Students wear contact lenses too long, risk damage to eyes
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Rose Leding, junior in finance, has worn contacts since 2000. She wears a disposable pair that she is supposed to change every two weeks. However, Leding admitted she didn't always follow that schedule.
"I probably change them every three weeks or so," she said. "I know that if I don't follow my recommended schedule I could damage my eyes, but most of the time it just slips my mind."
Dr. James Schroder, optometrist at Eye Care Associates in Ankeny, said this was a common problem with students.
"Many college students are on hectic schedules as it is, so a whole month can go by and a student may realize they haven't changed their contacts that were supposed to be changed two weeks ago," Schroder said.
There are four different types of contact lenses. How often a wearer needs to change them depends on the type they have, Schroder said.
One type of contact is a hard contact that is supposed be taken out every night and aren't thrown away often. Conventional soft contacts are taken out every night and changed about once a year. A more popular type are disposable contacts, which are changed after a set amount of time - usually every two weeks. The only type that can be worn at night are the newest kind and can last from six to 30 days.
Leding said she can usually tell if she has worn her contacts too long because her eyes dry out and hurt.
"Many students actually wear their contacts by feel," Schroder said. "They wear them until their eyes start to hurt and then they change them. Students really shouldn't do this because they could damage their eyes."
Wearing contacts too long can lead to blurry vision, a change in vision, swelling of the cornea or a bacterial infection, Schroder said. If a student has a bacterial infection and leaves it untreated, it can leave a scar. If a student's cornea is damaged too much from the scar, it's possible that they might have to have a corneal transplant.
Another potential problem is getting a contact stuck in the eye.
Schroder said if a person gets a contact stuck in his or her eye and can't get it out, then he should try to flush it out first. If that doesn't work the person should go to an eye clinic. The eye clinic has special tools they can use to remove the contact without damaging the person's eye.
Katherine Paulson, junior in health and human performance, said she has worn hard contacts since she was a freshman in high school. ÿ
She said she chose hard contacts because they were a little less expensive than disposable contacts, and because she said she had such a strong prescription her optometrist recommended it.
"Since my contacts aren't disposable, I don't ever throw them out, so I don't think it's really possible to have my contacts in for too long," Paulson said. "But if I wore them overnight I think my eyes would probably fall out."
"I probably change them every three weeks or so," she said. "I know that if I don't follow my recommended schedule I could damage my eyes, but most of the time it just slips my mind."
Dr. James Schroder, optometrist at Eye Care Associates in Ankeny, said this was a common problem with students.
"Many college students are on hectic schedules as it is, so a whole month can go by and a student may realize they haven't changed their contacts that were supposed to be changed two weeks ago," Schroder said.
There are four different types of contact lenses. How often a wearer needs to change them depends on the type they have, Schroder said.
One type of contact is a hard contact that is supposed be taken out every night and aren't thrown away often. Conventional soft contacts are taken out every night and changed about once a year. A more popular type are disposable contacts, which are changed after a set amount of time - usually every two weeks. The only type that can be worn at night are the newest kind and can last from six to 30 days.
Leding said she can usually tell if she has worn her contacts too long because her eyes dry out and hurt.
"Many students actually wear their contacts by feel," Schroder said. "They wear them until their eyes start to hurt and then they change them. Students really shouldn't do this because they could damage their eyes."
Wearing contacts too long can lead to blurry vision, a change in vision, swelling of the cornea or a bacterial infection, Schroder said. If a student has a bacterial infection and leaves it untreated, it can leave a scar. If a student's cornea is damaged too much from the scar, it's possible that they might have to have a corneal transplant.
Another potential problem is getting a contact stuck in the eye.
Schroder said if a person gets a contact stuck in his or her eye and can't get it out, then he should try to flush it out first. If that doesn't work the person should go to an eye clinic. The eye clinic has special tools they can use to remove the contact without damaging the person's eye.
Katherine Paulson, junior in health and human performance, said she has worn hard contacts since she was a freshman in high school. ÿ
She said she chose hard contacts because they were a little less expensive than disposable contacts, and because she said she had such a strong prescription her optometrist recommended it.
"Since my contacts aren't disposable, I don't ever throw them out, so I don't think it's really possible to have my contacts in for too long," Paulson said. "But if I wore them overnight I think my eyes would probably fall out."
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