entity that sets forth manufacturing safety standards within the United States. Currently, ANSI Z87.1-2003 requires safety glasses and safety goggles to provide adequate eye protection from the hazards for which they were designed, eye protection should provide a secure fit without interfering with movement or vision, they should be able to be easily cleaned and disinfected, protective safety eyewear should be reasonably comfortable, durable and have the ability to fit over or incorporate prescription safety eyewear. Z87+, an updated ANSI Standard includes new mass and high impact standards which are not yet mandated by OSHA.

When it comes to protective safety eyewear one size definitely does not fit all, it is important to know what to look for when choosing eye protection that will work with you on the job. The right fit is essential for comfort, performance and most importantly eye protection. If your safety glasses or safety goggles do not fit properly they will not protect you from risking a serious eye injury, if there are large gaps in coverage your eyes are exposed and flying debris, particles or chemicals could easily cause an eye injury. To ensure that your safety eyewear fits properly some styles of safety glasses and safety goggles offer adjustment features, or are available in multiple sizes to accommodate different facial shapes, thus providing a more customized fit for the worker. Workers are also more likely to wear comfortable fitting safety eyewear, that is stylish which increases worker compliance and decreases the risk of job-related eye injuries among workers.

If you are an employer in charge of determining what safety eyewear to choose for your employees or if you are a worker that wants the best fitting safety glasses or safety goggles for the job keep the following ideas in mind:

Frame & Fit:

Try or offer safety eyewear with multiple frame sizes so that the best protective eyewear option is chosen or available. Safety eye protection with adjustable nose pads or soft flexible fingers will easily conform to fit almost any nasal profile. Safety eyewear with adjustable temples or bendable wire core temples can provide a more secure fit and behind the ear comfort. Safety eyewear with ratcheting temples provides lens inclination to contour any cheek profile.

Filters & Shades:

Safety eyewear may be fitted with all different shades and filters to accommodate any job requirement or environment use the guide below to know how to choose the best eye protection for the job:

Filter Shades: Used to protect against ultra-violet and infrared radiation that are generated when working with molten metals, in welding, cutting, soldering and brazing.

Torch Soldering: Filter Shade 2

Torch Brazing: Filter Shade 3-4

Light Cutting up to 1": 3-4

Medium Cutting 1-6": 4-5

Heavy Cutting more than 6": 5-6

Gas Welding, Light up to 1/8": 5

Gas Welding, Medium 1/8"-1/2": 5

Safety Glass Lens Options:

Amber Lenses 85%-90%: Blocks the blue light in the visible color spectrum which creates contrast enhancement particularly in low light environments.

Clear Lenses 85%-92%: Provide excellent optics for most applications where impact protection in required, great for general purposes.

Indoor/Outdoor Lenses 50%-55% Reduce glare especially from artificial light sources.

Grey/Brown Lenses 12%-62%: Great for the outdoors, these safety glasses reduce sunlight and glare that cause eye fatigue and strain.

Blue Lenses 33%-70%: Protect from high levels of hazardous visible light, ultra-violet radiation and excessive glare in outdoor applications.

Mirror Lenses 9%-20%: Reduce glare and heat that pass through the lenses outdoors.

The standards and guidelines put forth by OSHA and ANSI are the standards that TnA Safety adheres to in our safety product catalog. TnA Safety offers a wide variety of the most popular safety eyewear brands to allow our customers to comply with federal regulations and industry standards for less. We look forward to working safely with you!

Alicia Connolly
TnA Safety
TnA Safety is a full service distributor of wholesale safety products, please visit our website to learn more about our company and to view our online product catalog!
http://www.TnASafety.com
Phone: 1-888-708-5580

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alicia_Connolly

Natural Vision Correction - How To Improve Eyesight Naturally To See Without Glasses Or Contacts

By HB Smith

Did you know that there are eye exercises you can do to improve eyesight naturally? If not, it is time you study up on the topic and get informed, especially if you ever want to be able to see without glasses. The fact is, too many people depend on their contacts and glasses, but it is possible to go without them, if you just practice a few exercises. If you do the eye exercises to improve vision correctly, you may be able to have perfect vision. It is understandable if you do not believe me because you have developed a dependency on your glasses and contacts, and that is what doctors have told you is your only option. Today, though, I am going to tell you the truth; and truth is you can improve eyesight naturally and be able to see without glasses or contacts.

Now, I am not saying that every eyesight problem can be fixed by these exercises, but most can. Whether you are nearsighted or farsighted, you can do these eye exercises to improve vision. Are you longing to know more? Read the rest of this article and your questions will be answered.

