What you should know about contact lens wear

It is essential that you follow your Eye Care Professional’s directions for the proper use and care of contact lenses. Problems with contact lenses could result in serious injury to the eye.

On rare occasions, eye problems including corneal ulcers have developed which may lead to loss of vision. The results of a study indicate the following:

The overall annual incidence of ulcerative keratitis (corneal ulcer) in those who wear contact lenses for daily wear is estimated to be about 4.1 in 10,000 and about 20.9 in 10,000 for those who use them for extended wear.

The risk of ulcerative keratitis is 4 to 5 times greater for extended wear contact lens users than for daily wear users.

When daily wear users who wear their lenses overnight and extended wear users who wear their lenses on a daily wear basis are excluded from the comparison, the risk among extended wear users is 10 to 15 times greater.

The risk of ulcerative keratitis among contact lens wearers who smoke is estimated to be 3 to 8 times greater than for non-smokers. The overall risk of ulcerative keratitis may be reduced by carefully following directions for good hygiene and lens care, including cleaning the lens case.