Percent Of Contact Lens Wearers Engage In At Least 1 Bad Habit

Most people who wear contact lenses have not cared for them properly, risking infection in one or both eyes at some point, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control.

Over a third of the surveyed users of contacts reported they had sought medical care for painful red eyes related to the wearing of contact lenses.

Contact wearers can prevent infections by keeping the lenses clean, storing them correctly and remembering to take them out before showering, swimming or sleeping.

Speaking to Buzzfeed, Chad Groeschen said that his eyes began to itch constantly, leading him to believe that he had developed some kind of infection.

The old contact lens solution should be thrown out when users buy a new one. While certain contact lenses are FDA approved for overnight wear, the CDC says that “sleeping in any type of lens can increase the risk of eye infections”. Some disposable lenses are meant to be thrown away either every day, every other week, or monthly.

The bad habits – such as topping up rather than replacing contact lens solution – can lead to potentially devastating eye infections like keratitis – inflammation of the cornea which can cause blindness.

Tap water, which is not commonly known to be extremely bad for contact lenses, was used by 35 percent of lens users for cleaning and 16 percent responded that they’d stored them in water for a period of time.

On a global level, two thirds of the population needs some sort of vision correction, and roughly 10 percent of those have resorted to contact lens.

The more worrying thing is that large chunks of lens wearers are ignoring basic hygiene norms. Almost 50 percent of individuals slept overnight with contact lens.

Medical epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Cope from CDC said that a large number of people might not be aware of the proper ways in which one should take care of their contact lens.

A Cincinnati man has reportedly been blinded in one eye after he repeatedly slept with his contact lenses in.

Contact lenses ended up becoming simple commodities in the eyes of the market or consumers, a premature process due to the lenses designed for the average eye.

The CDC’s numbers do not include anyone under the age of 18, but the agency notes that younger age is a predictor of more frequent complications.

The CDC estimates that 41 million Americans wear contacts. Half of the survey respondents stretched lenses beyond the replacement date, and more than 80 percent kept cases for longer than they should.