Factors That Contribute To Vision Problems

The number of individuals that need corrective eye aids has increased a lot over the last ten years. This is mainly due to the hectic lifestyles we all lead. There are many people that spend all day staring at their computer monitors and avoid doing any physical activity. Staring at a computer all day or watching TV too much can have ill effects on your sight.

Eyeglasses And Contact Lenses

The first thought, whenever eyesight begins to be a problem, is to search for something that can help. Corrective glasses and contacts are usually the easiest way to help your vision, but these are simply quick fixes. They do help alleviate headaches and blurry vision, but they make your eyes lazy. The issue with glasses and lenses is that they do not address the underlying problem, so we are not curing the vision problem, we are just finding temporary relief.

The Permanent Cure

Instead of relying on glasses and contacts, individuals can do eye exercises to improve vision and learn how to see without glasses. The eye is a muscle and if you do the right exercises, like palming, you can improve eyesight naturally. Palming can teach the eye how to relax and stop straining. To start palming exercises just do these steps:

1.) Warm up your hands

2.) Place the palms of your hands over your eyes for three minutes

3.) Repeat this process two or three times a day and make sure no light leaks in while you are covering your eyes

Dr. William Bates brought eye exercises into schools in the 1880s and found that they were very beneficial to teach people how to see without glasses. If you have an interest in doing these exercises to improve eyesight naturally, try it and see if it helps you.

Want to improve eyesight naturally without glasses or surgery? CLICK HERE!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=HB_Smith

Examples of Eye Emergencies - What You Should Know

By Tara Pingle


There are three different levels of eye emergencies, so the action you take will depend on what level of emergency you are facing. You need to assess the emergency quickly so that your action will be prompt and effective.

1. True eye emergencies - call for immediate treatment within seconds or minutes.

2. Urgent emergencies - need some sort of diagnosis and treatment within 1 or 2 hours.

3. Semi-urgent eye emergencies - require treatment within days or weeks

Examples of True Eye Emergencies

- Chemical burns when acidic or other burning chemicals enter the eye

- Cuts when objects enter and pierce the eye

- Retinal artery occlusion which is an abrupt but painless loss of vision when the main artery to the retina is blocked

How to Treat True Eye Emergencies

If you are experiencing a true eye emergency, DO NOT:

- Apply pressure to an eye which has a foreign object in it or a cut on it

- Remove a contact lens or other object in the eye

- Touch or rub the eye

If you can't get medical attention immediately, cover the eye with a bandage, eye shield, or paper cup taped in position.

To treat chemical burns, flush the eye with water right away and repeat every 15 minutes. Don't put anything else into the eye and go to the nearest emergency room.

Do not try to treat retinal artery occlusion yourself. Go to the nearest emergency room.

Examples of Urgent Eye Emergencies

- Cellulitis - eye socket infection which causes inflammation and pain

- Corneal abrasion - scratch on the cornea caused by foreign object(s) in the eye

- Corneal ulcer - little painful sore on the cornea

- Endophthalmitis - infection in the interior of the eye which causes abrupt, extreme eye pain and impairment of vision

- Foreign object in the eye - may penetrate the eyeball

- Glaucoma - unexpected increase in pressure in the eyeball, causing reduced vision and pain

- Hyphema - bleeding into the front chamber of the eye, often due to blunt trauma

- Iritis - inflammation in the front chamber of the eye which results in redness and light sensitivity

- Lid laceration - cut on either the upper or lower eyelid or both

- Retinal detachment or tear - the retina becomes torn or detached causing flashing lights, "floaters" (spots on the eye), or shadows covering a portion of the visual field

For treatment of any of the above urgent eye emergencies, visit an urgent care center or a qualified ophthalmologist in the first few hours after noticing the eye emergency.

Examples of Semi-urgent Eye Emergencies

- Broken facial bones - eye socket bone fractures

- Exophthalmos - bulging of the eyeball which looks like staring

- Eye tumors - growths or masses that occur in or next to the eye

- Muscle imbalances - eyes are not aligned with one another

- Optic nerve tumors - growths or masses that occur in or next to the optic nerve

- Optic neuritis - swelling of the optical nerve causing rapid haziness and/or dimness of vision in either eye or both

- Orbit tumors - tumors in the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated.

