Posted by: Manhattan LASIK Center
Contact lenses are the preferred choice of prescription eyewear for countless patients every year. However, of these people, as many as 5 million will find that they experience discomfort, persistent irritation, or dryness when they wear them. This can affect their vision as well as their quality of life. This is contact lens intolerance.
What Causes Contact Lens Intolerance?
It’s not always known exactly what causes contact lens intolerance. The condition most often occurs in patients who have previously worn contact lenses every day for several years or more, or in patients whose contact lenses don’t fit them properly. This is one of the reasons it is important to have a contact lens fitting with your eye doctor at the time of choosing the type of contacts you wish to use.
It’s also crucial to maintain proper hand hygiene and cleaning care when it comes to handling and reusing contact lenses. It’s very easy to transfer microscopic bacteria and other dirt from our hands to our eyes so it is crucial to take precautions when placing and removing contact lenses. If you wear anything other than daily disposables, you’ll also need to make sure you clean your contacts exactly as directed too. Poor hygiene and cleanliness can increase your risk of eye conditions, infections, and contact lens intolerance.
How Do I Know If I Have Contact Lens Intolerance?
There is a wide variety of symptoms associated with contact lens intolerance. These include the following:
- Eyes that feel stiff and dry
- Persistent irritation and itchiness
- Pain or discomfort when wearing contact lenses
- Eyes that regularly tear up and water excessively when wearing contacts
- Contact lenses falling out
If you experience any of these symptoms when wearing contact lenses, it’s important that you schedule an appointment to discuss them with your eye doctor in Manhattan NY. It could be that you are wearing the wrong type of contact lenses for your specific needs, or you could have developed contact lens intolerance.
Treatment for Contact Lens Intolerance
You might be forgiven for thinking that the only way you can treat contact lens intolerance is to stop wearing contact lenses altogether. Fortunately, this isn’t necessarily the case. There may be different things that can be done to ensure that you can still enjoy the benefits of wearing contact lenses while avoiding the irritation that you’ve been experiencing.
One of the most obvious solutions is to ensure that you are wearing the right contact lenses. This requires an appointment with your eye doctor to assess your eyes and your prescription. It may be that you require a specific type of contact lens. For example, people who suffer from dry eye syndrome, or who have corneal abnormalities such as keratoconus, can rarely wear regular contact lenses. Instead, they need a special type that is designed to accommodate their individual requirements. Sometimes, simply changing your contact lenses will be sufficient to overcome the symptoms associated with contact lens intolerance.
Additionally, laser vision correction surgery could be the best alternative for individuals struggling with contact lens intolerance. If you’re looking for the freedom of life without prescription eyewear, work with the team of experts at Manhattan LASIK Center to determine what laser vision correction surgery is recommended for your individual needs.
For more information, don’t hesitate to speak to our eye care specialists at Manhattan LASIK Center in Manhattan NY today at (212) 759-9617 for a FREE Virtual Consultation.
