Wear contact lenses? Here’s what you’re doing wrong

The Centers for Disease Control says almost everyone who wears contact lenses is at risk of serious eye infections, and most of the problems can be traced to poor lens hygiene.

According to the CDC, nearly 41 million people are contact lens wearers now and 99 percent of contact lens wearers in the federal survey reported having at least one questionable hygiene practice.

Princeton ophthalmologist and contact lens expert Suzanne Jadico of thePrinceton Eye Group says the majority of problems such as eye infections and other painful disorders can traced to poor lens hygiene.

"You always want to make sure that you are starting off with clean hands," Jadico said.

But there are many other problems, according to Jadico, that can be traced to bad contact lens habits.  Among them, wearing them for longer than they typically should be prescribed. Sleeping in the lenses, either overnight or taking a nap in them. Swimming and taking a shower in contacts can also lead to problems.

Jadico says one popular practice is, "topping off" lens solution. What that means is that the solution that the lenses are soaking in overnight really should be discarded and start in fresh with a new solution for the next use.

"And what a lot of folks will do is actually kind of refill the solution, keeping the old one in there, which really is a breeding ground for bacteria," Jadico said.

She recommends keeping the lenses, their container and your eyes as contamination-free as possible.

So, what harm can come from all of these bad habits?

"The most concerning problem that we see and the most serious would be infection.  Most typically, that is going to be a bacterial infection, affecting the cornea. We treat that very seriously when someone comes in with that. We are seeing those cases almost daily, and we treat them with hourly topical antibiotic drops. It can lead to permanent vision loss if it is untreated," she said.

According to Jadico, doctors also see conditions ranging from severe dry eye to what is called superficial keratitis, a condition in which the eye's cornea, the front part of the eye, becomes inflamed. The condition is often marked by moderate to intense pain.

If you have a problem, head off a serious eye infection or worse by going to your eye professional, Jadico said.

"Really the best course of action is for them to be seen," she said.

She says some lens wearers who experience chronic problems might benefit from refractive surgery to permanently correct their vision.

Joe Cutter is the afternoon news anchor on New Jersey 101.5.