Wearing contacts eventually

[synes89]

Has anyone who suffered (suffers) eye pain due to prolonged contact lens wear (corneal exhaustion, or something like that), and who hasn't worn contacts since, been able to wear them later in life?
What I'm asking is, I'm not sure, but most doctors have told me that my eye pain comes from wearing contacts for too long each day, and I've developed vascularization. If I wait half a year, a year, what have you, without putting contacts in my eyes, would my eyes eventually improve and be more tolerable of lenses? Or will eyes hurt for the rest of my life?

[synes89]

And for those who were able to wear contacts again, or whose eyes felt better after some time, how long did you have to wait without wearing them at all until you started noticing improvement?

[calli66]

My eyes felt better after a month. I tried several times after that to wear lenses again, but was not successful. My eyes really are too dry for contacts, and the only way I can wear them is to use drops constantly for lubrication. Then, when I take out the lenses, there's a "rebound" effect (usually all evening long till I go to bed) where my eyes feel raw and awful.

In contrast, with glasses I don't need drops more than 2-3 times a day, and my eyes feel pretty comfortable. I can read, watch TV, computer, etc. in the evening with no problems.

C

[alisonW]

I was never ebale to get back into contacts again either. Very similar experience to calli66. For a few hours they feel okay (the bandage effect of the lenses) and then after that they feel worse then ever, for far longer then before. It took me a very, very long time (an entire year) to feel comfortable in glasses. Now, I'd never got back to contacts - just not worth it anymore.

[synes89]

When did you start to notice reduction in eye pain (without doing anything else for them that is)? This question is for any of you who wore contact lenses for a long time, then stopped because eye pain developed, and then after not wearing them, the pain subsided. Does it happen too gradually to notice? Or is the change noticeable? I heard something about 1-2 months if it's something like GPC, but then for other problems 6-12 months of healing is required...
I am a month a bit in of not wearing CLs, and I'm not noticing any differences.. I have to keep drinking lots of water so that the next day my eyes are bearable. Otherwise, they burn like hell.

[mary kenny badami]

I didn't have vascularization. But I did have GPC.

Many years ago, after many years of contact lens wear, I developed a problem of decreasing tolerance for my lenses (painful, red eyes) which was diagnosed as GPC (Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis). Once a competent eye doctor turned over my upper eye lids < weird experience, but not painful > he diagnosed GPC and required me to stop wearing contact lenses.

Almost immediately after I stopped wearing them, my discomfort stopped and my eyes looked normal again.

I was then a lot more looks-conscious than I am now, and so I was truly distressed to be wearing glasses all the time,
but I must confess that it was a great relief to be free from pain and to have eyes which looked healthy.

It took about three months before the doctor decided that my eyes were sufficiently healed for me to start wearing disposable contact lenses. However, he set a 12-hour limit on any one day's wear and insisted on two days a week of total non-wearing: (a) to rest my eyes and (b) to allow for proper oxygenation as well as (c) to assure appropriate fluid flow balance.

Not sure if that would be the contemporary treatment advice for GPC and contact lenses, but it worked well for me at the time. Just my long-ago experience, for what it's worth.