andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) (12/15/85)
I know a person who left her *soft* contacts in too long. Took them out at 3 in the morning ... and ripped the surface off one eyeball. Excruciating pain. At the emergency room, they assured her that the surface would grow back. I haven't seen her since ... -=- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!tekecs!andrew) [UUCP] (tekecs!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay) [ARPA]
tab@vax135.UUCP (Tracey Baker) (12/24/85)
A "horror story" that happened to me recently may be of interest - and warning - to other soft contact lens wearers: I wore soft lenses for a little over a year with no problem until one day they felt a little uncomfortable while I was at work. I didn't think much of it - maybe I was just tired, but I took them out as soon as I got home just to be safe. My eye was still irritated after I took them out, but I thought it would go away with a good night's sleep. The next morning, however, I couldn't even open my eye - excruciating pain whenever light hit it. Luckily there was someone there to take me to the hospital - I don't think I could have found the telephone. After the emergency room and a visit to my opthamologist, I was informed that something had caused my lens to shrink, and this had caused oxygen starvation of my iris. The iris was swollen, which caused the painful reaction when it tried to adjust to changes in lighting. The opthamologist told me that this condition is often caused by exposure to chemicals in the air - something I hadn't been told when I got my lenses. Apparently, the things that can cause this may be found in very unlikely places - one example from the doctor was a person who worked in a department store and claimed that the irritation started after opening a box of new acrylic sweaters. If you are a contact lens wearer, be conscious of even minor irritations in your eyes!! By removing the lenses at the first sign of trouble, you may avoid the kind of trouble I had. This may seem obvious to most people, but many contact lens wearers (like me) ignore small irritations because they usually don't lead to anything serious. Maybe this will open a few people's eyes :-), and save them from a lot of trouble. -Tracey Baker {ihnp4,decvax,allegra}!vax135!tab