4 ms·

My dad is an eye doctor and has too many of these types of horror stories. While contact lenses are amazing, the fact of the matter is that the general populati

My dad is an eye doctor and has too many of these types of horror stories. While contact lenses are amazing, the fact of the matter is that the general population is either too ignorant or too careless to use them responsibly. So lots of people get infections or worse. Both my sister and I used to wear contacts, but we ended up getting LASIK done several years ago. Best decision of our lives.

stretchwithme 10y ago
I see people washing their lenses with tap water. Then there was the guy who put one in his mouth so it wouldn't dry out on the way to the restroom.
- enraged_camel 10y ago
  That is actually fine. So is tap water. The main requirement for lens hygiene is that those things should always be followed by having the lens rest in a proper cleaning solution for several hours, which itself should be changed (refreshed) every other day or so.
  - askafriend 10y ago
    What are your thoughts on dailies? They're what I've got and they seem to be the most sanitary option since you throw them out every night. Though apparently the person in this post also was wearing dailies so they're clearly not fool proof.
    - enraged_camel 10y ago
      Dailies definitely carry less risk, but you also have to make sure you actually throw them out at the end of the day.
  - lovehashbrowns 10y ago
    Would the saliva affect the integrity of the lens in any way? I'm genuinely curious now.
  - reenw 10y ago
    Hello, I'm the person in this piece. Just to be clear, tap water is not safe- it contains many micro-organisms including acanthamoeba which can infect the eye via contact lenses. It is wrong to suggest tap water or saliva are safe. Contact lens solutions are not 100% effective at disinfecting lenses. These risks are real, and it's important to be aware of them so you can wear lenses safely. There's good, clear information here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14691169 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14691169
    - jcadam 10y ago
      Hmm.. I've never been able to handle the "all-in-one" solutions (sensitive eyes) and use separate disinfectant and saline. I guess it wouldn't surprise me if the all-in-ones have to compromise somewhat for the sake of comfort (the regular disinfectants are definitely not ok to put in your eye).
      - doktrin 10y ago
        IIRC the no-rub solutions in particular have been associated with higher risk of infection
    - Scottn1 10y ago
      Hmm, Contact lens wearer for 30 years now. For 28 of those years I was a RGP lens wearer. They provided much sharper vision for sports, were very cost effective (initial investment was high but lasted 3-5 years with proper care), and daily maintenance was pretty easy. RGP lenses require a separate cleaner for 30 seconds then a solution for inserting/soaking (eventually they did come out for an all-in-one solution but I never got the same comfort from it). Since day one I was taught by my teenage eye doctor to used tap water as the rinse of the cleaning solution and did for all that time. If you didn't get the cleaning solution off real well, you'd feel it in your eye for a minute. The instructions say to use soaking solution as the "rinse" but I never did as it would be much more expensive and water always worked. Maybe the type of lens is more susceptible to AK/Infections? RGP is a rigid almost hard type of lens. I've never had any sort of problem using tap water all this time. I've even slept in them a few times in my life. It would seem softer lenses would allow things to adhere more? I wonder if there are any correlations to the type of lens to infection? I went to dailies two years ago mostly for comfort and convenience. I don't wearcontacts as much as I used to as i've gotten older (just throw on my glasses now because who cares now..) and RGP can get uncomfortable if not wearing them often enough. It appears dailies can give one a false sense as you get "fresh" ones every day. I've swam/showered with them at times and now worry after reading she got the AK even using dailies. I am bewildered actually because you'd think dailies would be the best possible lens for your eye health. Soft, highly breathable and new pair every use.
tallanvor 10y ago
Unfortunately there are a lot of people for which surgery is not recommended. I would love to either reduce or eliminate my need for contacts, but since I'm blind in one eye, surgery is considered too risky. Wearing contacts, however, is something optometrists are fine with, although they want me to have an exam every 6 months.
tovkal 10y ago
My fear with LASIK (and the other procedures) is that there isn't (I think) a ton of people who have had LASIK when they were younger (like 20) and lived up to 90 years old to know if there might be issues as we age, or incompatibility with other procedures... I worry that it could cause problems further down the line, as we age. There's lot of people who've had these procedures done, mostly without consequences but some with issues of varying degrees of severity, but there is not a ton of people who've had this early in their life and been fine for 70 years. Though I suppose plenty of people were corrected in their 50s or older and lived much longer and never had an issue.
- cma 10y ago
  > Though I suppose plenty of people were corrected in their 50s or older and lived much longer and never had an issue. There was probably some animal testing too, with animals that age faster than us but still undergo similar changes.
- Retric 10y ago
  LASIK dates back to 1983, so that's ~33 years worth of age related data. AKA some people aging from 25 - 58 and other doing 57 - 90, plus plenty of people in between. Also, considering how common it is there will be plenty of guinea pigs for the next LASIK alternative. Further, people with Lasik will still get near or far sighted with age, but they tend to be better able to function without glasses.

