Hyper-sensitivity to irritants in eyes.

[icenet]

Hi All,
It's no surprise that most of us have become contact lens intolerant with DES. But I have always been amazed that just an hour of wearing contacts produces a week of eye pain for me. And this happened literally overnight after wearing contacts for over twenty years.

So the other day I was helping a friend with some door sanding. I got some wood dust get into my eyes but not enough to need to wash them out. I just blinked a few times. But the instant discomfort led to pain for about a week as with contacts. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Other than something physically in my eye, my DES symptoms are minor compared to others. Does this make any sense?

[Rowanberry]

I have bad eye symptoms so I always wear protective eyeglasses outside, but through bitter experience I know that indoors, I need to use clear protective eyewear for any time there might even be a suggestion of dust in the air, even making the bed for instance.

I have soft handyman goggles but also clear biking sunglasses I use in the car because of air vents and quartz goggles which are very soft and comfortable, eays to carry, make a close seal but aren't so easy see through.

Immediately putting drops in and repeating can wash out any dust, at least that is what I do

Hope something helps, there is really no scale for eye discomfort it is all painful

R.

[MaryVa61]

A week of pain after an hour of wearing contacts does sound to me like it could be an allergy (type IV) to a chemical in drops used for the contacts. Are there wetting drops you use when you put the contacts in? There are any number of chemicals that could be in the wood too, even naturally ocuring ones, that could cause a type IV hypersensitivity reaction. I'm extremely allergic to formaldehyde, which is in wood, but you'd have exposure from other things too (eg shampoo) and have very frequent reactions so that probably wouldn't be your particular allergen. When you have that kind of week-long pain reaction, are the inside of the lower lids very red? If so, you may want to see a dermatologist for T.R.U.E. tests, especially if you start reacting to things you can't easily avoid.

But just having dry eyes makes them oversensitive to irritants and injury, so it isn't necessarily an allergy.

Mary

[regina]

When I get something in my eye...it is way worse now than what it used to be. My theory is that in the old days...my eyes would instantly start watering and rinse the object out..now that i dont have all that moisture its hard to get particles out so by the time you do...it has scratched the surface and that it why my eyes are screwed up for a few days afterward.