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“Creative” Contact Lens Storage

Posted on July 11, 2011 · Posted in Contact Lenses

Eye doctors see some pretty crazy stuff.  Ask a few what the weirdest thing they have seen or heard today and you’re likely to get some stories you could use to scare kids around a campfire.

One occurrence that seems to pop up more than we could even imagine possible is the patient who puts their contact lenses in their mouth.  Reasons vary, but the usual scenario is the wearer has had their lenses on all day, they’re out late at night, and the contacts dry out and become uncomfortable. Needing to take the lenses off, yet not wanting to throw them out, they decide that their mouth is a pretty convenient option.

Let’s look at this analytically:  The goal of contact lens hygiene techniques and disinfecting solutions is to keep contact lenses as clean and free of bacteria as possible.  Why?  The presence of bacteria increases the risk for eye infection, scarring, and even blindness. The human mouth, as a warm and moist environment, is a perfect harbor for more than 500 different strains of bacteria.  Making a conscious choice to subject contact lenses to bacteria is the epitome of a #badvisiondecision.

That and the patient who instead opted to store her lenses in a cup of beer and carry them home.