Too dangerous! My eyes were almost ruined! Just because I didn’t do this for two months…

At the beginning of this year, the media reported that a dad never took off his contact lenses when sleeping because he was too tired from taking care of his child.

More than two months later, he started to experience tearing, pain, conjunctival congestion, and a strong foreign body sensation , and then he remembered that he was still wearing contact lenses. He wanted to take them off, but the lenses seemed to be "stuck" to his cornea and he couldn't take them off no matter what he did.

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It is quite common to wear contact lenses to sleep, but usually only for one or two nights. However, I have never heard of someone wearing them for two months without taking them off.

Nowadays, many people with myopia and hyperopia choose to wear contact lenses for convenience. So how to choose contact lenses? What are the taboos of wearing contact lenses? How to wear contact lenses scientifically? Let's talk about it in detail today.

01

How to choose contact lenses?

The contact lenses we usually wear are soft lenses that are directly attached to the cornea (there is also a kind of OK lens used to delay the progression of true myopia in adolescents, which is a hard contact lens). What kind of contact lenses are suitable for a person depends on his or her physical constitution and eye condition.

Some people's eye conditions are not suitable for wearing contact lenses. For example, people whose eyes are prone to allergies, conjunctivitis, keratitis, dry eyes , etc. are not suitable for wearing contact lenses .

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It is recommended that before wearing contact lenses for the first time, you should go to the ophthalmology department of a regular hospital for an evaluation and confirm that you can wear them before purchasing them. This is safer and more reliable.

There are so many contact lens products on the market, how do you choose?

1. Choose a regular brand

First of all, it is recommended to choose products from regular merchants, and give priority to big brands, as the quality is relatively guaranteed.

2. Material oxygen permeability

Contact lenses are generally made of silicone hydrogel and hydrogel, among which silicone hydrogel has a higher "oxygen permeability" and is relatively more expensive.

Oxygen permeability can be understood as the ability of the outside air to transport oxygen to the eyes through the contact lens.

You should know that in order to ensure transparency, our cornea has no blood vessels and cannot obtain oxygen from the blood, so it can only obtain oxygen from the outside air.

Therefore, lenses with high oxygen permeability can allow the cornea to be exposed to more oxygen and "breathe" more easily.

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If contact lenses with low oxygen permeability are worn for a long time, it will make it difficult for corneal cells to breathe. In severe cases, edema, inflammation, cell deformation and damage, and new blood vessels may occur.

Nowadays, many contact lenses are made of silicone hydrogel because of its loose structure and high oxygen permeability.

However, silicone hydrogel contact lenses can easily be blocked by the oil in tears if worn for a long time, so try to choose monthly or daily disposable lenses and replace them frequently.

3. Moisture content of materials

In addition to oxygen permeability, contact lenses also differ in water content, which is the proportion of water in the lens;

It indicates the lens's ability to retain moisture, which to a certain extent determines the comfort level of wearing the lens. Lenses with low water content are prone to symptoms of dry eyes and foreign body sensation after wearing.

But the higher the moisture content is, the better. Generally, 40%-60% moisture content is enough.

Because the lens with high water content will in turn absorb tears in the eyes to maintain the water content of the lens.

So if you already have dry eyes, wearing lenses with a high water content may make your dry eyes symptoms worse.

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Therefore, we still have to choose lenses with oxygen permeability and water content that suits us according to our own situation. The one that suits us is the best.

4. Degree

When we actually go to get glasses, we will still encounter the question of degree. Does it mean that if myopia is 500 degrees, I can just wear 500 degree contact lenses? Not really.

Frame glasses are worn on the bridge of the nose, with a certain distance between them and the eyes. Contact lenses are attached to the cornea, so the degree is different from that of frame glasses.

The specific degree needs to be converted based on the eye examination results of the frame glasses and the distance between the lenses and eyes.

5. Corneal curvature

Because the curvature of the cornea is different for different people, the curvature of the contact lens should best match the curvature of the cornea, otherwise it will feel uncomfortable when worn.

Therefore, it is recommended that you go to a regular hospital's ophthalmology department for a glasses evaluation before purchasing contact lenses for the first time.

