Health officials in the United States are advising the public not to sleep or swim while wearing contact lenses because doing so can lead to serious eye damage.
In a new report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that the improper use of contacts, which includes wearing the same pair for too long, has triggered severe eye injuries among many Americans. About 41 million people in the country wear contact lenses and benefit from the improved vision they offer, experts say.
Researchers say eye damage due to inappropriate use of contacts occurred in almost 20 percent or one in every five contact lens-related infections in the country, based on 1,075 cases reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2005 to 2015.
These contact lens-related infections include patients who had a scarred cornea, patients who were required to have cornea transplants and patients who suffered a reduction in vision.
More than 10 percent of the cases in the report indicated that the patient was rushed to the emergency room or to an urgent care clinic for immediate treatment.
Michael Beach, director of the Healthy Water Program at the CDC, says improper care and wear of contact lenses can indeed result in eye infections that sometimes cause severe, long-term eye damage.
However, although the infections can last for a long time, they are also often preventable. Beach says these medical devices are effective and safe for vision correction when cared for as recommended.
Patients, eye care providers and contact lens manufacturers can report cases of adverse events related to improper contact lens use to the FDA, which regulates the products as medical devices.
Whether eye infections related to contact lenses are minor, or have led to long-lasting injury, they can cause pain and disrupt everyday activities. Cases in the CDC report describe daily visits of patients to doctors or even hourly administration of eye drops to treat the infection.
The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) was released days before the Contact Lens Health Week, which will last from Aug. 22 to 26.
The week promotes the healthy care and wear practices that can help users lower their chances of getting eye infections.
Here are three suggestions from the CDC to prevent eye injury:
1. Do not sleep while wearing contact lenses until you have discussed it with your doctor. The CDC says doing so increases the likelihood of an eye infection by six to eight times.
2. Do not add new contact lens solution to old solution that has been sitting in the case. Doing so can lower the contact lens' germ-killing power, the CDC says.
3. Lastly, replace your contact lens as often as what your doctor recommends. People who fail to replace their contact lenses often experience more complications and report more problems than those who obey replacement suggestions.
Photo: Mark Probst | Flickr
