Most people with impaired eyesight don’t think twice about contact lenses or glasses considering its necessary in order for them to see, but are there more dangers to contacts than meets the eye?
The creation of contacts dates all the way back to 1508 when Leonardo De Vinci discovered that looking through water altered vision. Then one hundred years later René Descartes tried filling glass tubes with water and putting them in “contact” with the eyes, which is where the term contact lenses came from. IT wasn’t until the 1920s that Dr.s began creating lenses that formed to the eyes shape. Then in 1948 Kevin Touhy accidentally created the corneal lenses we know today. Over the years contacts have gotten thinner and more functional, but are the improvements sanitary?
According to the FDA, there are slight risks and serious risks to wearing contacts. Some of the slight risks include eye infections, pink eye, eye irritation, and corneal abrasion. On the other hand, a more serious risk to wearing contacts are corneal ulcers, which can lead to blindness. I learned through the FDA all the ways I’m exposing myself to further infection due to contacts such as swimming with them in and “topping off” the solution in my contact case instead of rinsing it out and replacing the solution.
A study done by the NYU Medical Center noticed over 5,000 different types of bacteria in the eyes of contact wearers and non contact wearers, but the bacteria found in the contact wearers was similar to bacteria found on the skin. The four types of bacteria that were three times more common in contact wearers were Methylobacterium, Lactobacillus, Acinetobacter, and Pseudomas. It’s obvious that this bacteria is more common in contact lenses wearers due to the fact that they are placing contact lenses that are more easily exposed to bacteria in their eye every day.
What I learned from this study is that the only way to decrease your risk of infection if you wear contacts is to either wear the contacts that are replaced daily or be extra careful and sanitary when dealing with contacts. Especially because a lot of contacts are stored in the bathroom over night there is much more of a risk for bad bacteria in your eyes if you wear contacts.
Believe it or not I’ve been wearing contact lenses since 3rd grade, however I didn’t wear them regularly until I entered middle school. Knowing a lot of the risks associated with wearing contacts, I have always made sure to take care of them. Every night I take my lenses out and put them a case with fresh solution. I switch to fresh pairs often, and always make sure my case is clean and satisfied.
If you are careless with your contacts it can be detrimental to your eye health. A major problem that your post made me think of is sleeping in your contacts. Sleeping in contacts can have many dangerous side effects as listed and explained here:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/180614-why-we-cannot-wear-contact-lenses-when-we-sleep/
Thank you for posting!
I had no idea that Descartes invented contact lenses! I didn’t realize that they are made of glass either, so I suppose that the glass must be VERY thin so not to cut your eye (cringe).
As a contact user myself, I have not had any issues like pink eye or other infections throughout the 6 years I have been using them. I attribute this to the fact that I have excellent sanitation habits. Sometimes however, I have found them to be irritating and difficult to use.
Blindness is an extremely rare result of REALLY REALLY BAD contact lens practices. Whenever you hear the story about some girl developing worms in here eye from contact lenses, it’s usually because they don’t take them out for 30 days or so (which is ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING). For instance, this one girl left her contacts in for SIX FRIGGIN MONTHS and of course went BLIND (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2687477/Student-goes-blind-keeping-contact-lenses-six-months-microscopic-bug-EATS-eyeballs.html). For us normal people who change them regularly, these horror stories should not concern us.
The benefits of contact lenses far outweigh their costs, which is why I will continue to use them. However, it’s hard to go wrong with classic glasses.
This article was very informative. I myself just started wearing contacts when I got to college. I can remember my first time getting fitted for them. It was a complete disaster, the NURSE got DEBRIS in my eye while trying to put them in! Considering how easy it is to get small particles of debris in your contact lenses, even when you’re at the optometrist, its not hard to believe that contacts present numerous dangers considering bacteria. I recently found an article from the American Academy of Opthalmology discussing kertatitis, an infection that occurs in the cornea that can lead to fungus, scarring, and even herpes within your eyes if you are not cautious about wearing clean contacts. I’ve linked it below.
http://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/contact-lens-related-eye-infections
I do not wear contacts but I was intrigued by your blog because my friends have contacts. I was surprised that you can develop ulcers on your eye, which sounds very painful. After reading the study in the link you provided I wondered if you have to change your contacts every day to avoid gathering bacteria on the lenses.