Did you know that Hormonal Imbalance Affects Contact Lens Tolerance but can be Managed?

There are times when women suffer from hormonal imbalances. Hormones regulate our body systems like a boss. Anything that makes them cross will cost you pay for it later. At menopause, women suffer from serious hormonal imbalances that disturb their body fluids including tear film. Disturbance in tear film is associated with dryness that triggers discomfort and reduced tolerance with contact lenses. Although hormonal imbalances are not directly associated with your contact lenses; they do leave negative impact on your entire body functioning. If appropriate steps are not taken at time; compromising on wearing contact lenses is the last option. Fortunately, with little scheduling you can continue wearing your favorite contact lenses for vision correction even when hormones seem to be furious.

Dry Eyes, Hormonal Disturbances & Contact Lenses

Hormonal disturbances affect everyone equally when it comes to contact lenses. However people with autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, diabetes, lupus etc. are exceptional cases. Since these patients are more prone to develop dry eyes, having hormonal imbalances may add more to the gross. For everyone else, contact lenses are easy to be managed provided they focus on improving the quality of life by altering their diet, consuming more liquids & by introducing healthy habits.

Dry eyes is a condition that keep reoccurring. It happens when your tear film is low in quality- either it produces insufficient oil or has high evaporation rate. Since contact lenses slightly serve as a barrier between your eyes and oxygen transmission; you may feel a bit more stinging than usual with contact lenses during hormonal disturbances.

Managing Contact Lenses during Hormonal Imbalances

1. Artificial Tears: Using artificial tears can help relieve the discomfort. Invest in good quality eye drops that are free from harsh preservatives since these can irritate your eyes. Only use eye drops that mention “compatible with contact lenses” clearly at the label.
2. Stay Hydrated: Dehydration can deplete the fluid in your eyes that compromise swift floating of contact lenses. Drink herbal teas, and increase the intake of water. Use humidifier during winter to prevent yourself from the damages of artificial heat.
3. Healthy Diet: Take wholesome meal three times a day. Include multivitamins, fatty acids and keep a good balance between omega 3, 6 and 9.
4. Special Care with Contact Lenses: Deposits of protein and lipids can irritate the eyes. Keeping them clean is crucial to healthy eyes. They tend to absorb the fluid of your eyes, so using re-wetting drops is recommended.

Also Read: [Diet you should Take as a Contact Lens Wearer]

Contact lenses have been a boon for people desiring to achieve a pleasant change. They also have helped millions of people in vision correction. However, what we forget is this that contact lenses are more than mere fashion accessory. Since they are medical devices, they need to managed and regulated accordingly. By little wise planning, you can continue to look your best with contact lenses, no matter how tough your symptoms may get!

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Birth Control Pills & Contact Lens Tolerance

Why are My Eyes Sensitive & Why do they Over-React with Contact Lenses?

Sensitive eye is a condition where eyes over-react to certain happenings that are obviously normal for others. A gust of wind, smoke, pollen suspended in the air, colored lenses, minerals from cosmetics, or chemical fumes etc turn sensitive eyes blood shot, inflamed and uncomfortable. Having sensitive eyes do not necessarily indicate an infection or a disease- they just react abnormally to some irritants that are totally fine for others.

Sensitive Eyes & Contact Lens Tolerance

Contact lens tolerance is significantly reduced when you have sensitive eyes. All eyes are sensitive to contact lenses to some extent as they are a foreign agent, but sensitive eyes feel burning, scratchy or stubborn dryness with contact lenses.

Sensitive eyes need greater care as the major cause behind is the unbalanced tear film. Tears keep eyes moist and lubricated where blinking further helps to maintain the smooth surface. When the tear-chemistry is disturbed, blinking fails to flush out the irritants. Sometimes, a diseased called seborrheic blepharitis produces excessively oily tear film (dirty-tear film). Due to the oiliness, the surface of the eyes does not wet properly that creates true dry eye sensation. Frequency of blinking with seborrheic blepharitis is also affected due to which additional dryness is noticed.

Other than infections, seasonal allergies such as hay fever or use of cosmetics may trigger negative response against contact lenses among people with sensitive eyes. Everything affect sensitive eyes from improper hygienic habits to use of cosmetics that are improperly stored or are very old.

Sensitive Eyes & Best Type of Contact Lenses

Fortunately, people with sensitive eyes can still bear with contact lenses. However, after a thorough analysis eye doctor would often suggest avoiding certain kind of contact lenses. For instance, contact lenses with high water content are not a good choice for people with dry eyes. Similarly, extended wear circle lenses are never recommended for people having sensitive eyes. Daily disposable or monthly wear contact lenses are two main options depending on the level of sensitivity. Daily disposable may be a bit expensive though.

