I’ve just recently gotten my first pair of contacts after years of wearing glasses (bless those hard working opticians that finally got around to making it possible for those with astigmatism to use them).
In the pamphlet that came with my lens cleaning solution they remark that smokers seem to have alot more problems than non-smokers, and they go on to list extremely frightening things such as eye ulcers and loss of vision.
Being a smoker I’m curious if any other contact wearing smokers have had any problems, or if anyone knows someone that has had a problem because of their smoking. Frankly, it’s making me a bit nervous.
Just another reason to encourage me to quit I suppose. If only it were that easy.
I’ve been wearing contacts for about five years; smoking much longer than that (unfortunately). Never had a problem with the contacts. If this is your first pair, it will take some time to get used to them though.
I’ve been smoking for about 25 years, and wearing contacts for about 20 years. I put my contacts in as soon as I get up and don’t take them out until just before bed, never wearing them for less than 12 hours at a stretch. I’m legally blind without corrective lenses. I have experienced no infections or ulcers or anything like that, and my loss of vision has decreased since wearing contacts. In the 20 or so years that I’ve worn them, my vision has changed less than it had in the 5 years prior to my first pair of contacts.
I have astigmatism, and I’ve worn gas permeable lenses for all of those 20 years, except for a 7 day stretch with some temporary soft lenses after losing one of the GP lenses down the drain. I hated the soft lenses. They were comfortable, but I couldn’t see long distances with them as well as I could the GP lenses, and that really sucked while driving.
I don’t know if you wear soft lenses (probably not), but I do and the only problems I’ve had in regards to smoking (been about ten years since I’ve been doing both) have been that my eyes get very dry after smoking a lot and the contacts become really uncomfortable. Come to think of it, that happens when I drink, too.
But nothing more serious than that for me or anybody I know.
Well, use it as another reason to quit (or maybe I will).
I wouldn’t worry about it. There are biological reasons why smokers have more eye problems - it has to do with less blood flow to the small blood vessels in the eyes.
Smoke will irritate your eyes more when you wear contacts than if you wear glasses. When I have contacts in, I’m much more sensitive to environmental smoke (bars, campfires,forest fires) than I am when I wear glasses. Contacts reduce the ability of tears to “wash” your eye, the tears have to permeate the contact to get to the area underneath the contact.
Certain medications (antihistimines) also cause your eyes to dry out more quickly, which may make your contacts dry out sooner. So if you have allergies this may be a concern.
I hope your contacts work out. I went for 20 years wearing glasses before I got contacts. They are much more convenient, great for sports AND you can now buy cool sunglasses. And if you live in the north country and get out at a windchill of -30, you can actually feel you contacts start to freeze on your eye - cool!
Thank you for the input. I’d kind of figured it might be more scare tactic than truth.
I’m sure that smoking can cause additional problems, but that the things as serious as they list are few and far between and just as likely to be caused by any number of other environmental or physiological conditions.
/Grits his teeth and goes back to the uphill battle of trying to quit smoking…after this cigarette.
I am also a smoker - and wear contacts. A few years ago I got an ulcer on the cornea of my eye - due to not cleaning my contacts properly. It helps if you take them out at night!! So, it was not related to smoking… however, in smoky bars my contacts are almost glued onto my eyeballs, which is not comfy. I suggest carrying eyedrops with you. Also - my eyes are red quite often from smoking while wearing contacts, people just love to hassle me about this.
Oh - one last thing, if you DO develop an ulcer on the cornea of your eye, you will know by this one thing:
Going outside is PAINFUL - you have sensitivity to light in the same manner as dracula. Go to the doctor immediately.
I too had an eye ulcer from not properly cleaning my contacts, but that was about 8 years ago, before I started smoking.
I’ve worn contacts since I was 12. I wear 4-week disposable contacts and use the Aosept cleaning system, which is a really powerful peroxide-based cleaner, every night. I wear them usually 16 hours a day.
I have no problems whatsoever with smoking cigarettes and wearing contacts. The only time they get uncomfortable is when I take them out for just a few hours and then put them back in right away. The combination of not enough sleep and the still-stinging contacts is irritating, but I just use a lot of Visine.
Visine, by the way, will be your best friend if you treat it right. I always have some nearby. With contacts, you get more sensative to dust particles and eyelashes in your eyes, and Visine means never having to pick at your eyes in public.
I have been wearing contacts for years but don’t smoke.
however, my experience is that going to a VERY smokey place will ruin my contacts. they seem to get very dirty and become hard to see out of, even after rinsing/cleaning.
I wear disposables and those are much thinner. this may be the reason.
I smoke a pipe, and sometimes the smoke contains bits of flying ash. If a blink won’t clear it, I use a bottle of plain saline to rinse without removing. After a few days, I have to soak them, which I don’t on those days I don’t smoke.
