Corneal disease,Eye health,Ophthalmology houston
I fell asleep with my contacts in and both of them have moved to the back of my eyes. How do I remove them? What do I do?
This is actually a question we got on our website from a patient just 2 weeks ago.
Have you ever wondered any of the following questions?
- I just tried to take my contacts out and one of them is missing….what happens it if it’s in the back of my eye?
- Do contact lenses end up in your brain?
- Doesn’t my optic nerve go to my brain? Will this cause something?
- What happens if I sleep with my contacts?
Lucky for you, these are ALL QUESTIONS we hear on a daily basis at Slade & Baker Vision.
This blog article is meant for all of you contact lens wearers out there, and we don’t mean to scare you – we just want to share the facts. First, we will share a story which was featured on CNN.
In November 2016, a 67-year-old woman in the UK was scheduled for a routine cataract surgery.
She explained to her surgeons that it was just her old age and dry eye which was causing her discomfort.
The anesthetist at Solihull hospital that day was in the process of numbing the patient’s right eye when he noticed a “blue mass.”
Ready to be freaked out?
That “mass” was actually a clump of 17 contact lenses. Another 10 lenses were discovered during an additional exam totaling 27 CONTACT LENSES IN THE BACK OF HER EYE!
For 35 years, this woman had been wearing monthly disposable contact lenses, however, it is unknown for how long they had been gathering in her eye.
She told her surgeons that when she would try to remove a contact from her right eye, she sometimes “couldn’t find it.”
Has this ever happened to you?
Where did it go???
The patient, like many of us, just figured she probably had dropped it along the way somewhere. But in reality, each of those lenses were getting stuck in her eye along with the collection of others.
Have you ever thought – maybe I dropped my lens?
It’s not in my eye…hmmm…well we can guarantee after reading this article, you will probably never forget! These warning signs will help!
Some warning signs of a trapped contact lens include:
- Sharp eye pain
- Scratchy eye pain
- Sensitivity to light
- Redness
To compare, Dry eye feels more like a gritty sensation
Our surgeons remind us all the time that soft contact lenses (like the disposable ones the patient wore in this story), soak up bacteria like a sponge. This is really dangerous as it would cause a “high likelihood” of infection.
The good news is that this crazy horror contact lens story ended with a good ending.
After the lump of 27 contact lenses was found, all of the lenses were removed, and the woman’s surgery was postponed because of the increased risk.
Two weeks later, the patient returned and finally had her cataract surgery successfully.
This woman had a pretty stellar outcome after what was found in her eye – however, many of you are at risk if you are not careful – and please keep in mind that sleeping in your contacts can lead to eye infections, especially corneal ulcers – read our world-famous blog about sleeping in your contacts here.
If you have any of the above symptoms/signs or fear that you may have a contact lens in the back of your eye, please call us today for an evaluation at 713-626-5544.
