By By Sydney Murphy Health Day Reporter, health day reporter
(Health Day)
TUESDAY, Sept. 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Contact lenses may be essential for people with low vision, but if they’re not properly cleaned and stored, you run the risk of serious eye infections, experts say.
Up to one in 500 contact lens wearers contract such infections each year, which can sometimes lead to permanent blindness. Even minor infections caused by contamination are painful and disrupt daily life, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Whether contact lenses are worn to correct vision problems or simply for special occasions, all contact lenses are considered medical devices by the United States Food and Drug Administration and must be accompanied by a valid prescription. , noted the academy in a press release.
What kinds of eye problems can contact lenses cause?
- Grooves : These can be caused by contact lenses that are too old or poorly fitted. They can also cause blood vessels to grow in your cornea, a risky condition that can impair your sight.
- Dry eye: It’s a common symptom when you wear contact lenses, but if you use eye drops to fix it, your lenses can be damaged, the academy warned. Although you should avoid using eye drops, if you do, you should use lubricating eye drops without preservatives or wetting drops.
- Allergies: Irritating particles can accumulate on your contact lenses and then come into contact with your eyes. If your vision becomes blurry or you see pus in your eyes, these symptoms could signal serious eye problems.
How can you prevent these problems?
- Do not sleep with your contacts from the day before still in your eyes, unless prescribed by your ophthalmologist. When you sleep with contacts, the warm, moist environment is a place where bacteria can easily live and multiply, often causing infection.
- Wash your hands with soap and warm water before handling your contact lenses. Drying your hands after washing them is almost as important as washing them. This is because water can introduce germs into the eye if left on the lens during insertion.
- Any contact lens that you remove from your eye should be cleaned and sterilized before reinserting. There are many different cleaning methods that depend on the type of contact lenses you use, if you have any allergies, or other factors. Ask your eye doctor about the best way to clean your contact lenses.
- Each time you remove your contact lenses, you should rub and rinse them with a contact lens disinfectant solution. Then empty them and dry them.
- Never use homemade saline solution, tap water or saliva to clean your lenses.
- Only use new disinfectant solution for your contact lenses. Never mix a new solution with an old or used solution. And only use the specific cleansing solution recommended by your eye care provider.
Here is a video on how to properly clean your contact lenses:
Although more than 45 million Americans wear contact lenses, they are not suitable for everyone. You may not be able to wear them because you:
- Frequently having eye infections
- Have severe allergies or hard-to-treat dry eyes
- Work or live in a very dusty place
- Are not able to properly care for contact lenses
Overall, your contact lenses should be comfortable and allow you to see well. If not, let your eye doctor know and discuss other options, the academy said.
SOURCE: American Academy of Ophthalmology, press release, April 22, 2022
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