“If there’s one part of my body I’ve always had to pay special attention to, that’s the eyes. Mine are extremely delicate. Being myopic, among other things, I have been wearing contact lenses since I was 18. They have always facilitated my work, allowing me to see better during the news and to read the “hunches” more easily. However, contact lenses lead to unavoidable redness, even if you use eye drops and artificial tears consistently. I am therefore used to not always having a clear eye and I am not frightened by a slight irritation ». Thus begins his story at Ok Salute e Benessere the television journalist Michele Cucuzza.
Michele Cucuzza: “The sun really irritated my eyes”
Last summer, however, something happened that not only bothered me, but also worried me. I was by the sea, in Gaeta, a guest of some friends. After a full day on the beach, what I thought was one of the usual eye redness appeared. “I will have taken too much sun”, I said to myself without excessive anxiety, “later I will put the eye drops and tomorrow it will all be over.” It must be said that doctors have always recommended me to expose myself to UV rays only with sunglasses. But can I tan “in pieces”, having the sign of the glasses “tattooed” on my face all summer? In order to avoid this inconvenience, I usually close my eyes when I take the sun and patience: should some eye irritation appear I know how to manage it.
This time, however, the issue was different. The morning following my day at the beach I had ember-colored eyes, so much so that all the people who met me were impressed and worriedly asked me what had happened to me. “Nothing serious, it’s the usual one conjunctivitisI replied. Yet, inside me I felt it was something different, I didn’t understand what I had, let alone what could have been the cause. I had the feeling that I no longer recognized my body.
Michele Cucuzza: “I ruined my holiday”
The redness did not go away, although I had started using eye drops with a higher dose of cortisone, which for me is a kind of godsend and should only be taken with a prescription. It is a chloramphenicol and betamethasone drug that I use when I realize the situation is a little more complicated. Within two days, it usually takes effect. Except on this occasion. Thank goodness I didn’t feel pain, I didn’t have tears, but this abnormal redness caused annoying inconveniences.
First of all, I could not wear contact lenses, but only prescription glasses, which represent a small obstacle in case you want to play sports or, perhaps, a dip in the sea. However, I had to give up swimming, having realized that exposure to the sun and wind was harmful to me. I no longer went to the beach, I didn’t put any cream on my face and I also avoided the air conditioning: both in restaurants and at friends’ houses I had to ask to turn it off. In the car I did a kind of sauna, not only could I not turn on the air, but I didn’t even open the windows to prevent the wind from falling on my eyes.
It was a particularly persistent conjunctivitis
When I finally managed to track down my ophthalmologist returning from vacation, he immediately summoned me to his office, examined me thoroughly, looked closely at the back of the eye and found no particular pathologies. I had extremely stubborn conjunctivitis and he prescribed me eye drops containing the active ingredient hydrocortisone sodium phosphate. I started taking it daily and, after about twenty days, the eye began to be less red and then, finally, to whiten. Overall, I believe this disorder lasted a couple of months, from when it started until it disappeared completely. I remember that, still recovering, I had to pose for the photo to use on the cover of my new book, Out of the bubbles !. Well, on closer inspection, my eyes are still slightly red. And I must say that every time I see that photograph, my thoughts go to those days and how scared I was.
Michele Cucuzza
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