Regular contact lens wearers know that getting a contact lens stuck in your eye is bound to happen sooner or later. It’s important not to remain calm and follow these tips should get a contact lens stuck in your eye.
For more questions regarding the health of your vision and receiving LASIK in Orange County, contact our team at Advanced Eye Medical today.
Tips to Remove a Soft Contact Lens
Most instances of a stuck contact lens occur from wearing a soft lens, usually overnight while sleeping. The first thing to do is wash your hands and figure out where the lens is stuck. If it is stuck to your cornea, it is probably a situation where the lens dried out overnight. The best plan of attack is to rinse your eye and the contact lens with a steady flow of sterile saline, contact lens solution or lens drops. Then close your eyes and very gently begin to rub your upper eye lid until you feel the contact lens begin to move.
If the lens is still stuck, repeat this process a few more times and blink frequently after each rinse. This will help to loosen the lens and get it to move and don’t be worried if it takes several attempts and up to 15 minutes to rehydrate the lens and get it moving again. Once you can get the lens moving, remove it as you typically would. After you get the lens out of your eye, sometimes your eye can feel dry or irritated. If this is the case, lubricate your eye with sterile saline or artificial tears. If your eyes remain irritated and become red, you should make an appointment with your eye doctor immediately. This could mean you have a corneal abrasion that requires medical attention.
Sometimes the lens can get stuck off the center of the eye. If this is the case, it is best to move your eye in the opposite direction of where the lens is stuck. If you feel the lens stuck under your upper eye lid, look down and gently massage the eye lid, blinking frequently to move the lens back to the center of your eye so you can remove it properly. If you feel like the lens is stuck far behind your eye lid, put a new contact lens in your eye to help attract the stuck lens to the center of your eye where you can remove it.
Tips to Remove a Gas Permeable Contact Lens
If you wear a gas permeable (GP) contact lens, the tips to remove it are different. You don’t want to rub your eye to help dislodge the lens as this could cause the rigid GP lens to scratch your eye. If you feel the lens stuck to the white of your eye, use the pad of your fingertip and press on your eye, just on the outside edge of the GP lens. This will help to loosen the suction that could be locking the lens to your eye. If you don’t think this will work or your lenses frequently become stuck, you can purchase a small suction cup device that is sold in the eye care section of your local drug store. This device will stick to the lens and help dislodge it from the surface of your eye. If none of these techniques work to get the lens out of your eye, then you need to call your eye doctor immediately.
LASIK in Orange County
Just like any health checkup, it is important to get your eyes checked regularly, although the more so if you have a contact lens stuck in your eye. If you suffer from chronic dry eyes, blurry vision or have allergy-affected eyes, visit Dr. Ghosheh and his team at Advanced Eye Medical. Don’t let problems with your vision become a more serious health issue. Schedule your consultation today.