Tips for Managing Dry Eye Symptoms with Contact Lens Wear

The American Optometric Association states that your risk of dry eye increases when you wear contact lenses. Regular contact lenses tend to irritate or dry up your ocular surfaces. Learning how to manage your dry eye symptoms can help you have a more comfortable contact lens experience. Here are some tips:
 

Choose Daily Disposable Contacts

Studies reveal that reusable (i.e. monthly or biweekly) contact lenses can cause more corneal infiltration (inflammation and/or infection) events. If you clean your reusable lenses, you may still leave some debris or pathogens behind. These can trigger dry eye symptoms. Come ask the eye doctors at Kibo Eyecare about changing to disposable contact lenses. After an eye check, we will determine if you can change to these lenses, which are available for long-term lens wear.
 

Manage Your Use of Digital Devices

Research shows that eyes tend to look upward when using desktop computers. When this happens, your eyes open more. This tends to destabilize your tear film. Looking down at your electronic devices can make your eyes open less. This will stabilize your tear film.
 

Making necessary changes to your workplace can improve your dry eye symptoms. Taking frequent breaks from your electronic gadgets and changing your work setup can prevent your eyes from drying up. Follow the 20/20/20 rule: take a break every 20 minutes for longer than 20 seconds and look at something further than 20 feet away. While it sounds silly, studies show that conscious blinking (reminding yourself to blink) can also prevent dry eye due to looking at computer screens.
 

Use Heat Compress Therapy

Clinical trials prove that applying heat to your meibomian glands can improve meibum production. This can be beneficial to patients who experience dry eye while wearing contact lenses. Performing this therapy may increase comfort and wearing time of contact lenses.
 

Treat Underlying Health Issues

Studies show that if you have underlying health issues, you can develop dry eye symptoms while wearing contacts. Around half of diabetic patients deal with dry eye symptoms while wearing contacts. A high glycated hemoglobin A1c often results in a higher dry eye rate.
 

Treat Underlying Triggers

You must ask your eye doctor about the dramatic increase in demodex populations in your eyelashes. These organisms can trigger dry eye symptoms as well. If you are experiencing meibomian gland pain, you can use warm compresses to relieve the blockage in the gland, which can also improve vision and the symptoms associated with dry eye.
 

You can manage your dry eye symptoms while wearing your contact lenses. At Kibo Eyecare, we only provide high-quality eye care products and services. You can visit our clinic in Glastonbury, Connecticut, for an in-person consultation. Please call 860-659-5900 to set up an appointment or ask about our dry eye treatment packages.