Contact lenses

[eoincarey]

Hi all

I recently took a flight from Gatwick wearing my contact lenses, but when in the cruise, my eyes started to burn really badly, and it then went away when i took my lenses out.
Can anyone explain this?
Any solutions?
Cheers
Eoin Carey

[Dream Land]

I've been using contacts for years, I'd have to guess you inadvertantly rubbed something into your eye, haven't ever had this problem.:confused:

Dream Land

[magbreak]

I'llsecond that. I've flown with contact lens for 15 years now and never had a problem with them.

[HowlingWind]

I've done everything from skydiving to scuba diving whilst wearing contacts with no real problems, though all contacts wearers are likely to have moments of discomfort now and then. Though we don't know details such as what type of lenses you have, how long you've been wearing them, or whether this experience has occurred before, in all likelihood if it wasn't a matter of something getting in your eye, it could be simple dryness. The air in a plane tends to be extremely dry and could affect lens wearers. It's a good idea to always travel with some rewetting solution for when this happens.

[eoincarey]

Yes, my contact lenses have been a problem for a while, they get very dry and i have to keep blinking a lot.
Whats this rewetting solution about?
Cheers for the advice ppl.
Eoin

[HowlingWind]

Rewetting solutions are simply a type of eye drop fluid designed to be used whilst wearing contacts to help ease dryness and make lenses more comfortable. Several brands and types are available from all the same folks that make the lens cleaning and soaking solutions, and can usually be found adjacent to that stuff in the pharmacy.

Some are supposedly designed specially for soft lenses, others for rigid gas permeables, etc. All tend to be rather expensive, given the small quantity of fluid involved. You might find that a simple saline solution or regular eye drops like Visine or somesuch work just as well. Some experimentation might be in order to find one that seems best suited for your eyes and lenses.

If eye drops or rewetting solutions don't seem to help, it might be advisable to consult your eye doctor, as perhaps you're not producing enough tear fluid. Some of the newer lens materials are designed to let more oxygen through to the surface of the eye, and might be work a look (so to speak).

[Vee One...Rotate]

I remember at my initial contact lens consultation that the optician checked my eyes produced enough moisture for contact lens wear - maybe this is a factor for you? I'm sure the type of lenses you wear may play a role as well. Depening on the type of prescription you have (e.g. for shortsight, astigmatism, etc.) you might want to look at silicone hydrogel contacts - apparently they allow more oxygen in and don't dry out as easily.

I wear soft lenses for PPL training and have flown (commercially) with them in with no problems at all, so I'd be surprised if the problem was simply the aircraft environment...unless it was particularly dry that day???

Hope it improves,

V1R :ok: