Are you Over-wearing your contact lenses?

Are you Over-wearing your contact lenses? If so, you may want to continue reading. Over-wearing your contact lenses, past the recommended length of time may actually damage your eyes.

The consequences of abusing extended wear contact lenses may permanently affect your sight or ability to wear contact lenses for the remainder of your life.

 

As your preferred Western NC eye care professional, we care about your eye health. Be responsible for the longevity of your good vision. In order to gain responsibility and ensure good eye health, be sure to ask yourself the questions below:

 

1. Would you like to wear your contact lenses for the next 10-20-50+ years?

2. What would you be willing to pay to be able to see with glasses or contact lenses the rest of your life?

We are dealing with your eyes. You don't get another pair.  You decide your comfort level of risk. From studies, research and practice we know our comfortable risk limits. Most patients contact lens wearing/care regime is unacceptable by current standards of care. Patients do not understand the events or consequences of poor compliance. Unfortunately for some people, Visual Eyes Optometric does. We've seen too many eye problems resulting from over-wearing contact lenses. Don't be a risk taker. Take care of your eyes!

The short term effects of over wearing your extended wear contact lenses? Red, painful eyes and/or poor vision. If this ever happens to you, immediately remove your lenses and call our office. If these symptoms are ignored by the patient or simply waived off as “temporary” or “It’ll be gone by the morning”, you move into a higher risk zone with a potentially permanent loss of vision. New blood vessels may grow into the cornea which may mean permanent loss in the ability to wear contact lenses. The worse case scenario would be the development of a corneal abrasion which becomes infected and ulcerates, causing a permanent scar. If this occurs in the center of your cornea where you look through, it may cause such a vision loss that the eye is legally blind.

As you can see,  recommendations of the FDA, AOA, and AMA are important rules to abide by. Below is a photo of an over-wearer's eye. OUCH!!! Don't let this happen to your eyes. Take care of them.

Recommendations:

• Wear extended wear lenses 6 days, maximum. Give your eyes a break. Wear glasses at least one full day a week.
• Leave your lenses out 12 hours a day, so they can obtain enough oxygen with your eyes open.
• Replace lenses exactly when the brand recommends you to. Don't stretch them out, even if you don't sleep in them.
• Be evaluated every 3-6 months, as long as you wear the lenses overnight. If you don't sleep in them, 6-12 months is recommended.
• Put re-wetting drops in your eyes at bed time and upon waking. Be sure to cleanse lenses well after daily use.

If you are suffering from any type of eye disorder, be sure to call Visual Eyes Optometric today. Dr. Haley Ammons Perry, OD, in Fairview, NC, will be happy to asses your eyes. She will also teach you how to take care of your precious eyes.

Visit our website, www.visualeyesoptometric for more information on the services we offer.