red eyes and contacts

[sparrow]

I seem to run into the same problem every day w/ my contacts (Acuvue Advanced w/hydraclear). After 5 hours of wear, the lower area of both eyes is red and irritated and nothing seems to alleviate this, not Similan or any rewetting drop. I use Aquafy soaking solution and rewet my contacts w/ drops probably once an hour, but as soon as the redness sets in, nothing seems to help at all. Does this sound like a problem w/ the fit or the materials or what? I don't think I have too many lense choices as I need a +8 power. When I suggested the Coopervision lenses to my eye dr, he said the lense I have now is basically the same thing. Any suggestions?

[diane wordsmith]

Eyes too dry for contacts??

Maybe it's time to consider that your eyes are a bit too dry for wearing contacts. I finally had to give them up. Every day I was taking them out after about an hour or so to rinse and reinsert them. Was using re-wetting drops all the time and they were still uncomfortable. It got progressively worse over a period of years.

I finally gave up contact lens wear except for special occasions, then pretty much just relied on glasses. I did have lasik a few years ago, but I don't really recommend it. It has made my dry eye a bit worse, though manageable, and I do experience mild halos around lights at night. I just don't think it's worth the risk.

[kitty]

My eyes were doing the same thing when I gave up contacts. I could not seem to get them wet enough. 2 weeks before my eye doctor appt. to diagnose dry eye, I tried contacts one last time. I sufferred with redness and pain for days as a result. My advise is, if it does not look good and/or does not feel good, don't do it. Ask to be worked up for dry eyes.

[sparrow]

my eyes just aren't that dry

This is what's puzzling to me....my eyes aren't that dry!! that's why i don't understand why they are getting red and uncomfortable from contacts. I do use Genteal gel at night but during the day, my eyes really aren't that dry. I do seem to have some sort of winter allergies (sinus pressure, dripping nose, stinging eyes) and that seems to make my eyes uncomfortable but they seem moist enough. I wish I could get to the bottom of this!

[kitty]

This is what's puzzling to me....my eyes aren't that dry!! that's why i don't understand why they are getting red and uncomfortable from contacts. I do use Genteal gel at night but during the day, my eyes really aren't that dry. I do seem to have some sort of winter allergies (sinus pressure, dripping nose, stinging eyes) and that seems to make my eyes uncomfortable but they seem moist enough. I wish I could get to the bottom of this!

I never really thought of my eyes as "dry" in that sense, at least not earlier on in the disease process. It was later on when I was using drops every hour that I questioned if dryness was my problem. Reflex tearing can cause the eyes not to feel so "dry" as well. I have read numerous articles that say mild to moderate dry eye sufferers rarely complain of their eyes feeling "dry"

[jcorbett]

Have you tried different brands on contact cleaners? My son was having a lot of irritation with his contacts. His eyes were very red and irritated. I was buying all this sensitive eye stuff. The doc said that stuff wasn't good and he told me why, but I can't remember. Preservatives?? Now my son is using a different method of cleaning his lenses where you put the contacts in a cylinder-like container and they have to sit for at least 6 hours. His eye problems have cleared up.

[Rebecca Petris]

It's a good point re cleaners. Also Sparrow are you using Aquify rewetting drops with the "disappearing" preservative? Have you tried using a different wetter, any difference to results? There is always the possibility of allergy, no matter how safe a product is supposed to be.

It was always my experience with soft contacts, and is now my experience with gas perms when I overwear them, that if I ever get to the point where I have to wet them as often as once an hour, or start blinking very frequently, that's my eyes telling me I should't be continuing to wear them because they are basically traumatizing the eye surface.

[sparrow]

It was always my experience with soft contacts, and is now my experience with gas perms when I overwear them, that if I ever get to the point where I have to wet them as often as once an hour, or start blinking very frequently, that's my eyes telling me I should't be continuing to wear them because they are basically traumatizing the eye surface.

yep, I agree w/ you here, I do need to take them out at the 4 hour mark to avoid the redness!! But it's the wearing time that has me puzzled. I've only had these contacts, not even two years. When I first got them in April, I could wear them 10-12 hours w/ no problem. It's when winter rolled around, then the trouble began. The wearing time went down till I just stopped wearing them the first winter. Then in the spring of last year, the Advanced w/ hydraclear came out and I thought that would be the end of the trouble. I didn't wear my contacts too much during the summer (I live on a farm and it's pretty dusty) but now that it's winter I need to wear them more since I play ice hockey. But I'm down to only 5 hours at a stretch. I don't think my eye dr really gets how much of an issue this is. I might try making an appt w/ a difference dr b/c I'd at least like to try the proclears or another brand to see if it is just this particular brand of contacts that is an issue.

[jcorbett]

I looked at what my son is using and it is called Clear Care. It has made a tremendous difference in the comfort and redness for my son. You have to rinse lenses with saline after taking them out of the container.

