Contact Lens Solution Preservative Allergies

“Contact lens solution preservative allergies are not as uncommon as one would think,” commented Fairfield County Corneal Specialist Leslie Doctor, M.D. of Doctor & Associates with offices in Westport, Wilton and Norwalk CT. When substances in contact lens solutions come in contact with your eyes if you are predisposed to being sensitive to them, they can cause  an allergic reaction”, said Dr. Leslie Doctor. Preservatives can cause problems because they can remain in soft contact lenses after cleaning and disinfecting or they can coat the surface of gas permeable lenses. This may cause redness, itching, and watering of your eyes. In many people, a preservative called thimerosal causes this reaction. Reactions to thimerosal and other chemicals may develop at any time, even after you have used the same contact lens products for months or years. Many people who have these reactions have no history of other types of allergies.

In order to treat these kinds of allergies you have to stop wearing contact lenses for some time. You could use lubricating drops over the counter to help relieve redness, itching, and watering of your eyes. Your contact lenses must be cleaned of preservatives that may be bound to them. Once your lenses are clean and your eyes feel better your eye care provider may want you to use a different method of disinfecting your contact lenses.

If you have similar problems with your contact lenses or would like to consider other options of correcting your vision please do not hesitate to call Doctor & Associates for an eye exam appointment at 203-227-4113, visiting www.doctor-and-associates.com or www.facebook.com/doctorandassociates.

Doctor & Associates is a leading Fairfield County Connecticut eye care practice providing eye examinations for adults and children, cataract surgery and intraocular lens implants (IOL), laser vision correction such as LASIK, diagnosis and treatment of cornea disease including cornea transplants, diagnosis and management of diseases of the retina including diabetes and age related macular degeneration and diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma as well as contact lenses, eyeglasses and optical services. For those patients in need of eye surgery, as a founding member of the Wilton Surgery Center, Doctor & Associates eye surgeons are able to provide eye surgery in a convenient, close to home and cost effective ambulatory surgery center. Whatever your eye care, eye health or vision correction needs might be-Doctor & Associates can serve as a Connecticut ophthalmic consultant and will be conveniently located for patients from Fairfield County and southern Connecticut including Danbury, Stamford, Greenwich, Westport, Weston, Wilton, New Canaan, Norwalk, Fairfield, Bridgeport, Cannondale, Aspetuck, Redding, Trumbull, Shelton, Monroe, Darien, Glenbrook and Ridgefield Connecticut.