Contact Lens Irritation Part 1: Contact Lens Solution

Dr. Noah Klein

Noah Klein MD, PC

Many patients present to my office complaining of eye redness, eye irritation,  and a foreign body sensation (feeling of grit or sand in the eye) when wearing their soft contact lenses. They feel this way even when they try on a brand new pair of contact lenses so they do not feel this is a problem with their contact lenses.

Often they’re right. The problem is not their contact lenses, it is their Contact Lens Solution! They are no longer able to tolerate a solution that they may have been using for months or even years. Even the solution that a fresh pair of lenses is stored in can be irritating.

Commercially available contact lens solutions provide excellent disinfection and lubrication for most people. But in order to do their job these contact lens solutions contain a lot of chemicals which can, over time, cause eye irritation, redness and foreign body sensation.  This can occur at any point in time, either as soon as a patient starts using the solution or after a period of time. They come to my office with “Contact Lens Intolerance Syndrome (CLIS).”

I often advise patients with CLIS to use chemical free contact lens care.  By switching to a hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) based disinfecting solution and employing a preservative free saline rinse just prior to inserting the lenses into the eye it is possible to BOTH sterilize the contact lenses and avoid all chemicals getting into the eye.  Often this simple change in the contact lens care system solves the problem. Get instructions here.

If you feel you are not as comfortable as you should be with your contact lenses, seek professional eye care help with an EYEMD, an Ophthalmologist. I practice Ophthalmology in Manhattan, New York City.  Noah Klein MD’s office telephone is 212-696-9013. Bring your contact lenses and contact lens solution along with any eye drops you use with you to the first visit.

If you are already using a chemical free system and still are not comfortable with your contact lenses, you may have a dry eye syndrome or a problem with the fit of the contact lenses.  These can be treated very effectively with various strategies to alleviate or even cure dry eye conditions and changing the brand of contacts.

Of course, these issues apply only to mild low grade eye irritation. Acute pain, redness, light sensitivity and/or loss of vision could indicate a serious eye infection which requires emergency eye care with immediate attention from an Ophthalmologist.

Related Posts

• BLEPHARITIS Blepharitis is an inflammation of the eyelids. Patients often complain of red eyes, eye irritation, itching, foreign body sensation (feeling of something in the eye), ocular discharge, crusting and flaking of the eyelashes. Some get red pimples on the eyelid and refer to them as styes. Get more information here. Most......
• Senator Barak Obama Has A Head Tilt August 18, 2008 Noah Klein, MD Noah Klein, MD, PC   Senator Barak Obama Has a Right Head Tilt    Watching the Saddleback Church Forum with Pastor Rick Warren interviewing Senator Barack Obama on Saturday August 16, I was struck by the marked and obvious tilting of the Senator’s head......
• Conjunctival Hemorrhage - Blood in the Eye One of the most frequent "emergency" visits in my office is due to a conjunctival hemorrhage. This is what it looks like: /caption] Although this looks dramatic and scary it is quite harmless most of the time especially if not accompanied by any discomfort and without a history of trauma......
• Ocular Melanoma and Routine Ophthalmoscopy August 6, 2008 Noah Klein, MD Noah Klein, MD, PC   Ocular Melanoma and Routine Ophthalmoscopy   I examined a 50 year old healthy woman today who came in for stronger reading glasses.  Because she had not had a dilated eye exam (ophthalmoscopy) for years I dilated her pupils and......
• WHAT IS GLAUCOMA? WHAT IS GLAUCOMA? Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve often associated with increased intraocular pressure (IOP). Elevated IOP alone is not enough to make the diagnoses of glaucoma. Some patients may have glaucoma when their IOP is within normal limits. This is called Normal Tension Glaucoma (NTG). Conversely......
• Computer Vision Problems Computer glasses and eye strain computer vision syndrome   Do your eyes hurt or burn when looking at a computer screen? Do they tear, or feel tired after hours of computer use? Do you get headaches after staring at a CRT or LCD computer screen? Do you have neck or......
• EYE PAIN When a patient complains of eye pain asking the right questions often helps determine the cause of the pain. This makes the diagnosis and treatment easier. It is helpful to distinguish between eye pain caused by external factors such as a foreign body on the surface of the eye and......

Related Websites

• Working Safely How to Work Safely The following is a short discussion in regards to safety equipment you should use when making basic home improvements. This is only a basic intro to safety, and should only be taken as such. Always follow the directions on the safety equipment, and contact the manufacturer......
• Supplier Survey: IP Contact Center Solutions   By Brendan B. Read Senior Contributing Editor This month’s Supplier Survey is focusing on IP contact center solutions. After reviewing the responses to questions on market, product, and vendor trends we have selected one firm to be published here, in excerpted form. All of the replies will be appearing......
• Take care of your skin today, it will thank you in 10 years Take care of your skin today, it will thank you in 10 years. Or sooner! I will be posting individual reviews in each category, but they are not ready to go up. This is a short synopsis. Avon has a comparison of before and after pictures, in recent catalogs of......
• Contact Lenses This is a post for all those who wear contact lenses. Thought I'd share this with you all ... seeing my Doc says this is getting really common these days. ---------------------------- People have been asking for the longest time about my eye-bags, dark rings and puffy eyes but I never......
• Do You Think a Gallon of Gas Is Expensive? What About a Gallon of... It's about that time of year where we start to see a steady rise in gas prices as we begin to thaw out of this winter chill.  So in light of the recent rise in gas prices, let's take a fun look at what a gallon of various household items......
• How to Remain Gorgeous and Not Go Broke They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but some of the beholden still need to spend a lot of money to look good and feel good about themselves. Purchasing health and beauty products can get fairly expensive and it can also be quite overwhelming with the advent......
• How I Got $8 Glasses When I was growing up, my entire family had glasses, but I did not. I remember when I was asked by my parents if I had trouble seeing anything, I said "yeah things are blurry". I didn't understand what they meant, but I knew I wanted to get glasses too.......