Problem with contacts.

[IrishMeg]

I've been wearing contacts for almost three years. I use the kind that you take out every night and throw away after 30 days. (Extended wear??) I change them on the 1st of every month. I do not sleep in them.

Last Wednesday, my right eye really starting bothering me. If the contact is out, it is fine. As soon as I put it back in it becomes really, really uncomfortable. I threw out the contacts and started using new ones but it hasn't helped. I can now only have the contact in for about 5 minutes before it is so uncomfortable I have to take it out.

I've tried drops and even went a few days with no contacts but it didnt' help. My left eye is fine. My right eye is not red and does not look irrirated. I've looked in it and I can't see anything different. My contacts are not expired and it isn't ripped or anything.

Any ideas what is wrong? It is driving me insane!

[KarenS]

I've worn contact lenses since I was 12 - started with gas permiable and now wear soft 2-wk programmed replacement. FWIW, that's (mumble) 26 years of contact lens wearing !:)

It's possible that you had a bit of embedded dirt or a small tear in your lens. Wearing it could have scratched your cornea. If that's the case, it'll take about 8-10 days for a scratch to heal thoroughly and wearing your lens will be rather painful. The other possibility is that you got a bit of grit or dust in your eye and by virtue of rubbing it or messing with your lens, you embedded that bit of grit in your cornea. You might be able to wash it out yourself by taking saline and really flooding your eye ... washing well. Or you might need to go to the eye doctor and have him wash it out. Again, the small bit of damage to your cornea will take 8 or so days to heal completely.

I'd most likely say scratched cornea and wait about a week. If after a week you still can't put in a lens, then make an appointment with your doctor.

karen

[IrishMeg]

Thanks, Karen. Hadn't thought about the possibility of a scratched cornea. I went ahead and made an appointment for Thursday. That will be 9 days since it started bothering me, so it it's still uncomfortable by then, I should probably have it checked out anyway.

This sucks! I hate wearing my glasses so much!

[strwbrygirl]

Have you changed any medications? I know that a particular kind of BC made my eyes sensitive and I was unable to wear contacts until I went off of it.

Also, have you looked closely at the lens? Once I had a defective box of contacts. I wear different strengths in my left and right eyes, and was having problems with the ones for my left eye. Every contact lens that I opened from that box had a small tear in the exact same place- they were all defective. Until I opened a few and compared them, I thought I was just being clumsy and ripping them myself somehow.

I hope that you figure it out soon! I know it's a pain to "have" to wear glasses constantly when you're not used to doing it... I've had contacts for about 12 years and wouldn't want to return to full-time glasses wearing.

ETA: Just thought of this too. Look closely at your eye in the mirror and see if you have any eyelashes that are dangling into your eye, any new bumps or swelling around the edges of your eye or eyelid that might be irritating your eye. I know that happens every once in awhile to me, and tends to go away after a day or two.

[IrishMeg]

Thanks, Strwbrygirl! I actually am going to compare the contacts since my left eye isn't bothering me at all.

Good thought about the medications. I'm not on any, not even BC, so I know thats not it but at least that is one other thing I can rule out.

[Meredith]

Maybe you have eczema or some other seasonal allergy. Have you tried Benadryl?

[amorey]

My roommate once had an eye infection. It bothered her to wear her contacts. She went to the eye doctor and got some prescription drops and couldn’t wear her contacts for a couple of weeks. She had to get new contacts because she didn’t want to re-infect herself.

I would probably go to the doctor just in case it’s something that’s not going to improve without treatment.

[greenbunny]

I got my cornea scratched this summer--a kid threw a glowstick in my face at a party (yeah, they're not getting invited again). It was over a month until I could comfortably wear a contact again. I would err on the side of caution if that is your diagnosis, and wear glasses for at least several weeks. Particularly given the time of year; I always find the change of seasons to be hard on my eyes.

[angel17]

I had this problem about two years ago and couldn't wear my contacts for more than a few hours (sometimes just a few minutes before I would end up rubbing my eye so hard the contact would come out). My doctor initially said it was my allergies and there was nothing he could do about it.

After wearing glasses for months I finally got checked by another eye doctor who could find no reason for the irritation. I got brand new lenses and switched to Optix2 (which had more moisture) and can now wear contacts again. I do make a point to switch up once a week and if "m on the computer for a long time to take them out and use my glasses.

Once the doctor rules out any external reason (such as scratched cornea or defective lenses) see if he/she will switch the brand to one that has more moisture. Also change your case and get a brand new bottle of saline solution.

Hope that helps.

[IrishMeg]

Thank you! I hadn't thought about the case or saline solution! :)

[princesse]

No matter what sweetie, get thee to your eye dr so they can check you out just to be sure. You don't want to go with conjecture to find out later that it was something significant. Feel better:-)