Contact Lens Piece in eye for 2 days

[eyeobsessed]

Hi There,

To make a long story short, I thought I was having eye discomfort/a minor infection, but it turned out that a piece of my contact lens had ripped (about 5 mm wide) and was floating around under my eyelid and to the side of my iris for 2 days and nights--I'm really embarassed by this because I am a diligent lens wearer--I wear daily disposables, I never wear them for more than one day, I alternate with glasses, use sensitive eyes rewetting drops during computer work, etc. It must have happened while I was taking  them out the other night and I didn't even notice at the time. I guess I have learned to inspect my lenses when I remove them.
My question is: I no longer feel anything in my eye, but it feels a little irritated. Should I go in to see an OD to make sure that nothing is there and nothing got scratched? Or is that overkill if I got the piece out? What happens if you lose a piece of contact behind your eye? I don't really have a reason to believe that something else is in there (don't feel anything), but seeing as I had no idea that a piece of contact was in there for 2 days, now I'm paranoid.

Thanks!

[eyeobsessed]

Thanks--I think I'll still go in to the eye doctor after work today to make sure nothing was scratched. It's feeling better, but you can never be to careful with your eyes (in my opinion!).

Thanks again for the advice.

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

I think it is reasonable to use artificial tears every 30 minutes and keep contact lens out for a day.  See how it is doing.  If it is still irritated after half a day would go ahead and get into to see ophthalmologist then.  Could be a corneal abrasion there now and could be at high risk for a corneal ulcer which can be ugly.  You really never want to get one.  Keep a very high index of suspicion for corneal ulcer and get seen today if eye doesn't get better.  Beware of wearing new contact lens right now because it can mask the pain and increase chance of growth of new corneal ulcer.

Michael Kutryb, MD