5 Tips to Manage Your Anxiety during COVID-19 Lockdown

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As Coronavirus cases continue to rise, people all over the globe have decided to go into self-isolation to protect themselves and their loved one. With incessant media coverage and increasing unemployment rates, there’s no doubt that these uncertain times are creating stress and anxiety for the global population.

If you’re struggling to look after your mental health during the Covid-19 outbreak, here’s a guide on how you can manage your anxiety and keep your mental well being as your topmost priority.

1. Avoid Obsessing Over Coronavirus Updates

It’s important to know what’s happening all around the world, but when you’re stuck at home and watching constant news about the pandemic, you’ll end up putting your mental health at risk.

You need to figure out a way to balance watching important news and news that could make you feel depressed. Take regular breaks from social media and mute keywords and accounts that can trigger your anxiety.

2. Use This Opportunity to Focus on Self-Care

Even though the world may seem dismal and dull right now, you need to focus your energy on the positives. Take advantage of the mandated work-from-policy and use it as an opportunity to explore your interests and create something you’ve always dreamed about.

If you approach this time with a negative attitude and stress about feeling trapped inside your home, you’ll only cause your anxiety to worsen. This can be your chance to focus on self-care and rediscover yourself.

Make an effort to reach out to family and friends and talk to each other on a regular basis.

3. Try Your Best to Maintain Your Normal Routine

If you have children at home, working from home can become stressful and you may be tempted to fall into a more laid-back schedule. This may lead to having negative thoughts about yourself, which is why you need to try and maintain at least some form of your normal routine from the pre-quarantine days.

It’s advisable to wake up and go to bed at the same time as you used to, make time to have proper meals, and do household chores just like before. Sticking to your normal routine will allow you to feel more active and make it a lot easier for you to readjust when things go back to normal.

4. Make Time for Exercise

Don’t give up on your exercise regimen during this global crisis. Studies have shown that exercising regularly releases chemicals, like serotonin and dopamine, which are just as effective as anti-depressants for treating mild depression.

Since you may not have access to a gym, you should create your own exercise routine at home and try to reserve at least 30 to 40 minutes of your time to exercise about three or four times every week.

5. Get 8 Hours of Sleep

It’s also necessary to get good quality sleep every night to increase your chances of handling your emotions and staying healthy. It’s recommended to achieve about 8 hours of sleep every night after taking a hot bath and making sure there’s no screen time at least two hours before your bedtime.

Final Words

It may be difficult for you to keep up your normal routine, make time for exercise, and avoid watching the news when you’re uncertain about what the future may hold. Follow the tips mentioned in this blog post and take little steps each day to keep your stress and anxiety under control.

Contact Lens during Covid-19

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If there’s one thing we’ve all learned during the COVID-19 crisis, it’s that one of best ways to stay protected against the Coronavirus is to avoid touching our faces and washing our hands for at least 20 seconds.

We’ve also been advised to use alcohol-based hand sanitizers in situations where water and soap aren’t available as these are found to be quite effective in fighting off most germs.

People have started wearing glasses as opposed to contact lenses to avoid contracting the disease.

The AOA and doctors of optometry want the general public to know that contact lenses are perfectly safe and effective for millions of people. Here’s what you need to do to take proper care of your contact lenses and protect yourself from contracting the Coronavirus:

1. Don’t Touch Your Face While Inserting or Removing Lenses

It’s important to note that wearing contact lenses alone won’t give you COVID-19, but you should maintain good hygiene when you’re handling your lenses and avoid touching your face and eyes when you’re inserting or taking your lenses out.

2. Wash Your Hands Properly

It’s also necessary to wash your hands properly with soap and water and then dry them with clean and unused paper towels. You should do this right before inserting your contact lenses and right after removing them.

If you don’t have water and soap at hand, it’s advisable to use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Touching your face, including your nose, mouth, and eyes with unclean hands will spread germs and increase your risk of getting Coronavirus.

3. Disinfect Your Contact Lenses

You should also disinfect your contact lenses regularly. Dispose of your daily disposable contact lenses every evening or disinfect your two-week or monthly lenses as per the instructions provided to you by your doctor of optometry. If you’re feeling sick and showing COVID-19 symptoms, it’s best to stop wearing lenses.

People who are switching to glasses should note that glasses aren’t proven to provide protection against COVID-19 and other viruses.

4. Postpone New Contact lens fits

Offices should postpone new contact lens fits because of being close to the patients and handling of the lenses between the two parties.

Final Thoughts

You must avoid touching your eyes when you’re in high-risk places. If your eyes feel itchy, resist the temptation to rub them. It’s recommended to keep a cold compress or a bottle of artificial tears just in case.

Guidance for Optometric Practices during Covid-19 Outbreak

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In the light of Covid-19 pandemic, doctors of optometry, who happen to be frontline healthcare providers, have an obligation to make sure appropriate guidelines and requirements are being observed in their respective clinics.

In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some guidance provided by the AOA so you can ensure the well-being of all your staff members and patients and maintain a healthy and safe environment.

Steps to Take Before and After Patient Care

Educate yourself and staff on the signs and symptoms of COVID-19

It’s also necessary to ask your staff if they’re experiencing as these can be presenting signs of Covid-19. If any of your staff remembers report that they’re ill, you should ask them to seek immediate medical attention.

Make sure all your equipment is properly disinfected with a diluted bleach or alcohol solution with at least 70% alcohol.

Staff members are also required to wash their hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds right after they arrive, before and after interacting with a patient, prior to eating and after using the restroom.

Provide alcohol-based hand sanitizers to your staff, if possible. The CDC recommends using hand sanitizers that have greater than 70% isopropanol Everyone must maintain social distancing and disinfect all technologies devices before and after use.

Stock up masks, gloves and goggles. Breath Shields are available via Topcon for free to providers. Make sure there are protocols to wipe surfaces and equipment before and after the patient.

Steps to Take During Patient Care

To make sure your patients are aware of the guidelines provided by the AOA, you need to share them via email and post them on your official website and social media pages. Advise them against coming into the office if they’re experiencing any flu-like symptoms.

Instruct the patients to seek medical attention right away if they’re showing any of the following emergency warning signs:

Temperature

Flu like symptoms

· Continuous pain or pressure in the chest

· Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

· coughing

shortness of breath

conjunctivitis

Inform your patients via email and on your office door about COVID-19. If they have traveled or have a temperature they are to reschedule and return after quarantine.

. Tell your patients to only bring a limited number of people to accompany them.

If any of your non-emergent patients are 60 years of age or older, have pre-existing conditions with weaker immunity, offer to reschedule to avoid putting them at risk. Make sure there are limited points of entry into the office and only a limited number of people can sit in the waiting area. Try and book 1 patient per hour and limit number of people in the office.

The chairs should be placed at least six feet away from each other to maintain social distancing. If there isn’t enough room in the waiting area, you should ask the patients to wait for their turn outside or in their respective cars.

These are just some of the guidelines offered by the AOA. For more details and clarity regarding these instructions, go to their website