Are your contacts ripping often? Soft contact lenses are a wonderful invention and are drastically more comfortable for many patients than the older-style hard contacts. But with this increased comfort comes increased fragility. Soft contact lenses are made of flexible plastic that lets oxygen pass through to your eye's cornea. However, they are also more susceptible to tears and rips, and sometimes flip inside-out.
Even though soft lenses are fragile, they are durable if you treat them with proper care. Some types of soft contact lenses that are helpful for patients with dry eyes are especially prone to tearing. If you have repeated problems with your contacts ripping, it could be because of the way you are handling them. Here are some common problems that could be the culprit.
- Taking contacts out of a dry eye: Lenses tend to tear, rip, or crack as they dry out, and contacts ripping is usually a problem when a patient takes a dry lens out of her eye. To avoid this, use a few drops of soft lens rewetting solution on the lens and eye before removing it. This may help because, since lenses contain water, they tend to stick to things that are wet better than things that are dry. Trying to insert or remove a lens with a dry finger can be tough.
- Being too aggressive when cleaning: Rubbing your contacts gently to clean them will help remove deposits, but be sure to wash and dry your hands thoroughly before handling them. Rub them gently to avoid tears.
- Rubbing your eyes while wearing your contacts: This can cause rips and tears, and it can also make you vulnerable to corneal abrasions. Abrasions can not only rip your contact lens, they can also scratch your cornea and lead to problems with your vision.
- Long or rough fingernails: If your nails are the cause of your contacts ripping, make sure you remove your lenses with the pad of your thumb and index finger instead of your fingernails. Keep your nails short and filed smoothly, especially when you are first learning to put in and take out your lenses.
Contacts ripping can be an occasional occurrence—but if it happens often, it can start costing you lots of money and aggravation. Rips and tears will still happen now and then, but you can cut down on them by handling your contacts with extra care.
For questions or comments, contact Woodhams Eye Clinic.
