Contact Lenses & Infections

People who wear any type of contact lenses are at a higher risk of eye infections. However, people who wear soft contact lenses are at higher risk than people who wear rigid gas permeable lenses. Understanding the relationship between contact lenses and eye infections can help patients avoid the condition.

Types of Infections

• Contact lens wearers can get infections of the cornea of the eye called keratitis; these infections are commonly caused by bacteria, fungus, microbes (small organisms) or herpes.

Infection and Type of Lenses

• Wearing contact lenses for longer periods of time such as with extended-wear lenses increases the risk of corneal infections because overnight wear lowers the cornea's ability to protect itself against bacteria and other things that cause infections.

Other Risk Factors for Infections

• Poor contact lenses hygiene such as not washing hands properly, not cleaning lenses or lens cases properly, wearing lenses during water activities, or using tap water to clean or store contact lenses can lead to eye infections; reduced tear flow under the contact lenses can also increase the risk of infection because the tears can wash away bacteria and other particles.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of an infection include redness, pain, discharge, blurry vision, tearing and foreign body sensation; if these symptoms occur, one needs to remove the contact lenses immediately and go to an eye doctor for evaluation.

Treatment

• Corneal infections are treated with antibiotic drops after a scraping is taken from the cornea so the eye doctor can determine what type of organism is causing the infection; the contact lenses cannot be worn during treatment.

After the Infection

• Once the infection is completely treated, contact lenses may often be worn again, with greater attention to hygiene, although the type of contact lenses may be changed to lower the risk of reinfection; in some cases, the eye doctor may suggest that the patient stop wearing contacts altogether.