Written By: Pavitra Sampath | Updated : March 5, 2016 8:58 PM IST
Following these guidelines and being aware of contact lens dangers can help preserve healthy eyes and avoid some problems. Seek an eye specialist's opinion immediately if you have any redness, discomfort, or reduced vision with contact lenses. Don’t wear contact lenses until your eye specialist gives green signals.
Wearing lenses is now one of the most common substitutes to wearing glasses. But along with the use of this convenient piece of medical technology comes some serious complications. A recent news piece highlighted the fact that scientists found a strain of bacterium that were resistant to lens cleaning solution increasing the risk of keratitis greatly. So to help you out, we spoke to Dr. Ashish Bacchav Consultant, Cornea, Cataract and Refractive Surgery at Bhojraj Chanrai Sankara Eye Hospital to find out about the condition and some basic care contact lens wearers should take.
What is keratitis?
Keratitis is the medical term for inflammation of the cornea. The cornea is the dome-shaped window in the front of the eye. Symptoms of keratitis are redness in eyes, pain, blurring of vision, watering and whitish discharge from the eye. If one feels any kind of irritation or notices any of the symptoms mentioned he/she should stop wearing contact lenses and consult a corneal surgeon immediately.
Dos of contact lens wear:
Tip 1: Cleanliness is essential aspect of proper contact lens care. Before handling your contact lenses, make sure you wash your hands well with hand wash. Read more about the right way to wash your hands.
Tip 2: Make sure that everything that touches your contact lenses are kept clean. That includes fingers, hands, tips of solution bottles and storage containers.
Tip 3: Depending on the type of contact lens you have, make sure you change your lenses as soon as it is time. If you are using daily, monthly or yearly lenses make sure you replace your lenses on time.
Tip 4: Replace your contact lens case with a new one every two to three months.
Tip 5: Take out your contacts if they are bothering you. It seems like common sense, but it can be easy to ignore irritation when you're busy or distracted. Never put up with irritation, as it could be sign of an infection or other problems.
Tip 6: Gently rub your lenses with solution before wearing them and after removing them. This helps them stay clean ad free of any protein matter. (protein is a great source of food for bacteria, the more protein adhering to your lens the more likely you are to suffer from an infection.
Tip 7: Wearing lenses for the first time? Take the effort to learn from doctor about how to take out or put in lenses properly. This will protect your eyes from injury from your nails and fingers and infections.
Don'ts
Tip 1: Don't wear contact lenses when you sleep, whether it is a small nap or sleeping overnight. When you close your eyes for a period of time, with your lenses in place, you're reducing oxygen to your eye and the lenses. This makes the surface of the eye more vulnerable to infection, increasing your changes of suffering from keratitis and other eye infections.
Tip 2: Don't wear your contact lenses in the shower or while swimming. Lakes, rivers, sea water, swimming pools, and even tap water can all harbor an organism called acanthamoeba, which can cause eye infection. Wearing contact lenses while swimming, showering, or doing other water-related activities can lead to serious acanthamoeba infections of the eye.
Tip 3: Don't reuse contact lens solution. We all tend to make this mistake. But it is imperative that you use fresh solution every time you store your lenses in their case in order to keep your lenses clean and free of any bacteria or virus.
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