Keratitis is an inflammation of the cornea — the clear, dome-shaped tissue on the front of your eye that covers the pupil and iris. Keratitis may or may not be associated with an infection. Noninfectious keratitis can be caused by a relatively minor injury, by wearing your contact lenses too long or by a foreign body in the eye. Infectious keratitis can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.

Symptoms:

Signs and symptoms of keratitis include:

• Eye redness
• Eye pain
• Excess tears or other discharge from your eye
• Difficulty opening your eyelid because of pain or irritation
• Blurred vision
• Decreased vision
• Sensitivity to light (photophobia)
• A feeling that something is in your eye

Causes:

• Injury. If any object scratches or injures the surface of your cornea, noninfectious keratitis may result. In addition, an injury may allow microorganisms to gain access to the damaged cornea, causing infectious keratitis.
• Contaminated contact lenses. Bacteria, fungi or parasites — particularly the microscopic parasite acanthamoeba — may inhabit the surface of a contact lens or contact lens carrying case. The cornea may become contaminated when the lens is in your eye, resulting in infectious keratitis. Over-wearing your contact lenses can cause keratitis, which can become infectious.
• Viruses. The herpes viruses (herpes simplex and herpes zoster) may cause keratitis.
• Bacteria. The bacterium that causes gonorrhea can cause keratitis.

Risk Factors:

Factors that may increase your risk of keratitis include:

• Contact lenses. Wearing contact lenses — especially sleeping in the lenses —increases your risk of both infectious and noninfectious keratitis. The risk typically stems from wearing them longer than recommended, improper disinfection or wearing contact lenses while swimming.

Keratitis is more common in people who use extended-wear contacts, or wear contacts continuously, than in those who use daily wear contacts and take them out at night.

• Corticosteroids. Use of corticosteroid eyedrops to treat an eye disorder can increase your risk of developing infectious keratitis or worsen existing keratitis.
• Eye injury. If one of your corneas has been damaged from an injury in the past, you may be more vulnerable to developing keratitis.

Prevention:

Caring for your contact lenses

If you wear contact lenses, proper use, cleaning and disinfecting can help prevent keratitis. Follow these tips:

• Choose daily wear contacts, and take them out before going to sleep.
• Wash, rinse and dry your hands thoroughly before handling your contacts.
• Follow your eye care professional's recommendations for taking care of your lenses.
• Use only sterile products that are made specifically for contact lens care, and use lens care products made for the type of lenses you wear.
• Replace your contact lenses as recommended.
• Replace your contact lens case every three to six months.
• Don't wear contact lenses when you go swimming.
• Media Contact:
• Sarah Rose
• Journal Manager Journal of Eye Diseases and Disorderss
• Email: eyedisorders@emedsci.com
• Watsapp:+1-947-333-4405

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