Treatment of semi-urgent eye emergencies should be sought within a few days to a few weeks (depending on the condition). Read more about eye injuries on an opthalmologist's website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tara_Pingle

Puffy Eyes - Instant Relief Treatments & Ways to Prevent Eye Puffiness

By Kacy Carr






Do you find your eyes puff up regular or show deep coiled black circles often? Do the bags under your eyes sag heavily? If you are embarrassed over your puffy eyes then you are not to worry because there are treatments to reduce eye puffiness. If we can get to the bottom of why puffy eyes have occurred then there is every possibility of curing the problem.

We associate eye puffiness to lack of sleep. Should this not be the case in your case after catching up with sleepy eye, then puffiness may be caused by other of which will need to be determined by your doctor. Mild or severe puffiness can happen through numerous factors. Most primary are allergies and skin disorders. Eyes can puff up and swell if fluid settles round them or through climate change and hormone levels. This condition is also marked down as heredity. Swollen eyes are not normally seen as a symptom of seriousness. Nevertheless not to be ignored either. How to reduce and treat puffy eyes is a question we answer with good news by clarifying there are ways to treat and prevent puffiness.

You need to elevate the head at every possibly moment when resting or sleeping. Propping the head up will control extra fluids from filling around the eyes. For instant relief apply a cold water compress to the skin just under the eye to take swelling down. Cucumber potato or apple slices placed over the eyes will refresh, reduce and soothe tired eyes. Chilled gel masks or used moist tea bags do the same. Cotton wool pads soaked in cold water or milk and applied for 10 to 15 minutes works wonders.

Skin that envelops the eye is sensitive so take care when treating them and with what you treat the eyes with. Does haemorrhoid cream reduce puffiness? As we speak we have no true proof that it does and with no clinical evidence to prove otherwise you should avoid using haemorrhoid cream unless suggested by your GP. The cream is known to cause irritation and dryness leading to inflammation. If you have tried different solutions to help reduce puffiness and no sign of any swelling going down see your doctor. Your GP can from examination eliminate other possible causes like kidney or thyroid issues. Puffiness can also derive as a side effect (allergic reaction.)

If you think you look a sight for sore eyes read on.

If the body begins to dehydrate it starts to retain water which can lead to puffy eyes. Drink plenty of water, not only is this good for controlling puffiness it is good for your overall health in general.

Sleep on your back if possible because this helps circulation. Sleeping on your tummy has the reverse affect allowing fluid to flood the eyes. Leaving make-up on overnight is unhealthy and can cause irritation. Alcohol and salty foods may increase fluid retention which ultimately can lead to puffy eyes.

It is known that some women retain water prior to their period, and certain women this shows around the eyelids. Maintain a good hormonal balance to help prevent this from happening. Add fruit and vegetables to your daily menu.

As with the ageing process skin loses elasticity and this can give cause for the eyes to swell. It is imperative to use a quality sunscreen block when out in the midday sun to protect the eyes from damaging sun ray's. Keep your diet rich in antioxidants and if this is not possible take supplements.

Moisturize the skin round the eyes to stop the skin drying up.

Dull corneas are a sign of severe vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A is a crucial element of importance for night vision. A well balanced daily diet of fresh fruit vegetables and certain nuts is helpful.

One reason for eye strain is poor lighting while reading or sewing. Doing these things under dim lighting causes the eyes to weary and this can be avoided by using proper lighting. By making a few minor adjustments to how you do things will help you avoid eye strain. Change the angle at which you hold a paper or book while reading. Closeness can strain the eyes. Be careful of long hours sitting in front of the television or computer, have a break. If you have an eye concern then consult an optician.

There is no special way to completely relax the eyes and the surrounding muscles other than to just close them.

Treat dark circles with a mixture of pulpy tomato (quarter) turmeric powder, lemon juice and gram flour. Apply over darkened skin and rinse off once dried.

Look after your eyes and they will look after you so you may see things more clearly

Puffy Eye Treatments

Unique Skincare Solutions

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kacy_Carr

Cataract Surgery Complications

By Himanshu Jakhar

 

Cataract surgery has come a long way in the past 2 decades and while a relatively safe procedure, there still can be complications after surgery. Most of these complications are minor ones though and can be corrected, and don't worry too much - the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery reports that 98 percent of cataract surgeries are a success!

A cataract is actually a problem with the lens of the eye that causes symptoms such as faded colors and blurriness. The lens of the human eye is clear and therefore light can pass through to our retina which creates vision. A cataract forms on the lens and looks like a cloudy spot, affecting our ability to do everyday activities like reading, driving or seeing in the dark. To resolve this cataract surgery is performed and it removes the damaged part of the lens and replaces it with a plastic implant called an intraocular lens - the good news is that once removed, a cataract cannot grow back.

