Today show host Craig Melvin’s Eye – What Happened To It?

Why is Craig Melvin wearing glasses?

This morning I was watching the Today show with my wife and kids before heading off to work. I was interested to see their segment regarding Today show co-anchor Craig Melvin’s recent eye issues. The segment started with discussing Craig’s choice of various trendy glasses frames as voted on by his Instagram followers. It then delved into why, exactly, Craig was wearing glasses in the first place….apparently this was his first time ever wearing glasses on air!

It turns out that over the last couple of days Craig’s left eye became red and painful. He wisely sought the advice of a nearby eye doctor. The ophthalmologist he saw diagnosed him with a corneal ulcer, in this case it was a contact lens-related corneal ulcer.

 

What is a corneal ulcer?

A corneal ulcer occurs when the top layer of the cornea, the epithelium (think of it like the cornea’s skin), is broken and the underlying tissue starts to degrade. Often this allows an infection to take hold. It’s like an abscess forming in your cornea! While some ulcers are sterile and aren’t related to infection, many are the result of either bacterial, viral, or fungal infection. Contact lens wearers in particular are susceptible to developing corneal ulcers and infections (sometimes called corneal infiltrates). Despite all of the advances in modern contact lens technology, contacts can still block oxygen from getting to the cornea and weaken it’s structure. This allows an infection to get started. This is often the result of poor contact lens hygiene.

 

How to avoid a contact lens-related corneal ulcer?

Good contact lens hygiene is key. This includes always washing your hands before handling your contacts. It’s also very important to change to a new pair of contact lens at the specified interval for your particular type. Cleaning and storing your contacts overnight according to the directions is also super important. Changing out your contact lens case at regular intervals can also help prevent an infection from growing in the case, which can then spread to the eye. If you are a contact lens wearer and notice one of your eyes becoming red and painful and possibly blurry, make sure to see a local eye doctor immediately. With prompt diagnosis and treatment these corneal ulcers can be readily treated, but left alone they can cause devastating eye problems, including blindness!

 

How is a corneal ulcer treated?

Depending on the location and severity of the corneal ulcer at diagnosis your eye doctor may choose to culture it. This means they take a sample of the infection and send it to a lab to see what type of infection is growing. This helps to tailor the therapy to the particular infection. Depending on the diagnosis, your eye doctor will likely prescribe antibiotic eye drops to treat the infection. These drops often need to be used very frequently (for example every hour) to initially treat the infection. In some cases your eye doctor may also recommend pills to be taken orally as well. These corneal ulcers require very close follow-up, in many cases the patient needs to be seen every day for a few days to make sure things are heading in the right direction.