Why not wash contact lenses with tap water?

If you wear contact lenses, we offer you an instructive story about why you can not wash them in tap water.

What happened?

Andrew Carthew, a paramedic from Cornwall in South England, underwent surgery to remove the eye, after his contact lenses were infected with parasitic amoeba.

The infection of the eyes of a 59-year-old man was caused by a disease in which the amoeba attacks the cornea of the eye, leading to partial or complete loss of vision.

Amoeba is found in most soil samples and reservoirs, although it is believed that the patient's eye came into contact with her after he washed the lenses with tap water. As a result, the amoeba was trapped between his eye and the lens, which resulted in infection of the cornea. Amoeba can penetrate into the corneal nerves and cause severe pain.

Consequences of a wrong diagnosis

For Carthew, this ordeal began when he woke up with a watery eye in June 2015. He went to the hospital, where a typical eye infection was diagnosed. Nevertheless, after several days of rest and taking medication, his condition did not improve.

By the time the diagnosis was finally made, several weeks had passed and the corneal infection had worsened.

"The pain from infection was absolutely shocking. I can describe it as a toothache that has spread to the eye and affected the whole face, "commented Carthew.

"For about six to eight weeks I lay in a darkened room, protecting my eyes with glasses, and left only when I had to go to the hospital. Who would have thought that eye infection could be so debilitating, "he added.

Solution

In the end, the problem became so serious that the doctors had no choice but to remove the eye by surgical intervention. Despite the fact that the illness caused Carthew to retire earlier than planned, now he is recovering and hopes to learn more about this relatively unknown infection.

It is clear that this particular situation could be avoided if the man used a special sterile solution for contact lenses, and not tap water. Nevertheless, users of soft contact lenses should always be careful with eye infections. Eye diseases caused only by amoebae per year affect one in 25,000 people who wear contact lenses in the UK. You are especially at risk if water somehow contacts your eyes while wearing lenses, for example, when you are swimming, taking a shower or bathing.

How not to expose yourself to risk

You have a good chance of avoiding this infection, if you only wear contact lenses with clean hands, use the appropriate means and never resort to tap water to clean them.