How to take care Contact Lens related allergies?

Contact lenses (CLs) provide safe and effective vision correction if adequate lenses’ care is ensured as recommended. However, CLs’ wearers may have risk of eye infections if they fail to clean, disinfect, and store their CLs as instructions given.

Contacts are composed of hypoallergenic materials. This means the materials themselves do not usually cause an allergic reaction. Instead, what causes it is a buildup of contaminants on the contacts. However, in rare cases, people can develop allergies to the actual lenses.

Your eyes produce a protein that is deposited on your contact lenses while being worn. The protein is broken down when the lenses are stored in the contact lens solution. Over time, from daily usage of contact lens, the proteins can end up in your bloodstream via eyelids. Your immune system identifies these proteins as foreign invaders, similar to an allergen.

Your body then begins creating antibodies and once these antibodies are enough in your bloodstream, the contact lenses become uncomfortable. This leads to an allergic sensation through a condition called giant papillary conjunctivitis or GPC.

Sometimes contact lens user may find discomfort with CLs due to improper fitting of CL, uncorrected astigmatism, CL induced dry eyes, excessive digital screen usage and other allergies. Discomfort with contact lens can be identified by irritation, redness, bright light, pain in the eyes every time while lenses are worn.

Sometimes contact lens solution could be the next cause of eye allergy because these solutions contains preservatives. Even proper cleaning of contact lenses may still leave traces of preservative. Thimersol is one of the main preservative in contact lens solutions - better to use Thimersol-free or presarvative-free contact lens solution.

If still you have any kind of discomfort in your eyes, firstly to stop using contact lens. Prolong CL wear will increase discomfort, aggravate pain and eye infection.

Better to consult with eye doctor for your eye discomfort, pain and infection.