Some people can tolerate contact lenses fairly well than others who can’t wear contact lenses daily or consecutively for hours. Using re-wetting drops, keeping contact lenses cleansed and using hypo-allergenic cosmetics help improving the condition. FDA contact lenses minimize the risk & don’t pose potential hazards; yet the key to healthy eyes is “take out, when in doubt”.

Disturbance in Tear Chemistry Affects Contact Lens Tolerance

Our eyes are coated with a preventive tear film that keeps eyes lubricated and free from bacterial contamination. The very same tear film helps contact lenses float over the cornea. Every time we blink, a new and fresh supply of tears is released that ensures, contact lenses stay soft in our eyes. It also helps flushing irritants out of the eye. Disturbance in the tear film lays adverse effects on contact lens tolerance. Sadly; there are several factors that contribute negatively to reduce the production of the tear film. To continue wearing your contact lens without discomfort, take measures to keep your eyes lubricated the entire day.

Factors that Destroys the Tear Film Balance

1. Air conditioners, heaters & wind all add to eye dryness. They evaporate tears quickly that leaves eyes dry & stingy. When the tears formation is reduced; eyes are barred to blink, which may cause problems with contact lenses
2. Smoking, medications & birth control pills reduce contact lens tolerance.
3. Alcoholic drinks & drugs reduce tear-formation that causes discomfort with contact lenses
4. Working on computers, playing video games, or staring long at LCDs reduce the typical average blink rate. This leads to dryness which aggravates foreign body sensation in eyes.

How to Improve Tear Formation for Comfortable Contact Lens Wear

1. Don’t wait for your eyes to burn or sting for using lubricating drops. Keep instilling eye drops at regular intervals for an increased tolerance with colored contacts
2. Make use of humidifiers to balance the humidity with heaters. Hot air burns the moisture in the building that eventually cause dryness to both the body and eyes.
3. Wear protective eye wear such as glasses and shades when travelling.
4. Drink water to keep your eyes hydrated.
5. Increase intake of omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids are not naturally produced by the body. Studies prove that omega-3 relieves dryness & are beneficial to brain, joints and heart muscles.
6. Whilst working on a computer, take frequent breaks. Remember 20-20-20 thumb rule that stresses on a 20 second break after every 20 minutes and looking some 20ft away.

Tear film plays great role in keeping eyes comfortable. When the layer is disrupted, the entire ocular mechanism is disturbed. Eyes feel dry, blurred, inflamed and the stinging sensation is accompanied by hazy vision. Eat fresh vegetables, avoid alcohol, & take annual contact lens examination.

Do you Find Wearing Circle Lenses an Uncomfortable Experience? Lipid Degeneration might be a Reason: Treat it Using a Mere Spray

Wearing circle lenses should not be usually a problem, provided you have always been meticulous about the diligent care, handling & maintenance of circle lenses. As long as what you putting in your eyes are FDA approved eye drops and contact lenses, your eyes should remain safe. If still, along with all the precautionary measures you find circle lenses uncomfortable to carry along, then as per the Australian researchers it is biological reason- “Lipid degeneration”; involved in triggering discomfort associated with contact lenses.

Also Read: Why do Circle Lenses make my eyes dry?

Circle lenses induce changes in the natural tear-film that trigger ocular discomfort & stinging. According to Editor-in-Chief of the research journal “Optometry & Vision Science” eyes’ tear film is actually a three-layered sandwich film in the liquid form that features wax-like molecules known as lipids at the outer-most layer. This layer acts as a barrier between the foreign substances & eyes. Upon wearing circle lenses; there is a very faster and quicker degeneration of lipids in some people that triggers discomfort & burning. The outer most lipid layer is actually responsible for maintaining tear film and protects tear evaporation-when on the other hand this layer is broken down by wearing circle lenses; eyes turn dry & create discomfort with circle lenses.

Doctors also looked at various alternatives on how to reducing the ocular discomfort induced by circle lenses and suggested that using a liposomal eyelid spray, such symptoms of dry eyes can be diminished. The spray moistens the eyes and increases tolerance of circle lenses by 6 hours.

If you suffer from dry eyes syndrome, wearing circle lenses specially manufactured for dry eyes should help. Furthermore, improve your diet to keep your eyes moist and fix an appointment with your eye care professional for narrowly-focused medical advice.