Wearing contacts too long dries out my eyes + makes em red?
Question by Jazzy: Wearing contacts too long dries out my eyes + makes em red?
if i’m out the whole day then my eyes get kind of red .. and very dry. if i’m out for a few hours, they just get dry. why does this happen? i take better care of my contacts than a lot of other people i know but they don’t have this problem. and i don’t wear them all the time i take them out at home. i do everything i’m supposed to.. wash my hands, clean the contacts, soak them in a solution, etc. and i’ve been wearing contacts for like 2 yrs now so i should be used to them by now right?
also, are there any long term effects of wearing contacts? will i get like glaucoma or other eye conditions when i’m older?
Best answer:
Answer by butta246
Hi, I’m a optometric tech. Sometimes you can do everything you can and still have this problem. You might want to let your eye doctor know about it and they can give you contacts with more moisture or hydraclear. It put more oxygen in the eyes so it won’t turn red or get irritated. You won’t get glaucoma from wearing eye contacts, but you do need to do the puff of air test every year to see. Glaucoma is only for people that have so much fluid pressure in their eyes that it gets to the point where they go blind. The effect of wearing contacts is if you improperly take care of them. I’ve dealt with some people that would sleep in their contacts and it eventually get stuck on their eye. I’ve also had people have contacts shatter in their eye because they were careless. Just remember to never sleep in them and to never use the same solution in your contact lens case, always dump it out. Also use a lint free towel. You have been doing everything right. It could also be allergies. If that’s the case, go to the local drug store and by systane-for contact! Their is a plain one for people who don’t wear contacts and some who do. That helps a lot! Good luck!!
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Hi, I’m also an optometric tech. butta 246 is correct about everything. you sound like you have been taking great care of your contacts, however i see you fail to mention that you use rewetting drops for contact lens wear. maybe you do and you just forgot to include that fact. if you are not using them, i recommend “blink” or thera tears for contact lens wearers. just make sure it specifically says for soft contact lenses.
also, don’t worry about glaucoma, just make sure you you are getting either the goldman (drops) or tonometry (puff) tests for glaucoma as part of your annual eye exam. with these tests, along with your retinal exam (dilation drops or the optomap) you will be good to go.
A few different ways to approach dry eye contact lens wearers:
1. Punctal Occlusion: The tears are produced in the Lacrimal gland and drained through the Punctum. 80% of tears are drained through the Inferior nasal Punctim, located on the inner bottom corner of the eye lid. By placing a small prosthetic insert in that canal, we can successfully limit or prevent the drainage of tears through that system. This is called Punctal Occlusion. For example, if you want your sink to fill up with water, you simply plug the drain, same concept. This is an absolutely painless procedure which takes minutes to perform in office right in the exam chair by your eye care provider.
2. Artificial Tear drops and lubricants: Lubricants made for contact lenses help relieve dryness during their use. However, ointments used at night prior to retiring for the day, in the absence of contact lenses, have been known to help morning dryness.
3. Prescriptive Eye drops: Restasis (cyclosporine) is an ophthalmic emulsion of an old anticancer drug. Newer clinical models of Dry Eyes Syndrome favor the cause to be an inflammation of the lacrimal gland and certain parts of the system that result in decreased tear production. Studies show after about two months of use twice a day, Restasis is the only drop that actually helps your eye PRODUCE more tears as opposed to supplamenting the ones its not. You can use it in the morning before contact lens insertion and then in the evening after their removal.
4. Change contact lens materials. Each silicon hydrogel lens has a silicon matrix that has a certain percentage water that is unique to that brand. Changing your lens to one with an adjusted water content tends to improve the symptoms of dry eyes
ANSWER: All of the above treatments for the symptoms you presented must be initiated and managed by an eye care physician. Dry eyes result from many different reasons some of which include medications, hormonal changes, environmental changes just to name a few. When treating dry eyes one or a combination of several techniques are used depending on the dry eyes suffer’s presentation of symptoms. It is quite dangerous to have a contact lens fall out due to dryness while driving. You present symptoms are enough to warrant a visit with your eye care professional. Mean while a safe and easy way to temporarily help your symptoms until your visit, is purchasing some over the counter “Re-wetting Drops” for use with contacts.
Different people tolerate lens materials in different ways. It may be that another lens would work better for you. Let your doctor know what’s going on and s/he will help you get into something that will be more comfortable for you.