Blurry vision with bandage contact lens for painful eye.

[mrl]

HI - I've had a very painful eye for several months, that gets irritated by blinking. Plugs/steroids/drops/ointments have not helped, so the doctor gave me a bandage contact lens to wear for 2 weeks. It definitely prevents the pain, but my eye is blurry. I can see fairly well with both eyes opened, though. I wear glasses. Will the vision in my bandaged eye adjust, or should I consider getting a new prescription lens for my glasses, for the time that I'm wearing it? Thanks. - Mark

[NotADryEye]

I wore a bandage lens periodically when I had a recurring corneal erosion. The blurriness was only in the eye with the lens and the lens was only in for 10 days or less. The vision in the eye with the lens did not change after the lens was removed. I also wore a bandage lenses when I had conjunctivoplasty. Same experience with slight blurriness although I wore the bandage lens after surgery for a longer time.

You shouldn't have pain when you are blinking. That is an indication of something going on that needs to be addressed. Did your doctor tell you why you have the pain?

[mrl]

Blurriness with contact lens, only when wearing glasses.

Thanks for the reply. There must be some strange interaction between my eyeglasses and the contact lens, because the extreme blurriness only occurs when I put on my glasses, and I can't even come close to reading a thing, when only using that eye. I called my optometrist. and he said he could make a lens to correct for it, if I got him the exact brand of contact lens.

As for the pain from blinking, that is what I was experiencing before I had the lens put in. The lens prevents the irritation. I have a long history of corneal erosions for several decades. It flared up several months ago, and one eye has been in pain ever since, even though there is no sign of scarring or any other problem with the cornea. If I keep that eye closed all the time, it doesn't have the pain. I'm still waiting for a real diagnosis, i.e. whether the cornea didn't heal properly, or whether some form of neuralgia has developed. In either case, the cornea is now very sensitive, and at the end of the day, my eye is in burning pain. The doctors are trying to blame it all on dry eyes, but nothing they've tried has made any change in the level of pain. At least for a couple of weeks, I'll have some relief. - Mark

[NotADryEye]

I have a long history of corneal erosions for several decades. have some relief.

I recently came across some old patient encounter forms, from the mid 90's. I remember seeing the ophthalmologist and sleeping with lubricating ointments and using drops. Back then I didn't pay attention to the diagnosis. Now I see that I had recurring erosions. I suspect I was also sleeping with my eyes partially opened.

Many years later, but before debilitating dry eye, I injured my eye. The wound would heal for a short time and then re-open. That is when I wore the contact lens bandage the first time. Eventually I underwent two stromal puncture procedures to close the wound. The procedure is 80% successful the first time. I was one of the other 20%. Also, at one point I was mis-diagnosed with map-dot fingerprint aka Cogan's syndrome. You might want to look this up.

So questions to ask yourself and your doctor might be
1) do you close your eyes completely when you lie down. Even a small opening can cause problems e.g. dryness and erosions, and you might not be able to detect this yourself. To diagnose, the doctor will ask you to lean your head back and close your eyes. It's that simple.
2) do you have Cogan's - although I don't think your symptoms are indicative, but I'm not a doctor
3) do you recall any injury even from some time ago when you might have scratched your cornea?
4) would stromal puncture close the wound? Are you a candidate?
5) With your eye opened, if you pull your upper or lower lid away a tiny amount just to get it off the eye, whichever lid makes sense, do you still feel the pain? This is a simple way of figuring out if the cause of the pain is in your eye, your eye lid or tear film. I learned it from my doctor. If the pain persists when you pull the lid away, the problem is in the eye. If the pain goes away, the problem is in your eye lid e.g. a blocked meibomian gland. If the pain moves around the problem is in the tear film. It helps to pinpoint the exact source of the pain which is important in coming up with an accurate diagnosis.