Contact Lenses and Dry Eyes

For some, contact lenses and dry eyes go hand in hand, making for an uncomfortable lens-wearing experience. There are solutions, however, from eye drops to medical procedures, to make contact lenses an option and dry eyes a discomfort of the past.

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There is often a link between contact lenses and dry eyes simply because contact lenses can cause dry eyes. That is not always the case, however, as people who do not wear contacts can experience dry eye syndrome. There are a few contact-related reasons you could be suffering from dry eyes:

• Years of lens wear could have sloughed off the part of the cornea that keeps your tear film stable.
• A high water content in the soft lenses could cause dehydration of the eye. That may sound counterintuitive, but the water evaporates.
• Rigid gas permeable lenses are even more likely to dry out and cause dry eyes.

Other reasons could include:

• Hormone fluctuations (Women tend to have a higher chance of developing dry eyes than men because of this.)
• Certain medications
• Diseases such as Sjogren's Syndrome, lupus, and rosacea

You may have dry eyes if you persistently experience:

• Scratchiness
• Dryness
• Burning
• The feeling that something is in your eye when you can't detect anything upon inspection
• Watery eyes (your eyes attempt to overcompensate for the dryness by producing more of the watery portion of tears)

You may find that it is nearly impossible to wear your contact lenses for extended periods of time, if at all, if you tend to experience these symptoms.

Soft contact lenses can cause dry eyes because once the water evaporates from the surface, they have nothing to use but your tears. If you're light on those, you're going to feel the irritation of dry eyes. While the lenses themselves probably won't singlehandedly dehydrate your eyes and cause the problem, those combined with a dry environment, allergies, heaters, and wind certainly can.

Since you can't be expected to avoid all of those things just for the sake of wearing soft lenses, what can you do? Go back to your eye care specialist and try new lenses. Try a different lens material or water content. The higher the percentage of water in your lenses, the more likely you are to have a problem.

If you're a rigid gas permeable lens wearer, you're not home-free just because your lenses don't contain water, unfortunately. They repel water—and thus your own tears—leaving you with dry lenses, dry eyes, and potentially slightly damaged, irritated corneas.

If you are experiencing dry eye symptoms with your contact lenses, it may be time to go with another type or another brand. Don't be afraid that discomfort with one pair of lenses will equate to the inability to wear contact lenses at all.

While there are other methods to correcting dry eyes, including punctual plugs, restasis, or simply wearing sunglasses when outdoors, there are some that directly affect contact wearers. The main solution is in the form of eye drops. There are two kinds to consider:

Artificial tears: These drops are meant to mimic your own tears and tend to work relatively well. The down side, however, is that you will need to remove your contact lenses before using the drops and leave them out for ten to fifteen minutes before re-inserting them. That makes them a less convenient solution than simple contact lens rewetting drops.

Contact Rewetting Drops: These can be used when the lenses are still on your eyes, but they may not be as effective as the artificial tears.

Be sure to read the label carefully when choosing your eye drops. Some are designed for soft lenses; others are designed for rigid gas permeable lenses. You will also need to know whether you can leave your contacts in when you use them.

Find an eye care specialist you trust and be sure to communicate during your appointment. If you are having dry eye symptoms with your current lenses, speak up. If you're being fitted for the first time, be sure to comment on any concerns you may have. This will help the doctor choose the correct type of lenses for your eyes. It can be a trial-and-error process as what works for someone else may not work for you and vice-versa.

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