Hello everyone, this is Dr. Audrey Tai. I am a board certified and fellowship trained
refractive and cataract surgeon, ophthalmologist and cornea specialist, welcome back to my
channel - Eye channel by eye surgeon. In today's video I will tell you three things
that your eye doctor never told you. I hope you'll stay with me until the end of this
video and let me know in the comments below which of three things I mention in this video
surprised you the most. Number one: extended wear contact lenses have
the highest risk of infection compared to all other types of contact lenses
the CDC has estimated about 45 million people in the US wear contact lenses for vision correction.
We may not know that one of the most common risks with contact lens wearing is infectious
keratitis or corneal ulcer. There are many different types of contact lenses, such as
daily disposable soft contact lenses, extended wear contact lenses, and rigid gas permeable
contact lenses, and risk of infection among different types of contact lenses are not
the same. Extended wear contact lenses are the ones that the FDA has approved for overnight
wear, and some of them are approved by the FDA for overnight or continuous wear up to
30 days. A little-known fact is that extended wear contact lenses are recognized by the
FDA as a class III medical device. Class III medical devices are those which the FDA has
determined to have a significant risk of illness or injury. Some examples of other class III
medical devices are implantable pacemakers and breast implants. According to the American
Academy of ophthalmology, the risk of getting infection is 10 to 15 times greater with extended
wear contact lenses when compared to daily wear contact lenses. The main reason for the
increased risk with extended wear contact lenses is that people sleep with their contact
lenses in. The backside of the contact lens is in direct contact with the outermost layer
of the cornea, which is the clear windshield of the eye. The longer the contact lens stays
on the surface of the eye, the more opportunity for bacteria to cause infection. Contact lenses
also interfere with tear fluid exchange that happens naturally on the surface of the eye.
The tear fluid not only washes away bacteria and other pathogens, it also contains several
antimicrobial peptides. Therefore, overnight wear of contact lenses provides more time
for bacteria and other pathogens to cause infection, and also lowers the natural ability
of the eye to fight against infection. My number one recommendation for wearing contact
lenses is to never sleep with your contact lenses in.
Number two: some over-the-counter allergy medications can cause dry eyes
Our eyes can often get red and itchy from allergies, and many of us take over-the-counter
allergy medications to treat those symptoms, such as Claritin, allegra, etc. What we often
don't realize is that those allergy medications contain antihistamines, which can cause dry
eyes. Oral antihistamine medications can cause dry eyes in two ways. Firstly, the active
ingredients in allergy medications get absorbed into the bloodstream, and travel to the tear
gland, also called the lacrimal gland, where they reduce the amount of tears produced by
affecting the nerves that innervate the tear gland. Secondly, those medications can also
increase the concentration of inflammatory particles in the tears, and worsen dry eyes
by increasing inflammation. I often recommend that my patients who take oral antihistamine
medications for allergies, to use preservative free artificial tears 2 to 3 times a day to
reduce dry eye symptoms. Also if you are suffering itchy eyes due to allergy, over-the-counter
allergy eyedrops are more effective than oral allergy medications in treating ocular allergy
symptoms. I've listed a few over-the-counter allergy eye drops that are effective in treating
ocular allergy symptoms in the description below, you can check them out. However, remember
that allergy eyedrops contain preservatives, which themselves can worsen dry eyes in some
people. You can learn more about the preservatives used in eyedrops in this video.
If you are still experiencing allergy symptoms in your eyes despite using over-the-counter
allergy eyedrops, make sure you get a full eye exam with your eye doctor to determine
the best treatment for you. I hope you find this video helpful so far,
if you do, don't forget to like and share this video and subscribe to my channel.
Thank you for staying with me all the way to learn about the third and last thing your
eye doctor never told you. Number Three: LASIK may be as safe or safer
than wearing contact lenses for many people Many of us assume LASIK surgery is riskier
than wearing contact lenses, as LASIK is a surgical procedure while wearing contact lenses
does not involve surgery. However is this common notion correct? More and more studies
have come out showing that the risks of LASIK surgery are comparable to wearing contact
lenses, and in some cases LASIK surgery might even be safer. The key here is that the risk
of developing infection from wearing contact lenses is cumulative, which means the longer
a person has been wearing contact lenses, the higher the risk of developing an infection.
Of course if someone only wears contact lenses for six months or a year, the risk of getting
infection from wearing contact lenses is low, probably lower than the risks of LASIK. But
most people who wear contact lenses wear them for years or decades, over that amount of
time, the risk of wearing contact lenses may become equal to or greater than the risk of
a one- time LASIK surgery. There are additional factors which increase the risk of infections
from contact lens wear, such as poor contact lens hygiene and overnight wear, so it is
important to have an individualized discussion with your eye doctor or eye surgeon to determine
which vision correction method is the safest one for you long term. If you are interested
in learning more about this topic, you can check out my video -" contact lenses vs LASIK
– which one is safer". Let me know in the comments below, which one
of the three things I mentioned in this video surprised you the most.
You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn at Dr. Audrey Tai to learn more
about my practice. I look forward to connecting with you there.
Thank you again for watching and I will see you in my next video.