pds (04/27/83)
I suspect that the contact/welding incident is a myth as well.
I offer this information, told to me by my ophthalmologist:
A soft contact lens has a large percentage of water and is
similar in composition to human skin tissue. If not kept moist
(tears, lens solution) it will dry out and tend to fuse to the
cornea. If this happens, most of the time simply flooding the eye
with solution and letting it soak for a time will remoisten the lens
and allow normal removal. Trying to remove the lens without soaking
will remove the outer layer or two of skin from the cornea to which
the lens is fused. This is a painful experience, but not irreparable.
The cornea is living tissue like skin (only the outer few layers are
dead) and if only dead layers are removed, they will be replaced in
a short time, proportional to the number of layers lost. If the
living layers at the base of the cornea are damaged, then the problem
is more serious. But this is rare.
I find it hard to believe that a person could remove the entire
cornea (or even more that one or two layers) without actively
attempting to do so. Was there no resistance when the men tried to
remove the normally easily removed lenses?
Dave Stotts, Univ. of Virginia
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