When people ask me why I don't wear contacts, I typically come up with some excuse to avoid admitting the truth: that sticking a plastic device directly on the fragile mucous membrane surrounding my cornea terrifies me.But it does, and it's the reason I've always felt A-OK just wearing glasses.A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention makes me feel a little justified in my fear of contacts, despite the fact that they're largely safe and effectiveat least when worn correctly.The report builds on previous findings from 2014, when the CDC found that more than 99% of the contact lens wearers they surveyed reported at least one behavior that put them at risk for an eye infection.Forty-one millions Americans dont share my fear, opting to use contacts on the regular.According to the new study, which looked at 1,075reported infections related to wearing contacts, many of these infections can lead to long-lasting damage. On the bright side, they're typically preventable.Here were their main findings:About 1 in5 reports included someone who'd had a scarred cornea, needed a corneal transplant, or had reduced vision.Roughly 20% of the reported infections included someone who'd had severe problems with their cornea, the eye's clear front dome. The cornea plays a key role in clear vision and has a remarkable capacity to recover from most minor nicks. But an infectionlike the ones described in the CDC's reportcan damage the cornea's deeper layers, making it tough to completely heal.In some cases, corneal damagecan also cause scarring, which can distort your vision. When the scarring is severe, you may need a corneal transplant, which involves swapping part of your cornea with tissue from a donor.More than 1 in4 reports mentioned contact lens habits that are known to increase the chance of getting an infection.While these problems sound severe, most of them arepotentially preventable. For example, the report found that many users reported sleeping in their contact lenses when not prescribed and wearing lenses for longer than the prescribed period."Contact lens wearers can reduce their risk for contact lens-related infections by improving their hygiene behaviors, such as not sleeping in contact lenses unless prescribed and replacing their contact lenses as prescribed," the report states.So next time you get up to put on your contacts, rememberyou're putting in a medical device, and you should handle it with care.Here are some simple tips for good contactlens hygiene:1. Wash your hands before handling your lenses.2. Completely replace yesterday's contact solution.3. Wear your contacts for only as long as they're prescribed.4. Rinse your lens case with contact solution and wipe it out with a clean towel after every use.SEE ALSO:There's a test that tells you if you're a 'super-recognizer' of faces, and you can take it right nowDON'T MISS:Not all headaches hurt the same ' here's how to know what type of pain you're havingJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: An eye doctor reveals the most dangerous thing you could do to your eyes
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