Last week, my daughter got conjunctivitis while she was at school. It was bad enough to cause her to call in sick to work that day and for two more days. She discarded the disposable contacts she was wearing (they were about due, anyway), and reverted to her eyeglasses, until the second day back at work, at which time she opened up her last pair and started wearing them again.
Yesterday, she called from the health office at work and said that the pinkeye was back. She went straight to urgent care, where she was prescribed some antibiotic eyedrops, and came home.
She’s already decided to discard all of her open eye makeup and leave off wearing any until this problem is gone. I’m thinking that she should also toss the contacts and just order a new six-month supply.
I went cheap for a while, using the store brand contact solution. It took a while, but I ended up getting pink eye.
The annoying thing, is I didn’t realize that was the cause. I would wear my contacts for a couple days, then my eyes would swell up, and I would go with glasses for a few days till they were better again.
Went through that cycle a few times before I realized that it had not ever happened before I changed solution brands.
Went back to the non-generic brand, and it cleared up, and haven’t had a problem since.
I’ve worn contacts for 20 years, and have yet to get any sort of infections. The main thing is to keep your hands clean when you’re dealing with your contacts, change your case frequently, always use good quality non-expired solution, and follow the instructions. Oh… and change them at the recommended interval.
I’d think there’s no point in getting rid of the entire supply of disposables- those things are expensive! The odds that she left them in too long, didn’t wash her hands, used ancient solution, or was otherwise somehow unsanitary are far greater than a contaminated batch of contacts.
OP - are you asking whether she should get rid of her contacts now that she has worn them in infected eyes? I would think so, yes. She could check with her doctor’s office and see whether the anti-biotic drops would be enough to overcome whatever germs are on those contacts (or whether the solution alone would kill them) but my guess is that she’ll be told to ditch them, and start a new pair after a suitable period (she should ask how long that is). I believe you said this was her last pair, so she should likely go ahead and order new ones. It sounds like she was due anyway.
If she has worn the contacts at all, I would discard them. If the contacts are still sealed in the package, no need to discard those.
I wore disposable contacts for years and years and only had an infection once. I threw that pair out, wore my glasses until my eyes had been clear for a week or more. Cleaned everything thoroughly, and then went to the next pair in the pack. No problems after that.
Disposable contact wearer for over 20 years. I have never encountered pink eye or anything of the like. I agree that using a name brand solution is the best way to go.
Going to disposable contacts has kept me from getting pink eye for 15 years. When I used non disposable contacts it would flare up every2-3 years after I had a real bad case that resulted in an eye ulcer.
My prescription for Ciprofloxacin eye drops has the following statement:
“Take out contact lenses before using this drug. Talk with your doctor to see if contact lenses may be put back in after you use this drug. Do not put contacts back in if your eyes are irritated or infected.”
I have worn contacts for over 40 years and have never had pink eye. I even used to make my own saline*, in the days when a person could buy pure salt from the pharmacy. These days I buy generic saline from my local Kroger store.
I also wash my hands carefully with unscented, uncolored liquid soap before touching my contacts.
for those who are wondering: At the time I calculated that I was able to make an amount of saline equivalent to a commercially available product for about 15 cents, using pure sodium chloride and distilled water. Also I never made more than 2-3 days worth at a time and was careful to keep my bottles clean.