[aLensUsr]

acuvue advance are not the same as proclear

Get another eye doctor. I have not heard alot of good things about acuvue advance (although I know someone who likes them (so far)).

[calli66]

Acuvue Advance, Red Eyes and other comments

About the red eyes/contacts problem:

It wasn't clear from the post how long (how many days) the lenses were worn before disposal. I tried AAdvance for several months last year--I have very dry eyes, but I could actually wear the lenses. But--I found that they became contaminated--and were very irritating--after only 12 days! My eye doctor concurred (she tries all the brands of lenses herself). She said she threw them out and got a new pair after only 7 days. I quit wearing them--it was an affordability problem--and at that time they didn't come in the power I needed.

So--how many days are you wearing them?

My other thought was that one of the lens solutions you're using has something that you're allergic to in it. One way to test this is to soak the lenses overnight in plain saline, not disinfectant solution (just as a test, mind you). If you find the lenses don't bother you as much, then you need to try a different solution.

Also--I had heard that the silicone hydrogel material (AcAdvance) is incompatible with certain solutions--I don't know the details, but you could "google it."

And another thought: I'm wondering if the +8.00 power makes the lense edge thickness too great in the AcAdvance. If that were the case, your lids would bump and rub it at each blink, causing wear intolerance. Edge designs of lenses have a lot to do with wearability, according to my eye doctor.

C66

[sparrow]

About the red eyes/contacts problem:

It wasn't clear from the post how long (how many days) the lenses were worn before disposal. I tried AAdvance for several months last year--I have very dry eyes, but I could actually wear the lenses. But--I found that they became contaminated--and were very irritating--after only 12 days! My eye doctor concurred (she tries all the brands of lenses herself). She said she threw them out and got a new pair after only 7 days. I quit wearing them--it was an affordability problem--and at that time they didn't come in the power I needed.

So--how many days are you wearing them?
C66

I seem to have the same redness problem after 5 hours whether I've just taken the lenses out of the new package or I've been wearing them a few days. That's interesting about the edge thickness in the lense. again, I have been able to wear them for 10-12 hours just as recently as a year and a half ago or so....

[calli66]

Sparrow-
Re: Edge thickness--probably more like "edge design"-my thinking was backwards--sorry-- (a plus lens has to be thicker in the middle, not the edge). BUT--the fact that your Rx is high plus still may have something to do with your troubles--maybe the lense is heavier and rides differently on the eye. The eye doctor needs to look at the way the lense rides on your eye during blinking. But you probably already had that checked.

The Acuvue Advance seems kind of thick and "rubbery" to me.

I have had some experience with being able to wear lenses at first, then my eyes becoming intolerant after a few months. A couple of years ago, I started wearing contacts again after a break of 2-3 years, and the brand I tried was fine--for 2 months. Then, my eyes got really irritated-at first from juniper pollen, but the problem continued on after the season and I just couldn't stand them after that--ever. In my case I think my corneas were in pretty good shape in the beginning, but that effect wore off.

Have you tried Opti-Free Express (Alcon, I believe) solution for storing? It's made especially for the sil-hydrogel type lenses.

If you are really determined to wear contacts, you can do it--but you'll probably have to have a willing eye-doctor. Someone who will really let you try any type of lense that's available (the reps provide lots of trial samples, so the doctor isn't losing any money on this).

I think the Ac Advance is a good idea--it's the silicone hydrogel--fairly high water content, but it's not for everybody. Since it's fairly new on the market, the company probably has not worked out all the design flaws.

C66

[MissP]

This is what's puzzling to me....my eyes aren't that dry!! that's why i don't understand why they are getting red and uncomfortable from contacts. I do use Genteal gel at night but during the day, my eyes really aren't that dry. I do seem to have some sort of winter allergies (sinus pressure, dripping nose, stinging eyes) and that seems to make my eyes uncomfortable but they seem moist enough. I wish I could get to the bottom of this!

I too am contact lens intolerant. Have you been checked for GPC? Could it be allergy? Also, I think RGPs are MUCH better for dry eye.

[Amy09]

i'm also contact lense intolerant. i wore contact lenses for about five years, partly while i was having SLK/ dry eye problems (opthalmologists didn't think there was anything wrong w/ my eyes at the time even though i complained to them.) by my senior year i could barely wear them for an hour without them driving me nuts. now i can't really stand them at all. my eye doctor let me wear contacts for senior pictures and prom. at prom, although they were acuvue advance w/ hydraclear, WOW is was REALLY painful. it was nice that i was glasses-free, and the place was dark so you couldn't really tell my eyes were irritated, but those contacts drove me CRAZY.

even though acuvue advance w/ hydraclear is supposed to help w/ dry eye, i couldn't tell a difference at all from it and other brands of contacts i've used. i just think that in general, if you have dry eye, it's best to stear clear from contacts, except for every once in a whiie for special occasions. i sometimes wonder that if my doctors would have found out what was wrong w/ me earlier, and had told me i should stop wearing contacts sooner than i did, if my eyes might be in a little better shape right now.