Category Archives: contact lens

Leading Causes of Contact Lens Discomfort are . . .

I came across some good information from our friends at Bausch & Lomb on the common causes of contact lens discomfort (used with permission). Soft contact lenses are generally very comfortable. When contact lens discomfort occurs it can usually be easily remedied.

What Causes Contact Lens Discomfort?

inserting a soft contact lensContact lens discomfort can occur for a variety of reasons. In order for contact lenses to work the way they’re supposed to, it’s important to care for them properly, following the maintenance and replacement schedule. These guidelines help to keep your eyes healthy and comfortable in contact lenses. If they’re not followed, problems with vision, comfort and other safety issues can occur.

You should be aware that the following problems may occur:

  • Eyes stinging, burning, itching (irritation), or other eye pain
  • Comfort is less than when lens was first placed on eye
  • Abnormal feeling of something in the eye (foreign body, scratched area)
  • Excessive watering (tearing) of the eyes
  • Unusual eye secretions
  • Redness of the eyes
  • Reduced sharpness of vision (poor visual acuity)
  • Blurred vision, rainbows, or halos around objects
  • Sensitivity to light (photophobia)
  • Dry eyes

If you notice any of the above symptoms:

Immediately remove your lenses.

If the discomfort or problem stops, then look closely at the lens. If the lens is damaged in any way, do not put the lens back on your eye. Place the lens in the storage case and contact your eye care professional. If the lens has dirt, an eyelash, or other foreign body on it, or the problem stops and the lens appears undamaged, you should thoroughly clean, rinse, and disinfect the lenses; then reinsert them. After reinsertion, if the problem continues, you should immediately remove the lenses and consult your eye care professional.

When any of the above problems occur, a serious condition such as infection, corneal ulcer, neovascularization, or iritis may be present. You should keep the lens off your eye and seek immediate professional identification of the problem and prompt treatment to avoid serious eye damage.

Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations, cleaning your lenses with each use, and replacing them on the schedule your eye care professional recommended for you. This is the best way to ensure your lenses stay comfortable and your eyes stay healthy.

Poor Fit

Your eye’s size and shape are unique to you, and your contact lenses should be too. Your eye care professional performs a variety of measurements to make sure the fit of your contact lens is well-fitting, but sometimes, it may be a little off.

Symptoms: Feeling a foreign object in the eye, slight pain or irritation, redness, fluctuations in vision

Treatment: Tell your eye care professional – they will reexamine your eyes and lens selection to give you a better fit. This is important, as improperly fit lenses may cause surface abrasions to the cornea.

Contact Lens Associated Dry Eyes

People with dry eyes may not produce enough tears to keep eyes moist and lubricated. This creates discomfort when they wear contact lenses. Dry eyes may be inherent (associated with a number of medical conditions), or acquired (linked with risk factors such as smoking, computer use, caffeine, certain medications, and more).

Symptoms: Tired eyes, dry eyes, and discomfort

Treatments: Your eye care professional may recommend a lubricating/rewetting solution for your use. Moisturize your soft contact lenses to soothe your eyes and minimize lens dryness and discomfort while wearing them with a lubricating and rewetting drop. It’s important to find a drop that’s compatible with your contact lenses.

Environmental Allergens

Your eyes may become irritated when there are large amounts of environmental allergens such as dust or dander. These allergens can stick to the surface of lenses, causing irritation for the wearer.

Symptoms: Redness, irritation, dryness

Treatments: Frequent cleaning is crucial to remove any buildup that may occur on lenses. If problems persist, switching to a daily disposable modality can provide a fresh pair of lenses every day. If it’s seasonal allergies that are affecting your eyes, be sure to remove your contact lenses before using an eye drop that isn’t specifically intended for use with contact lenses and wait 15-20 minutes before inserting your lenses.

Underlying Conditions

Irritation in your eyes may not come from your contact lenses at all. If your eyes become red, swollen, or if you experience discharge, you should contact an eye care professional immediately. Your symptoms may be a result of infection, or underlying disease and should be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible. You should not wear contact lenses if you have an eye infection or while using certain topical eye medications.

The original article can be found here.

Contact Lens Travel Suggestions

With Summer upon us a common question in the office is “what is the best way to travel with contact lenses.”

Daily disposable contact lenses are easily the most convenient travel option. With daily disposables all you have to worry about are lenses, no extra contact lens solutions are needed. Now, there are many new, convenient options available for daily disposable contact lens wearers. Numerous contact lens companies now make daily disposable contacts in both toric, spherical and bifocal versions. With the expanded parameters now available, over 80% of contact lens wearers can now find a daily disposable contact lens that will fulfill their needs.

The biggest hassle for traveling contact lens wearers is how to transport the contact lens cleaners and solutions. After all, the TSA limits each bottle of liquid, aerosol, or gel to 3.4oz (100 ml) or less and all of the bottles in your carry-on luggage must fit into a clear, 1 qt. zip lock bag. There are exceptions; however, for prescription, OTC medications, and people with special needs. You are not limited in the amount or volume however if an item is over 3.4 oz or it is not in a 1 qt. zip lock bag then you must declare it.

Safe travels

Excellent OrthoKeratology Video

With the increased rate of myopia in the US population, orthokeratology is becoming an increasingly important treatment option for our patients.  Dr. Driscoll is a member of the Orthokeratology Academy of America that produced the excellent video shown below.  The video gives a comprehensive overview of orthokeratology, including its pros, cons, and how it works. We highly recommend that any patients considering refractive surgery, such as LASIK and PRK, or orthokeratology view this video. By the way, comments are much appreciated so don’t be shy.

