MadSci Network: Neuroscience
Query:

Re: Why do you feel pain at first when you wear contact lenses?

Date: Wed Feb 7 10:37:26 2001
Posted By: Kenneth Mitton, Post-doc/Fellow, Molecular Development Retina, Cataract, Dept Ophthalmology / U. Mich
Area of science: Neuroscience
ID: 979516279.Ns
Message:

Firstly, your eye , on the exterior we see the clear part of our eye, the cornea. We can see our eye colour (the iris) and our pupil through the cornea. And the white covering of our eye is the sclera. Contacts may bother you for two reasons, geographically speaking. 1. You have pain sensing nerves in the cornea (clear part) of your eye. 2. You also can feel on the inside of your eyelids. Note..the white part of your eye has no pain sensation, therefore make certain you put the contact onto the white part of the eye before it slides over your cornea.

If you have actual pain, you better see your doctor before using them!!!!! Contacts should not make PAIN. If you have pain then you do not have enough tear lubricants in your eye. If you persist in using them, you are scraping your cornea and damaging it. You can create severe eye problems in the future until you get this resolved. Tell your parents and see your eye doctor.

I am 38 and I had contacts when in college, mostly so I could be a foil fencer on the university team, and glasses did not fit in a fencing mask very well, and generally I found my eyes to be a bit dry at the end of the day. You can get some artificial tears, eye drops to use and see if that helps, but you should really consider if the pain and expense is worth it. If you want contacts to look GOOD, then maybe you think you look better, but if you are wondering around with red irritated eyes...you dont look very cool. If you cannot get contacts to work out, do what I do, get small John Lennon style glasses (round lenses), and look like a cool rock and roll star. I get compliments on my 'lennon' specs all the time, and with round small clip on mirrored sunglasses...awesome.... at least I think so :)


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