This is a free-living protozoan that lives in the upper respiratory tract, along with soil and water. This is why eye care professionals stress the importance of never swimming, showering in your contact lens, or making your own contact lens solution using tap water. Acanthamoeba can penetrate through layers of the cornea, disrupting sensitive corneal nerves and creating deposits that cloud up your vision.
The infection presents similarly to other bacterial and viral infections, which can make it tough to diagnose. If the condition progresses, it could ultimately lead you to have a corneal transplant in an attempt to fix the damage that has been caused. Common signs and symptoms of infections will present with photophobia sensitivity to light , blurred vision, foreign body sensation, swollen eyelids, pain, and discharge from the eye.
If you experience any of these, seek treatment from your eye care professional urgently! The first thing everyone learns about putting in contact lenses is to make sure they wash their hands. The 2nd thing should be to never wear expired lenses. Patients over-wearing contacts is a common problem that eye care professionals are faced with. This includes sleeping in contacts that are not specifically designed for extended wear. If you are having trouble affording new contacts, speak with your eye care provider about alternative options.
He or she will be able to provide you with several different lens types daily , bi-weekly, monthly from different manufacturers to meet your needs. You should also look into manufacturer rebates and use sites like ours to find the best prices for your contacts.
Expired contacts are forbidden from being sold in the United States. Terms and Conditions. Pay Now. Refer a Patient. Request an Appointment. Why Do Contact Lenses Expire? Photo credit: Deposit Photos Contact lenses are classified as a packaged medical device. Can I Wear Expired Lenses? What Are the Symptoms of an Eye Infection? Need a contact prescription refresh? Want to Request Your Appointment Today? Never wear Expired Contact Lenses. Make sure you check before wearing it.
If you are a wearer who ignores the expiration date then here are four things you should know about the expired contact lens. Obeying the expiration date is very important for your safety while wearing contact lenses. A contact lens expiration date is marked on every individual lens package. But while the reasons behind it might not be clear, obeying the expiration date is an important part of safely wearing contact lenses. The U. Food and Drug Administration FDA , which regulates contact lenses and other medical devices, requires rigorous safety and efficacy testing on such products.
Contact lens manufacturers are required to demonstrate, through tests, that their lenses with solution blister packs will remain stable and safe for a certain period of time, for example, perhaps five years. Essentially what it means is that the lenses, and the solution that contains them, have only been tested for that period of time, which is then used to set the expiration date to stamp on each package. Risks of wearing contact lenses past their expiration date include inflammation and reddening of the eye, moderate to severe pain, and partial or total loss of vision.
There are different types of contacts available to fit different vision needs, all of which have expiration dates. Contacts can be soft or rigid, and they are designed for extended or disposable use. Eye care experts strongly suggest using contacts before their expiration dates. Even unopened contacts that have expired can get a buildup of deposits on them and are no longer safe to wear. Adhering to proper contact use is the best way to reduce your likelihood of encountering risks related to contact lenses.
Proper lens hygiene includes cleaning your lenses well, storing them properly, frequently replacing your lenses case, giving your eyes time to rest without contacts in, and never trying to extend contact use beyond their expiration date. All contacts have an expiration date. Some are designed to last for one year, while others are meant to be worn for only two weeks or as little as one day.
As contacts are worn, germs, proteins, and other residues accumulate on the surface of your contacts. These deposits can irritate the eyes over time. In order to avoid irritation caused by old contacts, it is important to replace your lenses as recommended. Even if you use proper contact lens hygiene, the lenses are meant to be discarded and replaced, as indicated by the lens manufacturer.
In addition to contact lenses expiring, contact lens prescriptions also expire. In , the Food and Drug Administration FDA passed a law that all contact lens prescriptions expire after one year or as otherwise established by state law, depending on which is greater.
Contact lenses and their prescriptions have expiration dates to ensure that you are receiving appropriate medical products and to identify any complications associated with their use.
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