LAGOS- A Consultant Ophthalmologist, Dr Modupe Idris, urged people to avoid self medication in treating eye problem in order to prevent blindness.
Idris, who is a lecturer at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
“I like to use this opportunity to advise people to please take care of their eyes because we have seen instances of people using just anything, putting just anything into their eyes.
“We have seen people with just ordinary conjunctivitis and they put petrol, urine, breast milk, sugar water, onions, rob.
‘’It is this thing that will cause the damage, not the primary infection that the patient had.
“So, if you have any problem with your eyes, please try and see the expert, it does not take time, have your eyes checked, then, they will prescribe the appropriate drugs.
“And, then don’t share your drugs with your neighbours.
“Even if you do not have any problem with your eyes, try and check your eyes. Let us put it into our culture to have our eyes checked once a year so as to prevent irreparable damage.”
The consultant also urged parents to ensure that their children did not play with sharp objects during the holiday to prevent damaging their eyes.
She said that many children presented lots of eye problems at the hospital due to sharp objects.
“We will have to also advise our children to be careful with the way they play at school, especially with the holiday coming.
“Not to play with brooms or sharp objects or pencil, because we have seen instances of children coming with cornea problems.
“They have to be careful generally”.