Contact Lens Blindness: Crucial Myths and Facts

Contact lenses have become more popular these days. In fact, a Morb Mortal Wkly report states that there are around 45 million Americans who wear contact lenses.

Considering how contact lenses sit directly on your eyes, you might wonder how many people get eye problems from contacts.

For example, do you wonder if contact lens blindness is something you should be worried about? After all, your eyes are sensitive, and having some plastic lenses on top of them does sound scary, right?

Read on and let’s separate contact lens blindness facts from fiction.

Who do people wear contact lenses?

Like eyeglasses, contact lenses were primarily created to help correct vision problems for people who have refractive errors.

A lot of people actually suffer from refractive issues like myopia (nearsightedness) and hyperopia (farsightedness) to name a few. Additionally, astigmatism is considered to be the most common type of refractive error that affects a lot of people.

In fact, an NCBI study shows that astigmatism is the top refractive error in the whole world. Furthermore, farsightedness is ranked second while nearsightedness is ranked third.

With this in mind, it’s no wonder why corrective eyeglasses and contact lenses are very common and readily available. All things considered, we can safely say that corrective lenses are generally safe to use.

After all, there are millions of people who use lenses to help them cope with their vision problems.

Contact Lenses for Different Purposes

Functionally, contact lenses play a huge role in correcting refractive errors. In fact, some may even argue that contact lenses offer a little more benefits compared to eyeglasses.

However, this is a very debatable topic since your preference for eye-wear can largely depend on your needs and lifestyle.

On the other hand, the use of contact lenses for fashion purpose is another case that needs to be considered.

The growing popularity of contact lenses are making them more accessible and affordable for consumers.

And as good as this may be, the affordability of contacts is also creating a new market. One that does not revolve around refractive errors or vision correction. 

This new craze for contact lenses is making it an attractive accommodation for a different kind of reason.

In other words, this new contact lenses market primarily revolves around aesthetics and fashion. In fact, this new cosmetic-lens trend is playing a huge part in our current pop culture.

For example, the rising popularity of cosplay is making people more interested in colored contact lenses.

Why so? It’s because colored contact lenses can make you look like the cartoon characters that you see on television. But the trend for cosmetic lenses isn’t limited to anime fans and cosplayers.

In fact, you’ll find a lot of fashionable personalities who sport a good pair of cosmetic lenses.

But with the growing popularity of fashion contact lenses, are you sure that these lenses are actually safe to use?

After all, unlike corrective lenses, you can actually buy a pair of lenses without a physician’s contact lens prescription.

Contact Lens Blindness Myths

Like everything in this world, any object or animal always has the potential to harm you.

That’s why it’s crucial for you to practice good habits that can prevent any harm. In fact, finding out the truth behind contact lens blindness is a good step in making yourself more aware and prepared.

It’s not unusual for you to be concerned about this matter, especially with all the rumors and scares circulating on the internet.

Let’s debunk these distractive rumors about contact lenses so we can focus on more crucial facts.

Your contact lens can get stuck behind your eyes

You might already know this very common idea that contact lenses can get stuck in your eyes.

In fact, you might already be thinking of how scary it would be to lose your lenses behind your eyes.

Or maybe you think that your lenses might slip off and get stuck deep in your eye socket when you blink?

You don’t have to worry about any of these things because they can’t possibly happen.

Although these myths might seem believable at first, a little bit of science will help clear things out.

In other words, it’s simply impossible for you to lose your contact lenses behind your eyes. 

The Conjunctiva of Your Eyes

There is a thin lining in your eyelids that you can call the conjunctiva. Additionally, the conjunctiva folds back behind your eyelids and covers your eyeball.

Which means that it takes up the space between your eyelids and eyeball. As a result, nothing can get past between your eyelids and eyeballs.

So it’s basically impossible for your lenses to pass the conjunctiva and disappear behind your eyes.

Facts Behind this Myth

Now that you know the reason why this myth is impossible, let’s talk about the facts behind it.

It’s impossible for your lenses to get lost behind your eyes, however, there is a chance for them to get stuck beneath your eyelids.

But don’t worry, this isn’t something that’ll lead to contact lens blindness. In fact, this slight problem is very easy to deal with.

If you find yourself in this situation simply do the following. First, take some contact lens drops and put some in your eye.

Next, close your eyes and gently rub your eyelids. This will help loosen up your contact lenses.

Finally, open your eyes and gently take out your contact lenses. It’s that quick and simple.

Your contact lenses can melt in your eyes

Do you know the story about a guy going blind because his contacts melted while grilling some BBQ?

It sounds like a true story that could happen to anyone right? Well, it’s not very likely. And to put it simply, this story is just a myth to scare people.

