Keratitis from Soft Contact Lenses

Hi,

My 20yr old daughter fell asleep with her soft contact lenses on and the next day was in severe pain and light sensitivity, so she saw her eye doctor immediately and now is on an antibiotic drops (preventative) + steroid eyedrops.  She's taking both 8X a day for 3 days and then goes back for a recheck on Friday.

How common is Keratitis from contact lenses & why does it happen?  Only one eye, thankfully.

C~

[Houman Vosoghi, MD]

Unfortunately keratitis is not uncommon.  Need to have good daily cleaning, wash hands thoroughly before handling lenses, and very important not to ever sleep in them.  Not sure about the steroids though.  If infection is suspected, it would be wise to use antibiotics that frequently but most would hold off on the steroids unless sure that it is not an infection.  Make sure she is seeing an ophthalmologist and not an optometrist for this.  If she feels like she is any worse in the AM, she should go see the ophthalmologist right away.

HV

[ChitChatNine]

Yes, she was originally seen by an opthamologist and is feeling better.  She's on Zymaxid & Lotemax & goes back tomorrow for a recheck.

Thank you for your reply.  

[Houman Vosoghi, MD]

Sounds good.

HV