52 Tags Challenge continues...

Winter has finally set in to central Indiana - like it has in most of the eastern part of the US, it seems.  While it has had the effect of slowing me down, fortunately it doesn't appear that it will be sticking around longer than through this upcoming week.

Last week started off with some work being done at my brother's house, and me dealing with an eye infection.  Ugh.  It's the third eye infection I've had since October.  The first two cleared up pretty quickly within a few days by simply using hot compresses.  This time, though, I needed some help.  After several days of antibiotics, it's still there, but it feels much better.  Not quite as scary red and swollen.  

The reason I'm sharing this is in case it benefits anyone else.  The eye doctor said they've seen a lot more eye infections this year and they are wondering if mask wearing is contributing to it after all.   The fact that I didn't even see a doctor for the first two infections I had, I have to believe many infections clear up without ever being noted.  In other words, if doctors are seeing more eye infections in the office, there are even more likely going unreported.

Honestly...  listening to my doctor and doing some research about it, it now seems ludicrous to think masks couldn't be a factor to an increase in skin and eye infections (as some articles I encountered still suggest).  My husband also had a skin infection just under one of his eyes several months ago. I don't know if he was told his was staph, but he was treated for it and it took weeks to clear up.  

My point isn't to not wear a face mask.  I'm not there - yet.  If you have dry eyes and/or experienced eye infections since wearing masks, I suggest reading up on the problem, as it's multifaceted.  No one is suggesting that face masks directly cause eye infections.  Conversely, articles that dismiss the problem by stating "face makes don't cause eye infections" are misleading and don't get to the point or deal with the problem.  And worse, articles that simply call such claims false are written by lazy writers who do a disservice to people looking for real information. 

For me, a person with dry eye syndrome... this means, in addition to continuing to be fastidious about washing my hands and wearing fresh masks when one is called for, it may serve me well to take some extra precautions because those pesky sluggish oil glands in the eyelids (which is one cause of dry eyes) are more susceptible to infection.   I bought me a Bruder (eye) Mask to make warm compresses easier to do - hot, wet washcloths helped when I took the time to fiddle with them, but a mask that stays put and holds its heat longer makes it all much less tedious.   Bottom line:  take care of and pay attention to your eyes.  Dry eyes are more susceptible to infections.  If they're feeling dryer than normal, it could be more than just the dry winter air that's affecting them.  Regardless, it's wise to address the problem of dry eyes - not only for comfort's sake, but for the health of your eyes.

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And with that PSA finished, now I'm on to what usually brings me in here on Sunday afternoons - my Year of Projects post.  After the busyness and not feeling so good the first half of last week, I found myself finally inspired on Friday to work on two more tags in the #52tagshannemade challenge.

The theme of Tag #5 is "Kisses"

Can you figure out how the theme "kisses:" is played out above?

And the 6th tag's theme is "Bevy of Buttons"

I think this one is self-explanatory.

If you're interested in Anne's Brooke's 52 Tags challenge, you can see her tags and videos here!

And that, dear reader, is all she wrote!