Common Blunders with Contacts

Because contact lenses have become easy to acquire, and even more easy to take care of, sometimes it becomes overlooked that the contact lenses are still something prescribed by a medical practitioner. This causes the lenses to be not properly cared for, causing great danger to the wearer. One of the biggest blunders is the wearing of disposable contact lenses for too long.

While disposable contact lenses have proven to be a great invention, they only cause more users to disregard care instructions and doctors’ instructions and either sleep in them or leave them in for too many days. The usage instructions that are printed on the box of disposable lenses is only a suggestion for their use, and often an eye care professional will suggest different care, asking you to change them out either more or less often. They will always know best how to take care of your personalized eye care. This rule goes for whether your contacts are daily use, weekly use, or monthly use.

The following stats from the American Academy of Ophthalmology speak for themselves. Extended Wear contact lens wearers show a five to fifteen times greater risk of developing ulcerative keratitis (ulcers in the cornea) over daily wear users. Ulcerative keratitis is seen nine times more in elderly people using extended wear lenses. It’s also nine times greater in people that are using their daily wear lenses overnight. Cases of ulcerative keratitis gets increasingly greater, depending on how many consecutive days extended wear lenses are left in.

In the last year alone, 94% of those diagnosed with fungal eye infections wore soft contact lenses, and 34% of those required a corneal eye transplant. Of course, there was the 2006 Fungal Eye Infection Outbreak during this time, and some of that has been traced to ReNu With MoistureLoc contact lens solution with has since been pulled from shelves. The solution was creating a film in the contact lens case that encouraged the growth of a fungus. The fungus was picked up in the patients’ homes.

In addition to fungal eye infections, protein deposits that accumulate on extended wear lenses can cause Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis, soft spongy bumps that accumulate under the upper eye lids, and sometimes they can resemble cobblestone. This condition may itch and also have a stringy mucous discharge. This is caused by the contact lens rubbing up against the eyelid for too long of a time. Patients may need to go without wearing contact lenses for a short time after being diagnosed with this, or switch to a different brand.

If you suspect you have either of these diseases, you should contact your eye care professional as soon as possible. Otherwise, there are a number of safety precautions you can undergo to ensure a long healthy life for your eyes. The first rule of thumb is to always wash your hands before handling your contact lenses. Disinfect your lenses when taking them out and before reinserting them. Never reuse old solution, and always start with fresh. Discount Contact Lenses has a great selection of solutions to fit individualized needs. Only wear your contact lenses as directed by your eye care professional.

Laura Tucker is a 42-year-old freelance writer and mother of two. For the past two years, she has been a featured writer at realityshack.com, covering recaps and commentary on American Idol, The Amazing Race, and Big Brother, among others. Laura has also written content for many other websites and has had one of her movie reviews published in a print magazine. In her spare time, she enjoys martial arts as an instructor and student and obtained her black belt in 2006. Laura wrote this article about cheap contacts for Discount Contact Lenses.