In other words, your contact lenses won’t ever melt in your eyes while you’re wearing them.

This is because it takes more than the heat of a barbecue grill to melt your lenses. In fact, it takes a lot of heat to melt your contact lenses.

And the heat would need to be so high that you’d burn yourself before you even melt your lenses.

In other words, it’s safe to say that you can say goodbye to this BBQ burnout myth.

So enjoy a BBQ steak because it’s unlikely that you’ll harm your lenses from the heat of a grill.

Contact Lens Blindness Facts

Now that we’ve debunked the most common myths about contact lens blindness, it’s time to talk about facts.

As previously mentioned, contact lenses are generally safe to use as long as your lenses are prescribed by a doctor.

Additionally, you also need to practice proper contact lens care and hygiene habits to avoid any vision problems. However, the improper use of contact lenses can definitely lead to vision problems.

For example, bad contact lens habits often lead to eye infections and other vision-related complications.

Additionally, these problems can even lead to vision loss in some cases. So if you want to avoid any vision loss from contact lenses, you should follow these basic tips.

Listen to Your Eye Doctor

There a different types of contact lenses available in the market these days. And each of these lenses have their own pros and cons.

Additionally, these certified lenses are designed to be wearable, safe, and comfortable compared to prescription glasses.

Despite all the benefits, these lenses also have specific responsibilities that you have to follow. In other words, each type of lens needs a specific type of care and maintenance.

That’s why it’s important for you to always seek advice from an eye doctor. So that you can make sure that you’re taking care of your lenses and your eyes properly.

You should also ask your doctor about how long you can wear your lenses and how often to change them.

Wear Lenses with the Right Prescription

If you use contact lenses to correct your vision problem, then you should always have the exact lens prescription.

Wearing lenses with a wrong prescription can lead to more harm than good for your eyesight. In fact, wearing wrong prescriptions for long periods of time can lead to blurry vision and other eye problems.

Additionally, you should always consult your eye physician before you buy contact lenses. This helps you ensure that your prescription is accurate and perfect for your needs.

Finally, contact lens prescriptions are different from your eyeglasses prescriptions, so don’t mix them up, ok?

Remove Your Lenses for Certain Activities

Water sports or other activities can be hazardous to your eyes and lenses. For example, small particles from sawdust or sand can cause some eye irritations.

Additionally, you shouldn’t let water find its way into your eyes when you’re wearing your contacts. This is because your eyes are more vulnerable to contamination when you have your lenses on.

In fact, soft lenses can even stick to your eyes when they come into contact with water. This can lead to some discomfort and possible microscopic scratches on your eyes.

Your lenses also absorb tap water, which can make them swell and possibly leave scratches on your eyes.

Although they may not sound as alarm, this situation can lead to serious eye infections and possible vision loss.

So always remember to take off your lenses when you shower, go swimming or do water activities.

Don’t Sleep with Your Lenses On

You should definitely remove your contact lenses before going to bed. Why? Because wearing your contact lenses when you sleep may cause oxygen deprivation of the cornea.

Sleeping in your contact lenses also causes your lenses to tighten which can cause microscopic rips in your cornea.

So avoid putting your eyes at risk and remember to remove your lenses before your sleep.

Let Your Eyes Rest

Your eyes need a healthy dose of oxygen to stay in perfect condition. However, your contact lenses can cover parts of your cornea.

As a result, you can have a decrease in the amount of oxygen that reaches your eyes.

To keep the oxygen flowing, you should give your eyes some time to rest. And by rest, we mean removing your contact lenses you don’t really need it.

In fact, we would advise that you simply use a pair of eyeglasses when you’re at home.

This way, your eyes can breathe happily and stay healthy so you can avoid vision loss.

Don’t Share Contact Lenses

A lot of things can go wrong when you share contact lenses with other people. First of all, the main issue is the fact that each person has specific prescription needs.

Which means that borrowing lenses puts stress on your eyes because of the inaccurate lens prescription.

As a result, you’ll be susceptible to dizziness, blurry vision, headaches, and more complications. Additionally, you’re also putting your eyes at risk of contamination and infection.

Microorganism and germs can live inside contact lenses, and if you wear a contaminated pair, then you’ll definitely regret it.

Finally, borrowing lenses is basically the fastest way that you can spread eye diseases from person to person.

So please avoid putting your eyes at risk and stick to your own contact lenses. You wouldn’t want to have contact lens blindness now, would you?

References:

Risk Behaviors for Contact Lens–Related Eye Infections Among Adults and Adolescents — United States, 2016

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6632a2.htm

Global and regional estimates of prevalence of refractive errors: Systematic review and meta-analysis

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5859285/

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