Q: I love my contacts, but I have heard stories about contamination from water. What is actually a concern, if any?
A: Summer is prime time for water related eye problems, and contact lenses are also included. Essentially, while there are 3 types of contacts now…..soft lenses for daily replacement, soft lenses for monthly replacement, and rigid lenses. Most people today are choosing dailies, as they enjoy a fresh perfect lens each day. As eye doctors, we also favor dailies because we seldom see patients with eye infections or other lens related complications in patients using a fresh lens each day.
Water, in all sources, may contain numerous organisms that may not harm your stomach, but can be sight threatening to your eyes! Number one risk is swimming contacts. The water in a pool, hot tub, lake or ocean will be held the sponge-like matrix of the soft lens and then released to your eye for hours. Even tap water contains these organisms, one in particular called Acanthamoeba, can cause permanent scarring to your cornea and permanent vision loss.
Obviously, some water sports like riding a jet ski require clear vision, so if you wear your contacts, just remove and discard afterward as soon as you can.
You should never soak your soft lenses in tap water, and even showering in lenses carries some risk as well. You are safer to make you morning routine one of showering before your insert your contacts. This sort of risk is one reason we favor dailies, because even disinfecting your contacts after risky exposure does not kill all bacteria and organisms! Your lenses are NOT sterilized in your nightly disinfecting solution.
Lastly, sleeping in your contacts gives you a 6 to 8 times higher risk of corneal infection. Even we have medications for such things, infections can leave permanent scarring in the otherwise clear vision focusing cornea. Removing your lenses at bedtime is always safer and recommended.
Enjoy your clear vision and freedom from glasses, but be careful and prevent eye problems!