A Quick Solution Guide

​Almost every time I fit a contact lens I am trying to solve one of three problems—fit, vision, and comfort. Most of my contact lens wearers struggle with at least one of these. The problems are interconnected to some degree, but today I want to focus on comfort—specifically focusing on soft lenses.

Some causes of discomfort are:

  1. Poorly fitting lens.For today’s purposes, because I purely want to focus on comfort, we will move on from this and assume the lens is fitting well. I do, however, want to point out that this can be a factor.
  2. Over wear. Daily, I have someone in my office who over wears their lenses. I am always advising my patients to throw away their lenses monthly, every other week, or daily. Because, at two weeks of wear, proteins that have been soaked up by the lenses start to rot and become toxic. By one month of wear, those rotted proteins are very toxic. If you over wear your lenses on a regular basis, you will have uncomfortable lenses and will likely experience an infection at some point in your life. So, when I advise this, I mean it!
  3. Silicone allergy. Most of today’s cutting edge lenses are made of materials called silicone hydrogels. If 20 years ago you did fine with your lenses, but in the last five years you have struggled, there is a strong possibility of a silicone allergy.
  4. Lens material. Like the silicone allergy, people have different sensitivities to different recipes of the plastic used in contacts. The lens you are wearing might not be right for you.
  5. Contact lens solutions. If a month ago you were doing fine and now you are struggling, it could be your solution. If you changed your solution, change it back.If you didn’t change your solutions, it needs to be changed to a hydrogen peroxide based cleaner like Clear Care.
Rubbing Eye

So, what can you do about these problems?

  1. Try a new lens. Ask your doctor to change your prescription to something else.
  2. Get a new lens from your current supply.
  3. Try a new solution. As previously stated. It’s important to call to ask which kind of solution is recommended based on the contact you are using.
  4. Stop sleeping in them.
  5. Wear them for five days a week instead of all seven.

There is a solution that can cover all of these problems—daily lenses! (This, however, is not for everyone.) None of my patients who wear daily lenses get infections.None.

If the lens is new every day, there is no over wear, no solutions to bother with, the lenses never get old, and our office has both silicone and non-silicone daily lenses to cover any possible troubles with allergies.

If you are personally struggling with the comfort of your contact lenses, please contact Jensen Eye Care for help at 307.265.7008 and schedule an appointment. Dr. Clark and I are more than happy to help anyone who wants more out of their lenses.

Dr. Seth