contact lenses: legal regulations

[wetEyes]

Based on what my dry eye expert told me, I am pretty sure wearing contact lenses for several years caused my dry eyes. Now I am mad that back then

* I could get contact lenses directly from an optometrist, without having to talk about it with an opthalmologist first
* there was no information on or in the package of the contact lenses to educate wearers about risks and side effects (as with cigarettes these days)

Proper laws should be (have been) in place. But that's shitty Germany.

Please tell me if it's the same in your country or if it's different. I'm really interested to know if it's a German problem or if it's like that in most countries of the world.

[alisonW]

No laws here in the US either. During the 23 years I wore them I was never ever told to only wear them for "up to" 8 hours or not to wear them every single day. I too feel that long-term over-wear of them contributed greatly to my eye problems as well. It makes me very concerned since I see kids wearing them now that are even younger then I was. (Some of my son's friends already are wearing them full-time at age 11.)

[sazy123]

Hi,

Me too im pretty sure they caused my dry eye, im otherwise healthy no other problems, well i was but dry eye has taken its toll over 5 years!!

I have made an observation that among us dry eye suffers there seems to be a dissproportionate amount of contact lense wearers compared to contact lense wearers in the population. But no one will study it because its ''bad for business''.

What did your doctor tell you?

[wetEyes]

Sazy, actually it is scientifically well known that wearing contact lenses can cause dry eye. An expert I talked to told me that at least 50% (!!!) of long-term contact lens wearers develop dry eyes.

Given this fact I find it shocking that the side effects are not more well known and that nobody ever told me about it. But I was so obsessed with my looks back then to get attention from the girls that I probably would have worn them anyway.

Sazy, please tell me:
*are there warnings on or in contact lens packages in the UK
*is it necessary in the UK to get a prescription from an opthalmologist or can you, just like in Germany, simply go to an optician to get them?

[mary kenny badami]

USA-based here.

I wore (soft) contact lenses for years -- more than three decades.
Over that time some docs told me that there were no restrictions whatsoever;
but others recommended that -- at the very least because of oxygen-transfer matters --
I should NOT wear them for more than ten hours a day;
and also that I should TOTALLY ABSTAIN from wearing them at least one, and ideally two days a week.

There was nothing in writing or legalistic, as far as I could tell.
But my eyes felt decidedly better when I followed their advice.

[sazy123]

No warnings for dry eye, and still hardly any studies that contacts can cause dry eye.

For me i think they caused dry eye indirectly, maybe due to how i took them out, i used the method of the eyelids to get them out, i foudn the edges of the contact witht he eyelids and that popped the contact out, i had a fear of touching my eye so was told to do it this way.

I often couldnt do it proprly and used to try getting them out for ages and sometimes maybe not correctly or too hard.. I only wore them from age 14 to 18 after that i could hardly wear them but eyes were fine if i didnt wear them. I think this method is bad but i didnt know.

Now the problem i have is inflammed innereyelids and rosacea of eyelids.. causing MGD.. bascially its all to do with my eyelids.

No warning of DE. Were told not too wear them more than 8 hours and proper care etc though.

Severe DE came on after a month on antidepressants.. but i dont believe it would have if it hadnt already been started with the contacts.

[mylittlem]

Like Mary Kenny, I too wore soft contacts for over 30 years almost since they were first introduced by Bausch & Laumb in 1971. I cannot get an eye doctor to say that contacts potentially have caused my problems, but in the deepest essence of my being I know this to be true.

I received no warnings or guidance for that matter regarding how much or how long to wear them. It was left entirely up to me. On average I wore them 18 an hours a day and 7 days a week. My optometrist never even asked me how much I was wearing them. So long as I was not complaining of discomfort, I was lead to believe everything was fine.

[moni]

MGs

Mmm weird, my dad wore them for 25 yrs, then had refractive surgery. He has never even heard of dry eye.

I found this about meibomian glands (theres pictures) but I dunno about the contacts one, because I know many people that wear them for many yrs.. I also have a few friends who had lasik and their eyes are perfect, so there has to be something more.

look!
http://www.topcon.co.jp/en/eyecare/diag/sl/bg.html

[wetEyes]

Just because some people don't develop dry eyes doesn't mean it's harmless.

There are even people who smoke for 70 years and still don't get cancer or a heart attack, but that doesn't mean that smoking does not kill people.

[sazy123]

Mmm weird, my dad wore them for 25 yrs, then had refractive surgery. He has never even heard of dry eye.

I found this about meibomian glands (theres pictures) but I dunno about the contacts one, because I know many people that wear them for many yrs.. I also have a few friends who had lasik and their eyes are perfect, so there has to be something more.

look!
http://www.topcon.co.jp/en/eyecare/diag/sl/bg.html

Its the same with anything..

Wearing contacts its self probably doesnt do it.

The person will probably have a ''vulnrability'' to dry eye and the cotacts caused the problem in those people.

I liken it to people who have facial rosacea... suburn or sun exposure may cause rosacea... in people who had that vulnrability, but many people dont so the sun wont cause rosacea. Same with contacts (or other causes i,e lasik) and dry eye or ocular rosacea.

[judge515]

After speaking to a lawyer (or his paralegal), I was told that since "dry eye is common knowledge," the manufacturers are essentially untouchable. However, the lens distributor can be sued for failure to warn. I am very tempted to try; however, it would be a VERY uphill battle. It is difficult proving a negative (that they never told us), that we did not contribute tot he condition via our way of life, and what $$$ can be estimated by the damage.

[wetEyes]

Well, that chronic dry eye is a major risk of wearing contact lenses is definitely not commonly known.

I bet legal actions are much more likely to succeed in the US than they are in Europe.

[moni]

mm Im thinking about trying contacts again now that my eyes are better but I dont wanna f them up,!

WetEyes, are u absolutely sure contacts caused your problem? I read u had LASIK, took Accutane, and antidep... Do u have MGD or aqueous?

Sazy, u say Lexapro caused ur dry eye, but then also say u have ocular rosacea and mild facial rosacea.. does this mean Lexapro can trigger rosacea?