There are no prescriptions or drugs that can correct a cataract and therefore the only solution is surgery. Surgery is never done on both eyes in the same day and is often an outpatient procedure. As with all surgeries there is a risk hat infection and or bleeding will occur, and in the case of cataract surgery there is an increased risk of the retina detaching. The most common complication of cataract surgery is something called posterior capsule opacity. This occurs when the lens capsule, which surrounds and protects the lens of your eye, has cells from the outer layer of the cornea that begin to grow onto the capsule. This creates hazy vision which is sometimes worse than what the cataract caused. Thankfully there is a laser treatment that corrects this complication which occurs in about 20 percent of patients.

Another complication that may occur is when the intraocular lens that is implanted into the eye becomes dislocated or gets out of position often causing the patient to experience double vision. This problem can be easily corrected by your surgeon who will simply reposition the lens. If this becomes a problem a second time the intraocular lens can be sewn into place. It is important for a patient to report any problems to their doctor immediately upon noticing them because with just a few months the implanted lens 'grows' into place and becomes much harder for a surgeon to reposition or remove.

Cataract surgery does come with some other minor complications such as swelling or a droopy eyelid, but these problems usually clear up with time and do not cause major interference with a patient's renewed vision. The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery report that 95 percent of patients have their vision restored to the level that is was at before the cataract developed and interfered. Additionally, a high level or premium intraocular lens can actually improve a patient's vision. So while complications are inherent with any surgery, many people choose cataract surgery as a safe and effective way to remove their cataract and restore their sight.

Learn more about cataract and different cataract surgery options

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Himanshu_Jakhar

How Safe Is Laser Eye Surgery Anyway?

By Dr James Genge






Laser eye surgery has been tried and tested over its 23 years of existence. Over 36,000,000 LASIK procedures have been performed throughout the world, and nobody has lost an eye from having the procedure. The risk associated with laser eye surgery is less than that associated with contact lenses, and as far as infection goes, it represents a small one-time risk, as opposed to the ongoing risk of infection with contacts.

Laser eye surgery's safety has been experimented with and assessed by government and military organisations such as the US Navy, the Australian Army, and NASA. Their investigations show that blade-free LASIK (ie. creating a corneal flap with a femtosecond laser) is safe and approved for the SAS, Top Gun pilots and NASA astronauts.

Professional sportspeople also have used laser eye surgery to ensure their best performance on the field. This includes sportspeople such as Tiger Woods and David Beckham, whose vision correction procedures undoubtedly allows them to perform at their peak.

Despite having such an exceptional safety profile however, laser eye surgery is still surgery, and therefore will always have the potential for complications. Such complications are generally rare and always manageable though, which I will discuss below.

Enhancement:
LASIK surgery is performed on the eye, an organic tissue. Though the procedure is extremely accurate, there is an average 3-4% risk the correction will be decent but not absolutely optimal. In these cases, I usually wait around 3 months to ensure the stability of the residual glasses prescription, then lift the same corneal flap created earlier to "fine tune" the procedure's outcome. These enhancements are minor corrections, and are therefore more accurate. A great advantage of laser eye surgery is that, although highly stable in the long term, should anyone experience any refraction shift in their vision, enhancements such as these can be at almost any time in the future.

Risk of infection:
As mentioned before, the rate of infection as a result of laser eye surgery procedures is extremely low, far less than infections resulting from contact lenses. Corneal scarring resulting from infection occurs even less than this, at a rate of less than 1 in 20,000. Even if this occurs, it is correctible with a corneal transplant. As a corneal subspecialist, I've performed a lot of corneal transplants, but have never had to perform one for this reason.

Corneal flap issues:
Blade LASIK introduced the risk of creating an abnormal flap (such as a buttonhole flap). However, blade-free (femtosecond laser) LASIK eliminates this risk altogether, and due to this enhanced safety, it is the only form of laser eye surgery I perform.

With blade-free laser eye surgery, inflammation under the flap can sometimes occur (this is called diffuse lamellar keratitis), and can be managed by an increase in anti-inflammatory eye drops. If cells on the cornea grow (epithelium - a very rare occurence), they will generally absorb and disappear. If they ever proliferate, the flap can be lifted and the offending cells removed.

Dry Eye:
Temporary dry eye phenomenon is created when the nerves of the cornea are cut, which occurs during laser eye surgery. It can take about 3 months for these nerves to regenerate. During this time I would advise replenishing the tear film with lubricating drops.

