How Your Contact Lens Habits Can Damage Your Eyes
- Posted on: Jan 12 2022
It’s easy to fall into bad habits for contact lens wearers. Maybe you don’t always wash your hands before you put in or take out your contacts. Perhaps you’ve been too tired to remove them before bed a few times. A CDC report found that most people who wear contact lenses admitted to one or more poor hygiene habits that can lead to an eye infection. Pamel Vision & Laser Group can eliminate your dependence on contact lenses with laser vision correction, such as LASIK.
Common Bad Habits in Contact Lens Wearers
People often begin wearing contacts as young adults and may wear them for decades. If you’ve used contact lenses for many years, falling into poor hygiene is commonplace. The most popular hygiene issues found in contact lens wearers include:
- Sleeping overnight with contact lenses in the eyes
- Taking a nap while wearing contacts
- Failing to replace contact solution or mixing it with new lens solution
- Waiting too long to replace disposable contact lenses
- Not using a proper case to store contacts when not in use
- Using tap water to rinse and/or store contact lenses
- Taking a shower or going for a swim while wearing contacts
- Forgetting to wash hands before touching your eyes
These poor contact lens habits can lead to serious eye infections. Bacterial infections in contact lens wearers are highly prevalent, and most involve staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that is often resistant to treatment. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is another fast-growing bacterial infection that can create a hole in the cornea.
Signs You Have an Eye Infection from Poor Lens Care
An eye infection can quickly happen from poor lens care and often involves these symptoms:
- Eye Pain
- Redness
- Eye tearing or discharge
- Light sensitivity
- Blurred vision
- A feeling something is in the eye
If you think you might have an eye infection, don’t hesitate to contact our eye doctor for treatment to avoid severe symptoms and vision problems.
How to Avoid Infections from Contact Lenses
The most important thing to remember is to avoid mixing your contact lenses with water, including taking them out before you shower or swim. Pools, hot tubs and open bodies of water harbor microbes and bacteria that can cause eye infections. One amoeba found in water can even impair your vision and cause blindness.
Don’t sleep or nap in your contact lenses and make sure your hands are clean before touching your eye. Replace contacts and lens solution when you are supposed to and contact our eye doctors at Pamel Vision & Laser Group in New York if you notice signs of infection.
LASIK Can Eliminate Your Contact Lens Problems
If you have experienced issues with your contact lenses or are tired of relying on them for good vision, LASIK may be a good fit for you and your eyesight.
Schedule your consultation with our board-certified corneal specialist, Dr. Gregory Pamel, to learn more about LASIK.
Posted in: LASIK