02

Scientifically wear, remove and care for contact lenses

1. Wearing

Cut long nails, wash and dry your hands before wearing;

Distinguish the front and back of the contact lens, and place the contact lens on the index finger of your right hand;

Use your right middle finger to pull your lower eyelid down, and your left middle finger to pull your upper eyelid up;

Look down, revealing the entire black pupil, and slowly put the lens on the black pupil;

After fastening them, release your fingers, gently close your eyes, move your eyeballs, or blink naturally several times to allow the lenses to fit naturally.

If you need to put on makeup, you should put on your glasses first and then put on makeup.

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2. Extraction

Also wash and dry your hands before picking;

Use your right middle finger to pull your lower eyelid down, and your left middle finger to pull your upper eyelid up;

The eyes look upward, revealing the entire black pupil;

Gently touch the bottom edge of the lens with your right index finger, slide the lens down to the white of the eye, and then use your right thumb and index finger to gently pinch out the lens.

If you wear makeup, you should take off your glasses before removing your makeup.

3. Nursing

Monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual disposable contact lenses all require daily care, including rubbing, rinsing and soaking.

First, wash your hands and dry them, put the lens on the palm of your left hand, add a few drops of multi-purpose care solution, and gently rub the front and back of the lens with the fingertips of your right hand, rubbing each side for 20 seconds.

After rubbing, rinse the lenses with multi-purpose care solution for 5 seconds on each side.

Finally, put the lenses in the lens case, pour in the multi-purpose care solution to cover the lenses, tighten the lens case cover, and soak for at least 4 hours.

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03

Disadvantages of wearing contact lenses

Although contact lenses can free people from the troubles brought by frame glasses, the disadvantages of wearing contact lenses are also obvious.

If the care and cleaning are not in place and if you do not pay attention to hand hygiene during wearing, it is easy to breed bacteria and cause infection.

During wearing, nails or lenses may scratch the cornea, bringing the risk of corneal infection.

You should not wear contact lenses when bathing, swimming, or soaking in hot springs, because the lenses are more likely to breed bacteria and viruses after contact with water, and induce eye inflammation.

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Because the lens is in close contact with the cornea for a long time, the cornea cannot directly contact the air, which will cause corneal hypoxia over time and cause some complications. It is recommended not to wear contact lenses for more than 8 hours a day.

Never wear contact lenses when sleeping, because your eyes are closed when you sleep, and the cornea is more susceptible to hypoxia;

Moreover, long-term friction between contact lenses and the cornea can easily cause the cornea to become thinner and damaged.

If you experience eye discomfort after wearing contact lenses, please remove them immediately and go to a regular hospital's ophthalmology department for consultation.

04

Precautions for wearing contact lenses

There are several groups of people who are not suitable for wearing contact lenses.

1. People with allergies

For people with allergies, wearing contact lenses may cause allergic symptoms.

2. Minors

The physical functions of minors are not fully developed yet, and they have to wear contact lenses for long periods of time during the day at school. It is not recommended for routine daily wear of contact lenses, but they can be worn temporarily for aesthetic or convenience purposes in special occasions.

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It is recommended that minors wear frame glasses or undergo active myopia intervention, such as using 0.01% atropine eye drops in combination with orthokeratology lenses.

3. People with cold or fever

When you have a cold, your resistance is relatively low and the resistance of the eye surface will also decrease.

In addition, when the body has a fever, tear secretion is relatively less, and bacterial metabolites will accumulate between the cornea and the contact lens, which can easily cause infection.

Therefore, it is not recommended for people with colds or fever to wear contact lenses.

4. Pregnant women

During pregnancy, hormone secretion in women changes, and the cornea may become dry due to hormonal changes. Wearing contact lenses at this time will aggravate the occurrence of dry eyes.

What’s more troublesome is that if eye complications occur due to wearing contact lenses, the difficulty of treatment will be increased due to contraindications to medication during pregnancy.

5. Elderly people over 60 years old

It is also not recommended for people over 60 years old to wear contact lenses.

Elderly people secrete less tears, and wearing contact lenses can easily cause dry eyes, and may cause symptoms such as corneal infection and ulcers.

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Finally, it should be noted that contact lenses can only be used by yourself and cannot be shared with others. First, this is to avoid the spread of eye diseases, and second, other people’s contact lenses may not be suitable for you.

Whether to wear contact lenses should be a scientific choice based on your own situation. If you wear them, please pay attention to scientific wearing.

I hope everyone can pay attention to eye health and protect their eyes.

Author: Doctor Tao Yong's Science Studio

Reviewer: Tao Yong, Chief Physician, Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University

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