Doctors removed 27 contact lenses from the woman's eye

We all heard about how dangerous it is to wear contact lenses for too long. However, some people do not pay attention to such warnings of doctors, and fall into extremes. The last case, mentioned in the British Medical Journal, was a good illustration. It turns out that the doctors removed 27 contact lenses from the woman's eye.

What happened?

The 67-year-old woman in question was preparing for an operation to treat cataracts, but during an examination of one of her eyes, the trainee surgeon discovered a "bluish mass". Later it turned out that these were glued together 17 contact lenses. Doctors did not have time to get away from the shock, as they found another 10 in the same eye.

"None of us have ever seen this before," Rupal Morjaria, an intern-ophthalmologist, commented for Optometry Today. - All 17 contact lenses were glued together. We were very surprised that the patient did not notice this, because the lenses, while in the eye, had to cause quite a strong irritation. "

This incident occurred in the hospital "Solihull" in Central England. Despite the considerable discomfort caused by the presence of a large number of contact lenses, the patient all this time believed that the cause of soreness is old age and dry eyes.

Before the beginning of the operation for the treatment of cataracts, the woman did not report any problems, except deterioration of vision in the right eye. Only when she went to the hospital to cure cataracts, the doctors found a solid mass of contact lenses glued together with mucus.

Opinion of doctors

Experts believe that the patient wore monthly contact lenses for 35 years, but often missed appointments with an ophthalmologist. The fact that the woman did not notice anything other than minor irritation is explained by doctors with her poor vision combined with an anatomical feature such as deep-set eyes.

Doctors say that the operation for cataract treatment had to be postponed. The fact is that the lenses, in all likelihood, remained in her eye for a long time, therefore experts suggest that her conjunctiva contains many bacteria, which means that the threat of infection after the operation is too high.

note

Doctors decided to publish a report on this case, because previously it was believed that such a large number of lenses can not remain in the eye unnoticed and cause no symptoms. Ophthalmologists re-emphasize the importance of regular checks, especially now that contact lenses can be easily purchased online.