Your eyes need to breathe!

For all of us contact lens wearers, I’m sure there has been times when your eyes have felt like they were suffocating.  Red, dry, puffy and itchy eyes are just some of the symptoms of your eyes not getting enough oxygen.  Here are some of the reasons why and how to achieve the best eye health with your contact lenses.

First off, your eye’s need to breathe!  Yes, it’s true.  Your cornea is the window to your vision and is exactly where your contact lenses sit.  Like every other cell in your body, it relies on oxygen to stay healthy and function normally.  Your cornea’s however do not have any blood vessels to carry oxygen rich blood to it as it is avascular (as it needs to be clear and transparent ).  This means that it gets it’s oxygen from the atmosphere to stay healthy.  When you wear contact lenses you are depriving your cornea of the air it needs to breathe.  Wearing the right type of lenses for the right amount of time will ensure that your eye’s will stay healthy and make contact lens wear a breeze!

A few things to remember to ensure that your contacts are breathing properly:

  • Replace your lenses regularly – Whether you wear a daily disposable, weekly or monthly disposable lens, follow the wearing schedule and replace your lenses when it’s time.  Over wearing will reduce the oxygen permeability and effect the health of your cornea.
  • Don’t over wear your contacts – Give your corneas a few hours each day to breathe.  Remember that if you wear your contacts all waking hours that your eyes are never getting pure air to breathe.  Put your contacts in a few hours after waking up, and take them out a few hours before going to bed.  A good rule to follow is 8 hours contacts in, 8 hours out, and 8 hours to sleep, or as close to this as possible.
  • Clean your lenses well – Making sure that your lenses are always clean will ensure that they allow as much air through them as possible and will even feel more comfortable.  Before inserting your lenses, put them in the palm of your hand and rub them with fresh cleaning solution for 10 seconds on both sides.  If you haven’t done this before you will notice that they are less dry and more comfortable.

As always, contact lens check-up’s at Opticianado are free to our clients.  If you have any questions or just want to ensure that your eye’s are getting the healthiest amount of oxygen, feel free to book an appointment with one of our contact lens specialists.

 

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