It's that time of year once more: my sample drawer is stocked with allergy eye drops to relieve the most common spring time complaint that brings my patients into the office--itching from seasonal allergies.   Do you suffer from seasonal allergies?  Are you a contact lens wearer?   Well fighting your itching, redness, and swelling just got a lot harder.  Contact lenses trap all of your allergen triggers right onto your eye like a little magnet.  Then every time you blink, you spread that allergy soup on your  contact lens all over your eye.  Graphic enough description for you?  Here's how we can help:

1) Don't sleep in your contact lenses
Get that allergy sponge out of your eye and give your eyes the night off.  Allergy sufferers are some of the worst patients for overnight wear because your lens buildup is never getting removed.  Not to mention, if you are using an allergy eye drop (even over the counter drops), you need to instill them when your contact lenses are out.  For more information on the best drops please see:
Over the Counter
Prescription

So take your lenses off, put in your medicine, and get a good night's rest.

2) Rub your Lenses!
When I ask people what contact lens solution they use, they often tell me "the no rub kind."  Well, let me debunk that myth.  Multi-purpose contact lens solutions like Opti-Free, Renu, and the generics work best when you rub your lens gently with solution in the palm of your hand. If you have purchased "no rub" solution, turn the box around and read the fine print.  "No Rub" solutions require that you hold the lens under a stream of contact lens solution for 30 seconds.  30 seconds!! Are you doing this?  If you are using these solutions properly, you will go through an entire bottle within 2 weeks!!

No Rub--but you need to hold the lenses under a stream of solution for 30 seconds! Just read the back of the box for all the fine print about these statements!

3) Change to Clearcare or Hydrogen Peroxide Solutions
NOTHING cleans your lenses better than Clearcare.  I love this solution for allergies, dry eye, and just people who wear monthly lenses but feel like they are getting "dirty" by the last 2 weeks.  Hydrogen peroxide solutions require that you let the lenses sit overnight for a minimum of 6 hours, but in the morning, your lens is going to feel much cleaner and fresher than any multi-purpose solution can achieve.  And this is one solution that really is "no rub"!



3) Switch to Daily Disposable Contact Lenses

If you have severe seasonal allergies (or especially year round allergy issues), there is nothing that will improve your suffering more than changing to daily disposable contact lenses (well, other than wearing glasses instead of contact lenses).  Daily lenses are such a great option because your eye gets to start with a fresh new lens every single day.  All of the pollen, dust, cat hair -- whatever your allergen trigger is that collects on the surface of your contact lens all day long just gets thrown in the trash at the end of the day.  Ahh, immediate relief.

Let's face it, wearing contact lenses can be a very uncomfortable experience.  Think of a contact lens as a little piece of plastic that you are putting into your eye.  The higher your prescription, or if you have astigmatism, the thicker that piece of plastic is going to be.  It's amazing you can even stand wearing it for a few hours!

Contact lenses have come a long way in to improve their safety and  comfort since first being introduced mainstream in the 1970's.  With that being said, today's contact lenses can still provide major health risks (see THIS post) and cause significant dryness, pain, and comfort issues.  Here's a break down on how to get the BEST contact lens experience.

1) WEARING TIME
All contact lenses are going to lose their moisturization as the day goes on.  Typically, you can expect 12-14 hours of comfortable wearing time with today's soft contact lenses.  Some people can get more; some people can get less.  It all depends on your body's own chemistry and amount of tear film production.  Your work environment can also play a role.  On the computer all day?  Your contact lenses are going to be a lot dryer that the average person's, because we blink about 50% less during computer use.

Not everyone can sleep in contact lenses, and if you wake up with dry, uncomfortable eyes, discontinuing "extended wear" or overnight wear is the first change you need to make.  Think of sleeping in lenses as a special ability that only some, super moisturized eyes can take.  And remember, your brand of contact lens may not be approved to handle overnight wear without major medical risks. Only Air Optix Night and Day has the moisturization and oxygen transmission to the eye that meets FDA standards for a month of continual overnight wear.  If you don't wear this lens, then you need to be taking your lenses out at night, at least a few nights a week.

2) DISPOSAL SCHEDULE
All contact lenses have an expiration date that is determined after rigorous FDA studies that investigate safety and corneal health factors.  Your cornea is a delicate tissue with NONE of it's own blood vessels.  It gets all of its oxygen from the atmosphere.  Now you are going to put a piece of plastic over top of it, and slowly suffocate it for the next month.  Sounds crazy, right?  Wearing contact lenses is a dangerous activity, and should be treated with the utmost responsibility.  Your doctor will tell you how long your contact lenses are approved for, but the information is also readily available online.  The most popular monthly lenses are Air Optix, Biofinity, and Pure Vision.  If you wear Acuvue products, then the MOST you can wear your lens  is for 2 weeks.  Acuvue doesn't make any monthly products.  Even if you take them out EVERY night (like you are supposed to if you wear Acuvue lenses), you have to throw them away every 14 days!

With a few exceptions, most of today's soft contact lenses are either monthly, bi-weekly, or daily disposal.  No surprise here, but if your contact lenses are uncomfortable, then changing to a brand that you throw away more often will increase comfort.  A recent study published in Contact Lens Spectrum showed that 2 week disposal lenses (when thrown away every 2 weeks) consistently rated higher on vision quality, comfort, and dryness than monthly contact lenses.  Dailies are the ultimate for dryness and comfort issues.  If you are having difficulty with your contact lenses, often times changing to a lens that you throw away more often is going to solve the issue.  Nothing beats a fresh, new contact lens that you throw away every single day!

I have tried on a LOT of contact lenses, and Acuvue TruEye is the most comfortable lens I have worn thus far.  It is an excellent daily option for people with very intense dryness issues.

3) SOLUTIONS
Yes, solutions DO matter.  There's a reason that name brand solutions cost more than generics.  Let me reassure you, all contact lens solutions that you can purchase over the counter are approved for killing bacteria and pathogens.  The difference comes in the amount of preservatives and moisturizers.  Today's best contact lens solutions kill pathogens with less preservatives (these are toxic to your eyes!) and added moisturizers.  Try Opti-Free Pure Moist and Biotrue for great options.

If your contact lenses are still feeling uncomfortable towards the end of the month, try using a hydrogen peroxide solution for an extra intensive clean.  Clearcare solution will solve almost everyone's end of the month comfort issues, but you can use it every single night too for ultimate contact lens 'freshness'.  Just remember, you have to let the solution sit in the special case for at least 6 hours before you get any solution in your eyes!!