stretchwithme 10y ago

I see people washing their lenses with tap water. Then there was the guy who put one in his mouth so it wouldn't dry out on the way to the restroom.

enraged_camel 10y ago
That is actually fine. So is tap water. The main requirement for lens hygiene is that those things should always be followed by having the lens rest in a proper cleaning solution for several hours, which itself should be changed (refreshed) every other day or so.
- askafriend 10y ago
  What are your thoughts on dailies? They're what I've got and they seem to be the most sanitary option since you throw them out every night. Though apparently the person in this post also was wearing dailies so they're clearly not fool proof.
  - enraged_camel 10y ago
    Dailies definitely carry less risk, but you also have to make sure you actually throw them out at the end of the day.
- lovehashbrowns 10y ago
  Would the saliva affect the integrity of the lens in any way? I'm genuinely curious now.
- reenw 10y ago
  Hello, I'm the person in this piece. Just to be clear, tap water is not safe- it contains many micro-organisms including acanthamoeba which can infect the eye via contact lenses. It is wrong to suggest tap water or saliva are safe. Contact lens solutions are not 100% effective at disinfecting lenses. These risks are real, and it's important to be aware of them so you can wear lenses safely. There's good, clear information here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14691169 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14691169
  - jcadam 10y ago
    Hmm.. I've never been able to handle the "all-in-one" solutions (sensitive eyes) and use separate disinfectant and saline. I guess it wouldn't surprise me if the all-in-ones have to compromise somewhat for the sake of comfort (the regular disinfectants are definitely not ok to put in your eye).
    - doktrin 10y ago
      IIRC the no-rub solutions in particular have been associated with higher risk of infection
  - Scottn1 10y ago
    Hmm, Contact lens wearer for 30 years now. For 28 of those years I was a RGP lens wearer. They provided much sharper vision for sports, were very cost effective (initial investment was high but lasted 3-5 years with proper care), and daily maintenance was pretty easy. RGP lenses require a separate cleaner for 30 seconds then a solution for inserting/soaking (eventually they did come out for an all-in-one solution but I never got the same comfort from it). Since day one I was taught by my teenage eye doctor to used tap water as the rinse of the cleaning solution and did for all that time. If you didn't get the cleaning solution off real well, you'd feel it in your eye for a minute. The instructions say to use soaking solution as the "rinse" but I never did as it would be much more expensive and water always worked. Maybe the type of lens is more susceptible to AK/Infections? RGP is a rigid almost hard type of lens. I've never had any sort of problem using tap water all this time. I've even slept in them a few times in my life. It would seem softer lenses would allow things to adhere more? I wonder if there are any correlations to the type of lens to infection? I went to dailies two years ago mostly for comfort and convenience. I don't wearcontacts as much as I used to as i've gotten older (just throw on my glasses now because who cares now..) and RGP can get uncomfortable if not wearing them often enough. It appears dailies can give one a false sense as you get "fresh" ones every day. I've swam/showered with them at times and now worry after reading she got the AK even using dailies. I am bewildered actually because you'd think dailies would be the best possible lens for your eye health. Soft, highly breathable and new pair every use.

tallanvor 10y ago

Unfortunately there are a lot of people for which surgery is not recommended. I would love to either reduce or eliminate my need for contacts, but since I'm blind in one eye, surgery is considered too risky. Wearing contacts, however, is something optometrists are fine with, although they want me to have an exam every 6 months.

tovkal 10y ago

My fear with LASIK (and the other procedures) is that there isn't (I think) a ton of people who have had LASIK when they were younger (like 20) and lived up to 90 years old to know if there might be issues as we age, or incompatibility with other procedures... I worry that it could cause problems further down the line, as we age. There's lot of people who've had these procedures done, mostly without consequences but some with issues of varying degrees of severity, but there is not a ton of people who've had this early in their life and been fine for 70 years. Though I suppose plenty of people were corrected in their 50s or older and lived much longer and never had an issue.

cma 10y ago
> Though I suppose plenty of people were corrected in their 50s or older and lived much longer and never had an issue. There was probably some animal testing too, with animals that age faster than us but still undergo similar changes.
Retric 10y ago
LASIK dates back to 1983, so that's ~33 years worth of age related data. AKA some people aging from 25 - 58 and other doing 57 - 90, plus plenty of people in between. Also, considering how common it is there will be plenty of guinea pigs for the next LASIK alternative. Further, people with Lasik will still get near or far sighted with age, but they tend to be better able to function without glasses.