Doctors from the Rennes University Hospital are seeing many patients for serious eye infections. There are many reasons, but consultations are partly caused by wearing unapproved colored lenses: they can be bought freely on the internet, but do not always meet the minimum safety criteria required.
Contact lenses are the leading cause of hospitalization in the ophthalmology department of the Rennes University Hospital. Badly cleaned, badly used, unsuitable lenses or colored lenses bought on the internet: there are many causes.
The doctors of this service warn about the phenomenon in an article of the regional daily West-France.
Lenses worn without medical consultation
On average, these eye specialists hospitalize two patients every week for contact lens emergencies. A patient was admitted a few weeks ago with a very serious infection of the cornea. The cause ? She had worn hard colored contact lenses. They severely damaged her cornea in just a few hours. Today, the young woman has lost part of her visual abilities.
The problem with colored lenses is that they can be easily purchased over the internet. However, it is necessary to have a medical opinion before wearing them, because not everyone can bear them. “They can be contraindicated if the eye does not produce enough tears or if the quality of the tears is not good”, explains Professor Frédéric Mouriaux, head of the service. Because in this case, the damage to the cornea, the transparent membrane at the front of the eye and through which we can see, can be very serious.
Poor hygiene or improper use
But colored contact lenses aren’t the only ones that can cause serious damage. Badly used “classic” contact lenses also bring many patients to the emergency rooms of this CHU. Because they are placed directly on the cornea, but this part of the eye is very fragile. These are cells without blood vessels that compose it. Improper use of lenses can prevent the cornea from getting oxygen and healing properly.
Infections, ulcers, corneal abscesses, the risks are multiple. To minimize them, you must clean your lenses well, do not wear them at night (unless medical advice to the contrary), do not wear a lens that has been damaged, never rinse them with tap or bottled water, and always seek the advice of an ophthalmologist.
A problem that does not only concern France. In Algeria, some patients have even lost their sight with counterfeit lenses bought on the internet.
90% of #lenses contacts sold in #Algeria are counterfeit and cause damage to the (specialist) eye – Maghreb Emergent https://t.co/g0TJOGgwbX via @maghrebemergent
– OL [MAG] (@OL_Magazine) March 30, 2018
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