The above photos demonstrate blood vessels growing in to the cornea on a patient who wears their contact lenses every waking hour. You can see the redness also around the cornea/conjunctiva margin. These blood vessels grow because of decreased oxygen getting to the cornea. The body tries to compensate by growing blood vessels.
Unfortunately increased blood vessels to the cornea result in increased risk of future immune responses (episodes of redness, pain, inflammation, swelling, light sensitivity, and decreased vision) and also indicate an increased risk for severe corneal infection. These can result in corneal ulcers where the bacteria actually eat away at the cornea. These ulcers are treated aggressively to prevent loss of the eye or loss of vision . They result in permanent scars that, if located centrally, sometimes require a corneal transplant.
I refit this patient in to a lens that breathes about 5 times more oxygen than the standard contact lens. Even so, it is recommended that patients give their eyes a rest from their contact lenses a few hours in the evening and maybe a day or two during the week when possible. LASIK is actually less risky than continuing to wear the same lens the same amount of time.
It is tempting for contact lens patients to overwear their contact lenses either to save money or because of convenience. There are many people who get away with it without insult. However, when serious problems occur, it is almost invariably in those patients who overwear their contact lenses. Either they wear them from the time they get up to the time they go to bed every day, or they sleep in them on a regular basis, or they don't replace them when they're supposed to, or they don't replace their case when they should . Rarely do these individuals have a good pair of glasses that they like.
3 comments:
It's a nice information about contact lenses.Thanks a lot to share those informations.
Contact Lenses
I have a similar problem in my eye from overuse of contact lenses. A recent infection left blood vessel growth in both eyes and ghost vessels in the cornea. Is there any way to reduce the redness permanently or is this something that I will have to deal with forever? I cut down on contact lens use drastically, wearing them maybe once every two weeks. I wish I knew about the risks of contact lenses sooner!
I'm 18 and I used to be bullied since Elementary school for wearing glasses. I was beat up, called names, someone made a MySpace Burn Book page about me, I was pushed down the stairs.. so during my sophomore year in high school I begged my mom for contacts. I got them, and wore them all the time. My contacts were like my security blanket, and I felt like a new person. The name-calling stopped and I felt better. But I wore them all the time, even around the house because I couldn't look at myself in glasses anymore without crying or my self-esteem shattering. I'm starting my second college semester and this morning I had an eye exam. I have this problem. I can feel the damage in my eyes, sensitivity to light and pressure. I'm also a hardcore blogger, so I'm always glued to my laptop.. I'm really scared. I asked the doctor if my eyes can explode, and she said yes but it won't happen to me because there's not enough damage. So as of today, I'm never wearing contacts again. I'm sticking to my glasses before something happens and I go blind.. I just wish I didn't wear the contacts all the time for what, 3 years? Wow... This is pretty scary. If I would have known this would happen, I would have never gotten contacts. Now my eyes are damaged.
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