so are you frustrated with how dry and irritated your eyes get with contacts
well in this video I'm gonna be sharing why contacts feel so dry, some tips on
how to fix dry eyes with contacts and what I consider to be the best contacts
for dry eyes. let's take a look! and yes that pun was intentional
hey this is dr. Allen here from Doctor Eye Health, the channel helps you learn all
about the eyes, vision and finding the best vision products so if your new
to the channel consider subscribing and turning on the notification bell so that
you don't miss any of my future videos also if you're new here this video is
part of a complete series about contact lenses if you want to learn everything
you can about contacts I've included an entire video series linked in the
description below so having dry eye symptoms with contact lenses is very
common in fact it's the number one reason why most people end up dropping
out and stopped wearing contact lenses altogether even recently I took a poll
and people answered that yeah if vision was the same across the board between
different brands at contacts that comfort was the next important thing
when choosing a contact lens there's actually a difference between having
just dry eye symptoms with contacts versus having true dry eye syndrome if
you're somebody who has dry eye symptoms even without wearing contacts then you
might actually have dry eye disease and because dry eye get so complicated so
fast I do have a whole series on dry eye if
you'd like to learn a little bit more and I'll hook that up here in the
YouTube card above as well as in the description below again if you want to
check that out. but for many people we only experience dryness and discomfort
while wearing contacts of course discomfort could be from a
poorly fitting contact lens which your doctor should be able to kind of
troubleshoot and help you with but a lot of times it's just from dryness and if
you're like me your contacts will feel just fine at first but after a few hours
and especially toward the end of the day the your contacts just feels so dry you
just want to rip them out smash that like button for me if you know how I
feel dry eye symptoms with contacts are often caused by things like deposits
which are proteins and mucus that build up on the surface of the lens and that
can actually contribute to an inflammatory condition called giant
papillary conjunctivitis also known as GPC which is kind of a nasty
inflammatory condition almost allergic reaction to the proteins that stick onto
the surface of the lenses and yeah looks pretty nasty
additionally dryness can come from sensitivity to contact lens solutions as
well as an unstable tear film from either poor blink rate as well as
incomplete blinking that means you don't completely close your eyelids all the
way when you're blinking and that's totally me all the way in fact comment
and section below if you've ever been told that you are an incomplete blinker
all of these can contribute to a tight fitting lens meaning that at the end of
the day when you try to remove the contact lens it just feels really awful
burns and it's like peeling off a band-aid almost now usually longer a
lens is worn especially in a monthly or a two-week lens the more deposits
actually get stuck on that lens and they lose their wettability and that actually
causes more unstable tear film which therefore it causes the dry eye symptoms
so my first tip is actually if you're wearing a monthly or a two week contact
lens is to actually rub that lens when you were cleaning or disinfecting the
lenses actually reviewed the same tip in a video about how to clean contact
lenses but mechanically rubbing the lenses actually will break off those
deposits therefore increasing the wettability of the lens
additionally maybe trying a different cleaning or disinfecting solution may be
beneficial for you I know I personally like to use the optically pure moist or
the bio true solutions however it is believed that using a non preserved
hydrogen peroxide solution such as clearcare may actually be better because
you're not gonna be introducing those preservatives that are in the regular
disinfecting solutions to the lenses and that might actually help improve your
comfort for dryness now most new soft contact lenses do have types of wetting
agents that are incorporated into those lenses whether it's actually put into
the blister pack itself if it's included into the lens matrix or it actually is
released from the lens during lens wear which is actually a really cool
technology but these wetting agents may wear off and because of the previously
mentioned deposits as well as sensitivity to cleaning solutions that's
why most people will agree that using a single-use one day contact lens also
known as daily contacts are preferred that means you're starting the day off
with a fresh new contact lens without having to worry about deposits or
cleaning solutions now what I think is the best contacts for dry eyes is the
dailies total one. it's actually the lens that I personally wear most days now
this is actually a really cool lens because it's considered a water gradient
lens and there's no other lens on the market right now at the timing of this
video that has this technology the very center of the lens is actually plastic
but then as you get closer to the outside layers of the contacts the part
of the contact that touches the cornea and the part of the contact that touches
your eyelids is pretty much a hundred percent water so no wonder they're very
comfortable in addition these lenses have another
cool technology which is called lipid stabilization the lens actually contains
a naturally occurring phospholipid that is released which helps stabilizes the
lipid layer of the tear film which is really important for preventing
evaporation of your tears what's additionally really cool is that
this phospholipid isn't released continuously throughout the day it's
released when the lens actually detects that there's a gradient problem with the
lipid layer and so it releases it as it needs to throughout the day which helps
prevent the evaporation of the tears and improves comfort the only real downside
of the total one is that it's a bit pricey it's arguably the best lens on
the market for comfort as well as breathability for a daily lens and the
manufacturer knows it so yeah expect it to be a little bit more expensive I
often compare it to buying the newest iPhone on the market except it's for
contacts but of course prices may vary depending on how you're buying contacts
and I do have another video that will help you out which is about cheap
contacts and how to save money on your contact lenses and if you want to check
out that video or see updated prices for contact lenses right now I'll include
some links in the description below now even with all of these tips and wearing
daily contacts sometimes the contact lenses still get dry especially if
you're someone who lives in really dry air conditions or maybe windy conditions
etc and sometimes just using a rewetting drop for your contacts can be a big help
now I personally like to use the blink for contacts rewetting drop I find that
it just seems to be a little bit more soothing and longer-lasting than some of
the other drops on the market but it's something that you can certainly try see
if it helps you out throughout the day and maybe even use it right before
taking the lenses out just to give you that little bit of extra comfort and
hopefully that'll prevent that burning or stinging sensation when taking off
the contacts so eye health question the day which one of the
tips did you find most helpful have you tried the dailies total one contact-lens
yet and do you have any tips of your own to help people out with dry eyes go
ahead and connect in the section below hey thanks for watching if you got some
value out of this video smash that like button for me and subscribe if you're
new otherwise keep an eye on it we'll talk to you soon
Oh another eye doctor pun!