Five reasons you need an antibacterial eye mask

Eye masks are a commonly used treatment/aid for a multitude of eye complaints, including redness, irritation, tiredness, dye eyes and allergies. When treating these conditions, the material type, temperature and cleanliness of what we put near our eyes is crucial to avoiding further irritation and of course, infection.

What are eye masks used for?

Eye masks and compresses are a handy, effective way to treat and relieve the symptoms of a range of eye conditions, at home. They work by helping to gently stimulate and rejuvenate your glands to a more healthy state.

When your eye glands become blocked - which can be caused by a variety of conditions - your eyes lack moisture which can lead to redness, soreness, dryness and irritation. By gently softening these blockages, an eye mask can help tackle these issues and leave you feeling refreshed. 

What can eye masks help/treat?

Hot or cold eye compresses and masks can be used to treat a variety of conditions, including:

• Styes
• Dry Eye Disease
• Common eyelid cysts (Chalazion)
• MGD (Meibomian Gland Disease) 
• Redness and Irritation (caused by allergies or fatigue) 

Make sure you read the instructions and if you have specific conditions in your medical history, always speak to a professional. 

Antibacterial Eye Masks vs Standard Eye Masks

If we’re taking care of our eyes, we naturally want to ensure everything we put near them will minimise, not aggravate any irritation. This is why you might want to consider ditching the old eye mask you have, for an antibacterial one. 

Most people believe, or have been led to believe, that simply heating up your eye mask will kill off any bacteria and therefore allow the mask to soothe your eyes, without risk. In the development of our own patented antibacterial mask, we found out that this is not the case. Our tests were independently conducted by MCS Laboratories Ltd, an independent contact microbiology laboratory that serves a wide range of industries. 

One sample from a selection of commercially available products we chose to test, was already showing significant levels of bacteria on it before use, indicating pre-use contamination. So, we followed the guidance and microwaved it; this resulted in a marginal antibacterial activity, with significant levels of the test organism remaining. What does this mean? It means that your mask, even if heated cannot be referred to as antibacterial and could easily be bringing bacteria to your already irritated eyes. 

Of course, many reusable eye masks can be used hot and cold, and the use of cold compresses further increases the risk of bacterial cross-contamination, as they don’t benefit from even the slightest reduction in bacterial load, as with hot masks/compresses.  

We devised our own antibacterial eye mask, with patented SterileyesⓇ protection. SterileyesⓇ is an antibacterial shield, bound to the fibres of the fabric. It is clinically proven to kill 99.9% of bacteria, protecting the eyes from this and further irritation. 

In ideal conditions, without protection like SterileyesⓇ, bacterial numbers can double over a 20 minute period. 

With that in mind, here are five reasons you need an antibacterial mask:  

• Reusing the same mask over and over again means you’re likely to be putting more bacteria on your eyes, rather than treating the issue
• Simply heating a mask does not adequately kill bacterial load
• Antibacterial protection like SterileyesⓇ  kills 99.9% of bacteria on the fabric
• Can be used hot and cold without increased risk of exposing the eyes to more bacteria 
• Reduce cross contamination means faster, more effective treatment 

Why choose Sterileyes?

We’ve developed our mask to minimise as much bacterial contamination as possible, this is thanks to the patented protection on the mask’s fabric, but also its filling. Many eye masks and eye compresses used to treat eye conditions at home are filled with natural fillings such as flax and linseed. These can be more prone to mould, odour and if exposed repeatedly to high temperatures, can be more flammable. We use our own silica based filling - BodyBeads, which we find to be more effective at reducing odour, potential for mould and are more heat stable (there are always risks of overheating if instructions are not adhered to, so please always follow your mask’s instructions). 

Our antibacterial eye mask is specifically designed to minimise bacterial crossover whether you're looking for a hot or cold soothing mask to treat your eye conditions.

"The Eye Doctor is a simple, ingenious and reusable solution for a wide range of common eye conditions." - Dr Hilary Jones.