Are you thinking about getting contact lenses? Are you worried that they might hurt your eyes?
Making the decision to put anything in or on your body is a big deal, especially in your eyes. The eyes are very sensitive.
While contact lenses are extremely common, there are still many unknowns. When trying to make the decision to get contacts, you need to know everything about them.
If this is your first time getting contact lenses, it can be exciting! You are able to see clearly by putting your contacts in instead of dealing with glasses.
It is important that you use them correctly, to avoid any negative side effects from wearing them. Keep reading to learn what happens to the eyes when you wear contact lenses!
Lack of Oxygen to the Eyes
Contacts sit right on your eyes and cover the whole cornea. They decrease the amount of oxygen that makes it into your eyes. A key component of good eye health is getting enough oxygen in your eyes.
If you are going to get contact lenses, see if you can get soft or silicone hydrogel lenses. They allow more oxygen into your eyes than traditional soft contact lenses.
They are better for your eyes over time. Do not wear your contact lenses for extended periods of time. Ask your eye doctor if you are unsure how long is too long for wearing contact lenses.
Dry Eyes
Another common side effect of wearing contact lenses is dry eyes. Contact lenses can reduce the quality of your tears.
Since contacts sit on the cornea, they are blocking the cornea from being able to absorb tears. This is how your eyes stay moist.
Due to the lack of tears reaching your cornea, you may develop symptoms of dry eye. When you have dry eyes, it feels like there is a burning sensation, itchiness, or your eyes may look redder.
When your eyes are too dry, your corneas can become scarred if you do not treat the symptoms of dry eye. This is very painful and can cause permanent damage to your eyes.
Reduced Eye Reflexes
One side effect of contact lenses is that they can cause reduced reflexes in your cornea. Your cornea’s reflexes are important because they protect the eye.
Reflexes from the cornea occur when the brain tells your eyelids to close and protect the eye from what is putting pressure on the cornea. These reflexes keep your eyes safe from potential trauma.
Contact lenses can make your body ignore the normal cornea reflex. This can cause your eye to be slow to respond to something coming at it, so it can get injured.
To prevent this from happening, try to use your contacts only when you need to. Otherwise, you should use your glasses to keep this reflex intact.
Corneal Abrasions
Contact lenses can scratch your cornea. When this happens it is called a corneal abrasion. Corneal abrasions occur when your contact lenses do not fit correctly or you have extremely dry eyes.
To prevent corneal abrasions, make sure that you do not sleep with your contacts. This can increase your risk of developing a corneal abrasion.
Contacts can trap sand and dirt under them. This could result in these particles rubbing against the cornea. These abrasions can let bacteria into your eye and cause infections.
Although there are things that can make contacts scary, if you wear them the right way, your eyes should be fine! Your eye doctor will explain the do’s and don’ts of contact lenses and show you how to wear them before they give you a prescription for them.
Are you ready to talk about getting contacts? Schedule an appointment at Stahl Eyecare Experts in Hauppage, NY today!
