The Eye Doc Blog » red eye

The Dangers of Not Discarding Your Contact Lenses

RAD — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:15:31 +0000

With the advent of disposable contact lenses, cases of Contact Lens Acute Red Eyes (C.L.A.R.E) have been greatly reduced. With the new generation of contact lens materials, known as silicone hydrogels, extended wear contact lenses have made a resurgence. The incidence of vision last as a result from contact lens wear has been greatly reduced the chances of a patient losing vision as a result of contact lens wear, thus actually making 30 day extended wear contact lenses safer than LASIK.

Here is a good video that talks about the dangers of stretching your contact lenses.

posted with vodpod

The study comparing the safety of extended wear contact lenses vs LASIK did not restrict itself to patients that complied with the wearing schedule recommended by the contact lens manufacturer and the patient’s doctor. We find that if a patient complies with the prescribed wearing schedule then the incidence of contact lens related red eyes is very low.

Almost without exception if a patient comes in to our office with a red eye they almost always have exceeded their wearing schedule. So the moral story, discard your lenses following the prescribed wearing schedule and enjoy safe contact lens wear.

April is the Start of Allergy Season

RAD — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:59:28 +0000

This time of year the April showers not only bring May’s flowers but itchy, runny and red eyes. With the increased rain, mold and pollen levels increase dramatically causing allergy sufferers to look like they were up all night.

Contact lens wearers seem to suffer the most. It’s hard to rub your eyes when you are wearing contacts. The good news is there are many good allergy drops available, so you don’t need to go without your contacts.

I would stay away from the over the counter drops such as Naphcon-A or Visine-A for allergies, etc. These drops contain medications that 15+ years ago were available by prescription only. In my experience, the old OTC allergy drops really aren’t all that effective. Today there are many prescription medications that do a much better job of controlling the redness and keeping our eyes from itching. Some of the current drops only need to be used once a day.

Why Should Contact Lens Wearers Have Backup Glasses?

RAD — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:05:49 +0000

Almost all contact lens wearers feel like “I wear contacts because I don’t like glasses”. That begs the question why is it important for everyone to have backup glasses? The simple answer is that your eyes need a break. The incidence of eye infections in contact lens wearers is much lower for patients that have an adequate backup pair of glasses.

A contact lens wearer that lacks a pair of backup glasses will have to wear their contacts when their eyes are irritated. By continuing to wear the contacts the eyes never have a chance to recover. Most contact lens related eye irritations will resolve in less than a day if the contacts are not worn. If your eye is not back to 100% within one day you should be seen by our office.

So what criterion qualifies for making an adequate pair of backup glasses? Here is what I think is important.

The frame and lens styles are not so out of date that you don’t mind being
seen in public wearing them
You can see well enough to pass your driver’s test (20/30 or better), and last but
not least, the most important one……….
You can find them

At Total Eye Care we feel it is important to have a backup pair of glasses, therefore, when purchased at time of a contact lens evaluation, a complete pair of glasses starts at $99.

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