You do not need to be a medical professional to know that one of the key steps for staying healthy is stopping any viral infection entering your body. Since most of our body is covered with skin, which is an effective defence for preventing viruses or bacteria crossing into our body. It is the body parts that have far thinner “membranes” covering them such as our airways, digestive system and eyes that can allow viral infections into the body, since the main role of these thinner membranes is to allow external things such as oxygen, food, and in the case of eyes, light, into our bodies. Unfortunately, viruses have mutated over time to take advantage of these entry points.
It is for this reason that personal protective equipment better known as PPE has been designed and developed over time to protect these potential virus entry points, by using face masks and other protective clothing.
One would think that these viruses attack our more vulnerable areas via virus particles being transmitted through the air and into our bodies. Well if you think that you are wrong. The main way that the majority of viral particles get to these weak points in our bodies is actually by our own doing and through touch with our very own hands. Knowing this drives home the reason for one of the key preventive measures against COVID-19 being to wash our hands often, for 20 seconds or more, and avoid touching our face.
So, in addition to face masks should we also be wearing goggles? Well, it does make sense that covering our eyes with glasses may offer extra protection, both from the virus that may be carried through the air and from touching our own eyes. As a person that wears glasses on a regular basis, I know from personal experience that wearing them prevents me from touching my own eyes and at this point medical study or no medical study I will take all the protection that I can get.
by Lee Ann Atwater