“Can I wear contacts with dry eyes?”
I am a 24 year old female and I have dry eyes. I wonder if I can wear contacts with dry eyes?
10 Answers
There many daily contact lenses now with different levels of moisture content. See your eye doctor about those different contacts.
Jason Randall Smith
Optometrist
My first question to you would be, how do you know that you have dry eyes? Has an eye doctor diagnosed this with you? Some allergy medications, birth control pills, and antihistamines can contribute to a dry eye problem, to name a few. If you are "self-medicating" for your dry eyes with drops, are you using artificial tears or an anti-redness drop which can create other problems for your eyes? Having dry eyes does not mean that you cannot wear contact lenses. A daily use lens used may be something to consider where contact lens solutions would not be necessary because the lenses are disposed of after a single use. My suggestion to you would be to see an eye doctor, have a Schirmer tear test done to see if you are making enough tears, discuss any medications or health issues with the doctor, and there may be some great options for you. Good luck and best wishes.
If you suffer from dry eyes, it is important to treat the dry eyes prior to wearing contact lenses. There are contact lenses that are better suited for dry environments such as daily disposables but this should be discussed with an optometrist
Sometimes, yes.
I would recommend taking care of your dry eye problem before attempting to wear contact lenses. It really depends on the severity of your dry eyes to be an ideal candidate for wearing contact lenses comfortably. If you have a severe dry eye problem, then it really does not matter which brand of contacts you attempt to wear because your eyes will be even more dry than without the contacts. I would recommend visiting your local eye care professional to determine if you are an ideal contact lens candidate, and perhaps have him/her perform a dry eye evaluation.
Depends on the severity of your dry eyes. You can try Daily disposable contacts
It depends on the extent of your dry eyes, have you been fully evaluated. Generally speaking, severe dry eye patients should take a break from soft contacts or consider Scleral lenses. Mild to moderate dry eye patients should consider premium daily, single-use soft contact lenses (ie Myday, Acuvue Oasys 1 Day, Daily Total 1, etc). Always consult your eye doctor though.
Scleral lenses or daily disposable soft contacts are good options for people with dry eye, but better yet, go see your eye doctor to see if you can get better control of your dry eye and then any contacts will be fine.
Probably. Depends on why you have dry eyes. The dryness can be treated with plugs, medication, vitamins, etc. Many contacts act as bandaids and mask dryness. Scleral contacts are a specific therapeutic treatment option for dry eye patients.
Yes, but your dry eyes may become worse. Choose the right brand, daily lenses, and don’t sleep in contact lenses. Also, you can use dry eye drops such as blink for contact lenses.
