Can Dry Eye Block You from Contact Lenses?
As the body ages, the eyes lose their ability to moisturize properly. This function helps keep the eye clean, protecting the layer between the eye and eyelid. The tear channels produce a moisturizing liquid, combining natural oils and water.
Dry eye starts to kick in when the tear ducts stop working correctly. Many patients realize more tears when irritated, not less. However, the mixture is off, so lubrication doesn’t occur. This produces irritation and itchy feeling in the eyes, redness, swelling, and pain.
Lock Family Eye Care in West Des Moines, IA, can help relieve your symptoms with multiple treatment options. Read below to discover more.
Contact Lenses for Dry Eye
Prescription contacts have a mixed relationship with dry eye. Sometimes, wearing contact lenses for too long can trigger a dry eye condition. In other cases, dry eye already exists, and standard contacts don’t work for the patient, creating more irritation. Since cases vary considerably for an optometrist, pinpointing which situation is occurring matters a lot. It is not practical to say all prescription contacts don’t work or all contact lenses cause dry eye.
Differences that Matter
Contact lenses on the eye need to allow oxygen flow to the cornea. Normal contacts don’t have this feature, but gas-permeable contacts solve this problem, such as silicone hydrogel contacts. This alleviates the eye’s challenge of producing sufficient tears, which is already limited by the existing dry eye condition.
Other problems have to do with fit and use. Overuse is a big cause of irritation, which can be reduced or avoided by reducing wear to what is needed for the day. The wrong fit or prescription on the contacts will trigger problems. A fitting is essential for those with dry eye.
Lifestyle changes impact dry eye contact health, especially with dry eye. For example, avoiding or quitting smoking is highly advisable, as second-hand smoke directly impacts the eye surface.
Temporary Relief Vs. Proper Fit
Some suggest using a natural moisturizer, such as natural eye drops, will solve the problem. While they help provide temporary relief, the irritation will return if the contacts fit incorrectly. Instead, using the right type of dry eye contact and fit from the start is the better approach.
Contact Lock Family Eye Care for Dry Eye Treatment
If you need help with contacts in West Des Moines, IA, Lock Family Eye Care can take care of you. Call us at (515) 267-1312 to schedule an appointment with our eye doctor. Our optometrist team can get you started even with dry eye!