Ectasia:
Ectasia is fortunately a very rare occurrence in which laser vision correction causes the cornea to become too pliable, and therefore bulges forward over time. Extreme cases of ectasia have been corrected by corneal transplantation, however fortunately pre-operative screening of patients has increased in accuracy, meaning candidates unsuitable for laser eye surgery are almost always identified before the procedure. Recent advances in the technique of collagen cross-linking also allows us to stop this rare complication from progressing further, and lets the patient maintain their vision while avoiding a cornea transplant. I am one of few eye surgeons in Australia who is experienced in this and can perform it in my surgery, however I have never needed to perform it on my own patients.

Glaring and Halos:
After the procedure, patients sometimes see starbursts or halos around lights in the night. This is most often due to the corneal flap dehydrating and stabilising, and it is rare to see this phenomenon persist longer than about a week.

Quality of vision:
The majority of patients feel that their vision after laser eye surgery is better than their vision with glasses or contacts before the operation. There is always a very small minority who experience visual quality less crisp than their pre-operative vision, but this situation is generally rectified by laser enhancement.

Laser eye surgery's proven and maintained track record of safety, accuracy and efficiency make it the clear treatment for becoming independent from glasses or contact lenses. Recent advances in blade-free femtosecond LASIK takes this to new levels, and surely represents the height of eye surgery and vision correction.

Dr James Genge (M.B., B.S., B.Med.Sci. (Hons)., F.R.A.N.Z.C.O.) is an ophthalmic micro surgeon and internationally trained Laser Eye Surgery, Cataract and Corneal Surgery Subspecialist. Want to learn more about LASIK and Laser Vision Correction? Visit his site at Laser Eye Surgery Sydney.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr_James_Genge

Home Remedies For Pink Eye Or Conjunctivitis

By Kevin Pederson

 

Pink eye or conjunctivitis, is one of the most common eye infection. When conjunctiva, a thin transparent covering the eyeball is inflamed, the eye experiences irritation, becomes swollen and reddens. This air borne disease spreads from person to person through direct contact is called "sore eye" in layman language.

                 
Pink eye symptoms are easily noticeable as the eyeball and insides of eyelids become inflamed. The eye starts to itch and then turns red, followed by watery secretion. In some cases, pus is also formed, which dries up especially when one sleeps making the eyelashes stick together.

The few known causes of sore eyes are mostly bacterial or viral infection, eye-strain, working in dim lighted conditions, allergic reaction to some substances in the air or causal contact like a handshake, etc, with someone whos infected.

Simple practices like washing hands with antiseptic soap, avoiding the using towels or anything else of the person infected, using clean cloth or tissue to clear the eye discharge, wearing protective eye gear and screens in places where welding occurs and avoiding chemical irritants and allergens, etc. can be put in use to avoid spreading the disease.

To speedup the recovery process and ease the discomfort in the eye, try some of these home remedies

Application of warm compress over the eye for 10 minutes or so, three to four times in a day soothes the inflamed eye.

Use cotton balls dipped in clean water to wipe the crusts in and around the eyes and eyelids will help the healing process.

Warm compress works fine with kids and even adults, but for those (adults only) who have excess discharge should mix baby shampoo and warm water in the ratio of 1:10. Clean the eye and eyelashes with soft cotton ball dipped in this solution. Warm water softens and loosens the crusts and shampoo cleans the area around it.      

 Boil handful of dried coriander in warm water to make an excellent eye wash. It provides relief burning and lessens the pain and swelling.

Another home remedy for pink eye. Mmake a poultice of grated potato and place it on affected eye. Instead of potato, try grated apple. The condition should clear up in 2 or 3 days time.

Boric acid eyewash can be used to clean and soothe the eyes.

Warm tea bags placed on the eyes eases the discomfort of conjunctivitis.

Herbal eyewash made with 2 tsp chamomile flowers steeped in 2 cups of boiling water is a good substitute for eye drops. Chamomile tea bags placed on the eye soothes the itchiness.

For infants experiencing pink eye, dab the babys eye with freshly expressed breast milk, 2-3 times for few days and see the difference.

Eyebright is known to be best herb for treating the pink eye as it has excellent cleansing and strengthening properties. Mix few drops of eyebright tincture with 1 cup boiled water, cool and strain. Dip a cotton ball in this eyewash and gently wipe the eye and its surrounding area.

A cup of Indian gooseberry juice mixed with 2 tsp of honey taken twice daily is useful in treating conjunctivitis.

Goat milk yogurt poultice applied to the infected eye daily brings relief.

 

About the Autho

 

Kevin Pederson

Kevin Pederson, webmaster for home remedies, such as Home Remedies gives you natural cures to treat daily commonly faced ailments in the comfort of your home.