If you wear contacts then chances are you’ve had a lenses get stuck in your eye before. It’s a pain but it isn’t a crisis, there’s no reason to panic. Nothing really happens. First things first, let’s dispel an old wives tale. It’s impossible for a contact lens to get stuck behind your eye. This myth started because a contact can fold up under you eye lid and be difficult to find. Don’t worry it’s there. If you just roll your eyes and look side to side eventually you will see the lens and be able to remove it.

If the lends is physically stuck in place it’s probably from dryness. Don’t try to just pluck it off your eyeball. Instead use some saline solution or artificial tears to lubricate your eye first. The lens will hydrate and come out easily.

If a contact lens has folded up inside your eye then you’ll have to manipulate it to get it out. The first thing you can try is pinching your eyelid and move your eyes from side to side. This should work the lens down where you can grab it between your fingers to remove it.

If all this fails then you’ll need to take a trip to your eye doctor so it can be removed. It’s not going to hurt you to leave the lens in overnight.  Your eye might be a little irritated but it’s not damaging. The only time you have to worry about damaging your eye is if you just ignore the problem and leave the lens in place. Bacteria can breed and damage your eye in this scenario. 

What happens if your contact lens gets stuck in your eye? Not much, you’ll feel a little discomfort and you’ll need to eventually remove the lens. These few tips should help solve the problem

With today’s advances in contact lens technology, corrected vision is more comfortable than ever before.  Space-age materials create a water-permeable, gas-permeable soft contact lens that rests smoothly and gently against your eye.

Unfortunately, far too many people experience discomfort with their contact lenses and simply accept that that is the price of having a piece of plastic in your eye.  The truth is that most causes for irritation can be easily resolved.  Moreover, ignoring contact irritation is a terrible idea, since small irritations can grow into dangerous infections if left untreated.

The most important step to healthy, comfortable contact lens use is to follow your eye doctor’s wear and cleaning directions to the letter.  Do not leave your contacts in longer than recommended, make sure you care for your contacts well when you are not wearing them, and clean them as directed and with the recommended cleaning solutions.

If your lenses seem scratchy or blurry, it could be that they have gotten dirty.  Take them out and clean them thoroughly to see if that solves the problem.

Roughness or scratchiness can also indicate that your lens is inside-out.  Remove the lenses and check that you have inserted them properly.

Another reason for scratchiness or red eyes can be that your eyes are too dry.  Dryness can be caused by a number of factors, including a high caffeine intake, smoking, dehydration and certain medications.

To counteract this, you can change your diet or take a nutritional supplement that stimulates your natural tear production.  If that doesn’t work, you can also resort to eye drops.

Ensure that you are wearing contact lenses that have been specifically prescribed for you. If you have purchased theatrical contact lenses or colored contact lenses for a special occasion without a prescription then this can result damage or irritation to your eyes.

If these simple tips don’t clear up your contact lens discomfort, or if you are experience very strong discomfort, consult your eye doctor as soon as possible.  A wide range of solutions exist to help you combat eye irritation from contact lenses – there is no reason to suffer!

Read more about the safe use of contact lenses.

The inability to see things clearly when they are at a distance is called myopia, more commonly known as near sightedness. People who are nearsighted have trouble with tasks like reading highway signs or the blackboard. Myopia is hereditary, and usually appears early in childhood. It is most often treated with corrective lenses, either spectacles or contact lenses. In a prescription for corrective lenses, a lens meant to correct nearsightedness will have a negative number, and the higher the number the stronger the correction provided.

Approximately 30% of the population is nearsighted. If you find that objects that are near to you appear clear, but objects that are at a distance seem blurred, you may be nearsighted. If you have frequent headaches and eyestrain even when wearing your glasses, you should have your vision re-evaluated to be sure that your prescription is still adequate for your needs.

Recent years have seen some interesting and hopeful advances in the treatment of myopia. Refractive surgery using lasers has become increasingly common. Some of the more common of those procedures include Lasik surgery and PRK surgery. In both of these treatments a special laser scalpel is used to reshape the cornea in order to focus light properly on the retina.

Another area that’s being explored with considerable success is reshaping the cornea using contact lenses. Known as orthokeratology, the process involves wearing specially made contact lenses that gradually reshape your cornea so that when you remove them, your cornea temporarily retains the new shape, giving you clear vision without the contact lenses in place. In a similar treatment, called corneal refractive therapy which was approved in 2002, corneal shaping lenses are worn at night and offer clear vision without contact lenses during the day.

Disposable contact lenses make sense for the type of lifestyle most people lead these days. Busy, active folk don’t have time to mess with cleaning solutions and disinfecting every day. Disposable contact lenses are meant to be worn once and then thrown away to be replaced with a new, clean pair. They come in a wide variety of prescription strengths, and in varieties that can be worn for as little as a few hours or as long as a month.

If you are considering disposable contact lenses, but haven’t yet made up your mind, then comparing the pros and cons will help you to decide if they’re right for you.

Pro: Convenience

Wear-once disposables never have to be cleaned, disinfected or stored. You wear them once, and then throw them away. No messy solutions, no spending half an hour disinfecting them – just open the package, wear them – and when it’s time to take them out, toss them in the trash.

Pro: More sanitary

Because you wear the contacts only once, there’s less chance of eye infections and irritation caused by improperly cleaned lenses. There’s less chance for the buildup of proteins and lipids (a natural consequence of wearing contact lenses) to breed bacteria and transfer it back to your eyes.

Pro: Less Expensive

We tend to think of disposable anything being more expensive – but in the case of disposable contact lenses, the expense of buying a new pair is offset by not having to buy cleaning solutions, storage cases and disinfectant. Your only expense is the disposable lenses themselves. You can wear disposable contact lenses for only a few cents a day.

Con: They may not be right for you.

About 90% of contact lens wearers can wear disposables. The simpler your prescription is, the better the chance that a manufacturer makes contact lenses that come in your prescription. Because manufacturers only stock standard sizes and prescriptions, you may be out of luck if your prescription is unusual or uncommon.

If you’ve never tried wearing contact lenses – or if you’ve tried but couldn’t because you got frequent eye infections or were sensitive to the contact lens cleaning solutions, disposable contact lenses may let you lose the glasses for good. Check with your doctor to see if disposable contact lenses may be a solution for you.