Increasingly irritated eyes because of contacts

Hi,

This is new territory for me so I'm hoping to get some advice. I've
been using soft contacts for around 2 years now. I tended not to
notice them at first but things have gone somewhat downhill over the
last year or so. My eyes are red and uncomfortable more often.
Rewetting drops seem to help but I'm not sure if it's good to be using
them 4-5 times a day. Generally they take away some of the
uncomfortability but the redness remains.

I only wear these things about 10 hours a day on weekdays (glasses the
rest of the time). A lot of times it seems like my eyes get worse
throughout the week and then better over the weekend while the
contacts are out. I originally used the Opti-something no-rub
solution in the green bottle. Changing to Renu's no-rub seemed to
help for a while but then things seemed to revert. I've recently
switched to a standard (i.e., not no-rub) Opti-One solution to see if
perhaps the no-rub stuff is too strong for my eyes. It's too early to
tell if this will help at all.

Basically I guess I'm wondering what fellow sensitive-eye contact
wearers are doing to battle this problem. Are there other cleaning
solutions I should try? My concern has been a perceived solution
strength vs. lense cleanliness tradeoff. One thing I've wondered is
how wet the contacts should be when I insert them, the concern being
that maybe too much of the cleaning solution is going into my eye from
the start. I've tried putting them in fairly dry and immediately
putting some rewetting drops in to compensate but I don't know that
this helped to a noticeable degree.

Any advice would be immensely appreciated.

Thanks,
James

 

So how old are the lenses and when did you last have your fitter check them.
Non disposable lenses are good for about a year to 18 months, then need to
be replaced as they get a build up of deposits that cannot be cleaned off
and that will irritate the lids, blur vision and reduce oxygen transmission.
Lenses and cornea should be checked yearly. The problem could be the
lenses, the solutions or your eyes, see your fitter for diagnosis and
treatment.

Dr Judy

 

I use ones that last 2 weeks, actually. I used to wear them for 3
weeks since I don't wear them all day and only 5 days a week, but I've
stopped doing that now that they're bothering me.

Thanks,
James

 

See your fitter to find out what is wrong.

Dr Judy

 

As Dr. Judy has stated you should be evaluated by your eye care provider.

The possibilities I suspect are 1) a dry eye problem , 2) a solution
sensitivity problem (switching to a h2o2 system may be the answer),
or 3) a fit problem (ie cl's may be too tight). Of the three, my hunch
is that of a solution sensitivity problem. The one day disposables may
be a possible solution for you. That way the solution issue if minimal.

frank