Wearers risk corneal tears and infections. STACEY CHIA reports

For six months last year, Ms Stephie Tan gave her eyes a break from contact lenses.

“I found that I had some scratches on my corneas. My optometrist told me that if I switched to glasses for a month, the scratches would heal on their own,” said the 25-year-old freelance writer.

She first started using contact lenses in 2001 and was wearing them almost daily.

Corneal abrasions are a cause for worry, said Associate Professor Leonard Ang, the medical director of The Eye & Cornea Transplant Centre and the Premium Lasik Surgery Clinic.

He said that it is a problem often associated with contact lens wearers and could lead to infection as the lenses allow bacteria into the eye.

“Persistent or recurrent corneal epithelial (tissue) abrasions may also cause scarring and subsequent deterioration of vision,” he said.

Anyone can develop corneal abrasion when a foreign object enters the eye or if there is excessive rubbing of the eye, but contact lens wearers are more prone to it.

This is often due to the mechanical effect of putting on and removing contact lenses which may inadvertently injure the corneal surface.

It may also be due to a lack of oxygen going to the cornea when contact lenses are worn, which results in cracks on the surface.

The symptoms include pain, tearing, redness and blurred vision. Prof Ang said the larger the abrasion, the more painful and red the eye would be.

Corneal abrasions are common and difficult to prevent unless you keep your contact lens usage to the minimum and for a short period each time. Anything above 10 hours a day is too long, he said.

Slight abrasions often do not show physical signs, which makes an eye checkup prudent to prevent a minor scratch from becoming more severe.

“Even small cracks on the eye surface can cause a serious eye infection,” Prof Ang said.

Dr Khoo Chong Yew, an ophthalmologist at Raffles Hospital, advised contact lens users to have their eyes checked annually. Those who do not wear contact lenses should do so once every two years.

However, even if a test reveals corneal abrasions, it does not mean that you have to ditch contact lenses altogether.

Small scratches will heal on their own with antibiotic eye-drops.

However, Dr Khoo said that sometimes the scratch can develop into an ulcer. If this happens, it is not recommended that contact lenses be worn again until the ulcer heals.

Severe cases will require a corneal transplant to remove the infection and save the eye, said Prof Ang.

Ms Tan’s corneal abrasion has healed and she has returned to wearing her contact lenses.

“I have to cover fashion events regularly so I prefer to have a choice between contact lenses and spectacles, but now I only wear them when necessary,” she said.