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Healthy Contact Lens Wear
Weather you are brand new to Contact Lenses, or an experienced wearer, taking good care of your Contacts is essential to your eyes health.
Contact Lenses should be healthy, comfortable, and provide good vision.
Red, Sore, or Irritated eyes call for immediate removal of Contact Lenses. Inspect the lens for a cause of the problems. If after removal the eyes are still red, sore or irritated, come in for an evaluation.
Healthy Contact Lens Wear
Contact lenses must be fit appropriately for your eye. Never wear contact lenses that were not prescribed by an Eye Doctor for your eyes. Contact lenses must be the correct size, shape, curvature and material for you. Problems with any of these parameters could cause serious problems for your eyes health and vision.
Never wear contact lenses that have been worn by someone else. Even if your contact lens prescription is the same as a friends or family members (a very unlikely event), don't use a contact lens that they have worn. Don't share a lens that you have worn with anyone else. Chances of a serious eye infection is very high. Even if the contact lens is thought to be disinfected, if could cause serious problems.
Non-powered cosmetic or colored Contact Lenses have a history of being shared. These lenses are prescription, even if they have no power. Any non-powered colored contact lens purchased without a prescription is illegal in the United States. There have been cases of teenagers going blind, or even losing an eye because of wearing, or sharing, non-prescribed colored contact lenses. Non-powered colored contact lenses may be prescribed and worn safely if this is desired.
Oxygen permeability is very important for long term healthy contact lens wear. Many contact lenses worn now days are extremely oxygen permeable. These lenses include the following: Acuvue Oasys, Night and Day, Purevision, Purevision Toric, Purevision Multifocal, O2Optix, and Biofinity. Many of these lenses may be worn overnight. This must always be approved by your doctor. No other brands of soft contact lenses may be worn overnight. Biofinity is not yet approved for overnight wear. Other lenses with good oxygen permeability, but not sufficient for overnight wear include Acuvue Advance, and Acuvue Advance for Astigmatism. All of the above named lenses are in a category called Silicone Hydrogels. This means that silicone is incorporated into the contact lens material. This silicone allows for the high levels of oxygen getting to the eye. High levels of oxygen are not just for overnight wear; all contact lens wear is safer and more healthy with better oxygen permeability.
Contact lens cleaning, disinfection, and replacement is critical to your eyes health. This includes the contact lenses themselves, as well as the contact lens case. Contact lens solutions are not the same. Gas permeable contacts must be cleaned with different solution than soft contact lenses. Each of the different solution brands are made according to different chemical formula, and may use different preservatives. Recently, two very rare infections began to occur more frequently. Each infection was linked to a different soft contact lens solution. Both of those solutions are now off of the market. In addition to the solutions not being effective against those pathogens, it was also found that the care regimen was not ideal. "No Rub" solutions were being used regularly, and this may have contributed. The rubbing step is now considered ideal, no matter what solution is recommended for cleaning. Other problems deal with the solution and the case. If the solution in the case is just topped off from time to time, it decreases its preservative, and disinfection ability. Old solution, that has already been used, does not have the same strength as fresh solution. To correctly disinfect overnight, fresh solution should be put into a clean dried out case each evening that contact lenses are to be cleaned. In the morning, all of the solution should be drained, and the case should be rinsed out. It should be allowed to air dry during the day. The case should be replaced at least every 3 months. It is critical that contact lenses are replaced regularly. The number of contact lens infections, complications, and problems has gone down tremendously since the introduction of disposable contact lenses. Manufacturer and Doctor recommendations may very on the frequency of replacing the various brands of contact lenses. In general, if a disposable contact lens is worn for over 1 month, the chances of infections and other complications increases dramatically. Always follow your Doctors prescribed replacement schedule. Contacts should be replaced whenever there is evidence of damage, contamination etc. When in doubt, replace with a fresh lens.
Sleeping in contact lenses may be desired for many patients. Sleeping in contact lenses was approved many years ago, before the introduction of high oxygen permeable contacts. This led to a high number of very serious infections, including microbial keratitis or corneal ulcers. It is no longer recommended to sleep in any contact lenses that are not hyper permeable to oxygen. Two materials are approved for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. These are Night and Day, and the Purevision family of lenses. Lenses approved for up to 7 days of continuous wear are Acuvue Oasys and O2Optix. No other soft contact lenses should be used for overnight wear. Biofinity is hyper oxygen permeable, but has not been approved for overnight wear at this time. Some RGP materials are approved for overnight wear, such as Paragon CRT. Consult your Doctor on RGP materials for overnight wear. Contacts should not be slept with overnight without your Doctors approval, no matter what material you are prescribed. Even with hyper oxygen permeable materials, there is risk with wearing contact lenses over night. At any sign of problems, contact lenses should be removed. If problems persist after removal, call the office for an evaluation. The convenience of sleeping in contact lenses is much safer since the advent of hyper oxygen permeable material. However, there will always be risk associated with contact lens wear, and especially over night wear.
Contact Lenses wear should be comfortable.
Gas permeable materials are usually felt during the adaptation to wear. At first this may be uncomfortable. Sometimes thicker, or stiffer materials may be felt a little more, such as Toric's or Night and Days. Generally the comfort improves within a few days of wear.
If contact lenses, that have been comfortable, begin to be uncomfortable you should remove the lenses. The causes of discomfort are many and varied. Certainly older lenses, or those that have not been cleaned effectively should be replaced or cleaned completely. There may be a foreign body between the contact lens and your cornea, such as an eyelash. This is often remedied by contact lens removal, and a good rubbing of the contact lens with fresh solution. A rip, tear, or other damage to the lens, calls for immediate replacement of the lens. Some people may suffer from eye dryness, which can be more severe with contact lens use. Rewetting drops approved for contact lenses used regularly may help with temporary dryness. If the dryness is more severe, using a material designed to not dry out, such as Acuvue Oasys or Proclear may help. Other helpful remedies could include punctal occlusion, or Restasis therapy. Simply adding Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation to your diet can help with eye dryness.
If the contact lens is removed, or moistened, and there is still problems with the eye, such as discomfort, light sensitivity, redness, decreased vision, etc., call for an appointment to be seen. Infections, inflammatory reactions, or other eye health problems need to be evaluated quickly. Do not put contact lenses in an eye that is having problems. It is critical that all contact lens wearers have back up glasses to use for times such as these.
If comfort problems are mild, but regular, if may be time to move to a newer lens material designed for longer term comfort, such as the Acuvue Oasys. Dryness problems may need to be addressed. Or there may be other problems best addressed during an eye exam. Talk with your doctor, in detail, about any mild comfort problems that you are facing.
Contact lenses should provide good vision.
If your vision has decreased it is time for an eye exam. In general, a yearly eye exam is required for continued contact lens use. However, it is possible that your prescription has changed before the year is up. In these cases, you may need an eye exam before the usual yearly time frame. Children's vision can change more frequently than yearly in many cases. Even adults can have vision changes from time to time. Many eye health, and some general health conditions can cause a change in vision. Diabetes can cause acute changes in vision that can be dramatic. Call for an appointment if there is a change in vision. It may be time for a new prescription. There may be other problems that need to be evaluated and managed.
Contact lenses are a wonderful option for vision correction. Take good care of your contacts, and you will likely enjoy great comfort and vision, while maintaining healthy eyes.