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Contact Lens and Drug Interactions

It is difficult to give specific ideas about the likelihood of contact lens and drug interactions. This will depend in part on the type of contact lens that you are wearing, but more specifically on the drug that you have been prescribed.

However, some generalisations can be made, which are things that you should be aware of if you wear contact lenses and if you are on any kind of medication.

The eyes require oxygen to remain healthy, and also require moisture. It is this latter point in particular which you should bear in mind when thinking about medication, their possible side effects and the resultant implication on contact lens wearers.

If the drug that you are taking is diuretic in any way, in other words, if it can result in a loss of body fluid, you should take extra precautions in ensuring that your eyes remain moist by applying drops more frequently than you might other wise have done.

Those who wear soft contact lenses might well be particularly susceptible to problems with dry eyes, because the relative content of water to the make up of the lens can be very high, possible 60-70%. If the eyes are becoming dry, they will try and absorb moisture from the lens, and because soft lenses are not usually gas permeable, no oxygen will pass through the lens to the eye.

Another particular problem with dry eyes, whether induced by a drug or not, is that resulting dryness in the lens can result in improper fitting of the lens, which in turn could result in impaired vision. This could be a particular problem for astigmatism sufferers using Toric lenses, because it is imperative that such lenses stay in place in the eye without moving. If they dod not sit as intended, the astigmatism correction will not work properly.

You should also be aware that if the drug can reside in bodily fluid, it is possible for traces of the drug to pass from the eye to the lens. This could result in an unwanted application of the drug back from the lens to the eye at a later time.

Drugs may also have other effects on contact lenses.

A particular drug may effect the color of your lenses and apply unwanted tints to them.

Taking care of your eyes

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The article was written by Charlie Cory, who is the owner of FX Eyes, a website dedicated to providing advice about buying special effects contact lenses online.

You can visit his website about special effects contact lenses.