CooperVision Avaira Contact Lens Recall

It seems that no contact lens manufacturer has been immune to a recall of their contact lenses. CooperVision announced a global recall of selected lots of their Avaira® Sphere and Avaira® Toric contact lenses.

The recall is due to the amount of residual silicone oil left over from the manufacturing process. The symptoms reported range from blurry vision to pain and irritation.   Only a small number of Avaira contact lenses are affected. To see if your lenses are affected enter your lot number on the CooperVision Contact Lens Recall Website. If your contact lenses are on the recall list CooperVision recommends returning them to the point of purchase for replacement.

Rub and Rinse Contact Lens Cleaning Method Shown to be More Effective Than No Rub Technique

A study out of Australia has confirmed what eye doctors have long suspected. Rubbing your contact lenses and briefly rinsing them prior to overnight storage and disinfection is more effective at removing bacteria from the lens surface than merely placing the contacts in the case (no rub technique). Numerous multipurpose no rub contact lens solutions have been approved by the FDA  and shown to be an effective method of disinfecting contact lenses however this study shows that applying a few drops of the multipurpose solution, rubbing and then rinsing the lenses is much more effect at removing bacteria from the lens surface.

This study was done “in-vitro” meaning that it was a lab study where patients did not actually wear these lenses but the lenses were seeded with bacteria and then after the lenses were cleaned and disinfected the lenses were then testing to see how much bacteria was removed.

So the moral of the story is after removing your soft contact lenses add a few drops of the multipurpose contact lens solution, rub both sides of the lens then rinse the lens and place it in the case to disinfect overnight.

Reference Data: Zhu H, Bandara MB, Vijay AK, Masoudi S, Wu D, Willcox MD. Importance of rub and rinse in use of multipurpose contact lens solution. Optom Vis Sci. 2011 Aug;88(8):967-72.

Contact Lens Cases – An Often Overlooked Source of Eye Infections

When was the last time you replaced your contact lens case? Next to dirty hands contact lens cases are probably the most common source of bacteria that will contaminate your contact lenses.  The best time to replace your contact lens case is when you get a new bottle of contact lens solution, or better yet make the move to daily disposable contact lenses and skip the contact lens case and solutions altogether.

Contact lens casesTo prevent the contamination of your contact lens case the eye doctors at Total Eye Care recommend that you thoroughly rinse the entire empty contact lens case, including the lid or caps with tap water. Next air dry your case by placing it upside down on the counter.

New Keratoconus Treatment Options for Patients

Due to the fact that one of the specialties at Total Eye Care is keratoconus we see many patients with this condition.  We recently updated our patient information on keratoconus page to reflect some of the new technologies available to our patients such as;

  • Mini scleral lenses, which provide excellent vision like that of traditionally fit gas permeable lenses, however with markedly improved comfort.
  • Corneal collagen cross linking, though not yet FDA approved, is a new technology that I expect will be of a tremendous benefit to our patients.

FDA Study Cites Contact Lenses as Leading Cause of Medical Device Related Emergency Room Visits

During a 24 month study of 100 hospitals contact lenses accounted for 23% of
medical device related emergency room visits involving children.

In a study published online this week in the journal Pediatrics entitled “Emergency Department Visits for Medical Device-Associated Adverse Events Among Children” it was found that 23% of the medical device related emergency room visits involving  children from birth to 21 years of age were contact lens related, this is in contrast to the next closest category,  injuries due to a puncture by a hypodermic needle, which placed a distant second at 8%.   An additional noteworthy finding was that an another 6% of the ER visits  involved lacerations caused by eyeglasses.

The study did not outline how the children were using their contact lenses.  Were they caring for and cleaning them properly?  Did they discard the lenses according to the replacement interval prescribed by their doctor and what type of contact lenses were involved in the study?  The injuries incurred while wearing eyeglasses did not specify the type of activity the child was participating in when the incident occurred.

Contact lenses are medical devices and as such require a prescription from an eye doctor with professional fitting and followup. In clinical practice we have found that patients that follow the guidelines below rarely experience contact lens related complications.

Injuries due to eyeglass lenses and frames was also a significant source of injuries in the study. We must therefore, not forget to provide our children with protective eyewear when they participate in sports.  Sports eyewear has come a long way since the days when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar captured his trademark look.  Sports eyewear has now become fashionable and safe.

More information on contact lenses.

Total Eye Care and Bausch + Lomb Announce Back to School Contact Lens Program

From July through September, Total Eye Care is partnering with Bausch + Lomb to raise awareness about the benefits of daily disposable contact lenses for children.

As parents prepare to send their children back to school, it’s important to make sure that our children are getting proper vision care for optimal performance in and out of the classroom.

“Daily disposable contact lenses are easily the safest and most convenient contact lens option.  Now through our partnership with Bausch + Lomb, we hope that more children and adults will experience the convenience and safety of daily disposable contact lenses” says Dr. Richard Driscoll of Total Eye Care in Colleyville.

Through our partnership we will be able to offer a 90 pack of daily disposable contact lenses for only $35.

Updated Orthokeratology Information

We have extensively updated our article on the Gentle Vision Shaping System

™ also known as Orthokeratology or Corneal Refractive Therapy, on the Total Eye Care website.  I’d love to hear some feedback.