Can You Wear Contacts With Pink Eye?

Most of us have probably dealt with the unsightly and uncomfortable condition of pink eye at some point in our lives. Depending on the cause, it can be easy to deal with, but it may also require medication. So, if you’re developing symptoms, it’s a good idea to see an eye doctor for an eye examination right away.

Another thing that can complicate pink eye is if you usually wear contact lenses. Most eye doctors will strongly recommend that you do not wear contacts during a case of pink eye. Even after the cause is diagnosed and treatment begins, they will still likely tell you to avoid contact lenses. Let’s take a look at what this condition is and why you shouldn’t wear contacts.

What Is Pink Eye?

Pink eye is also known as conjunctivitis because it affects the conjunctiva, a transparent membrane on the inside of your eyelid. Fortunately, the condition often looks far worse than it is. While extremely irritating, pink eye will rarely affect your vision significantly or permanently.

Symptoms of Pink Eye

Pink eye may affect one or both eyes. Here are several common symptoms of the condition:

• Red, bloodshot-looking eyes
• An irritating, sandy feeling in your eyes
• Itchiness
• Trouble opening your eyes when you wake up because of dried discharge
• Blurred vision
• Sensitivity to light
• Swelling in your eyelids
• Excessive tear production

Keep in mind that these symptoms can also be caused by other conditions, so if the symptoms don’t improve within a day or two, make an appointment with your eye doctor. This way, they can rule out any other possible causes and advise you on treatment.

Causes of Pink Eye

Three common things that cause pink eye are:

• Bacteria or Virus: In most cases, bacteria or viruses are to blame for conjunctivitis. More specifically, adenovirus is one of the most common causes. However, several other viruses could be the cause as well. Improperly cleaned contact lenses are an easy way for these viruses or bacteria to get into your eyes. So, if you wear contacts, it’s important to always clean them properly.
• Allergies: Allergic conjunctivitis will affect both of your eyes. Unfortunately, if something seasonal such as pollen causes it, you’ll have to deal with it every year. On the plus side, allergy medication or eye drops typically treat this pink eye easily.

Why Can’t You Wear Contacts With Pink Eye?

There are a few reasons why your optometrist will likely recommend that you don’t wear contacts while you have conjunctivitis:

• Contact lens contamination: If you wear contacts, they are a likely cause of your pink eye. So, to prevent reinfection, you should sterilize them in an approved solution or open a new pair. If you don’t do this, you may reinfect your eyes as soon as you put them back in.
• Additional damage: Typically, pink eye doesn’t cause any lasting damage. However, because the cornea becomes rather inflamed while you have the condition, it’s possible to scratch it easier while wearing contacts.

In all reality, if you have pink eye, your eyes will be uncomfortable enough that you probably won’t even want to put your lenses in. This can be a bit of a problem if you typically wear contact lenses exclusively instead of eyeglasses. 

Treating Pink Eye

In most cases, the primary treatment is symptom relief while your body fights the infection. This will include things like eye drops (prescription or over-the-counter), extra cleaning of the eyelids and surrounding area, or warm compresses. Fortunately, many of these things are available at home and without prescription.

If the eye doctor determines the infection is bacterial, antibiotic eye drops may be prescribed. Otherwise, an antiviral may be an option if it is the common herpes simplex virus causing the condition.

Keep in mind that if you follow your optometrist’s recommendation and discontinue contact lens use during the treatment, your symptoms should clear up in a few days. And you’re less likely to reinfect your eyes.

When Can You Wear Contact Lenses Again?

How soon you can wear your contacts again depends on the treatment used. Suppose the optometrist has directed you to clean your eyelids and use warm compresses. In that case, you should be good to wear your contacts again once your symptoms have cleared up.

If an antibiotic or antiviral was prescribed, you should wait until your symptoms are gone and the medication is finished. Wearing your contacts too soon can slow healing and render the medication ineffective. In either of these scenarios, you should ensure that you’ve disinfected your contact lenses properly.

If you’re dealing with these uncomfortable symptoms, give us a shout today. Our professional staff is happy to answer your questions and book you in to see an optometrist to ensure nothing more serious is going on with your eyes.

Can I Wear Contacts With Pink Eye? What are my options?

The dreaded pink eye. An unsightly condition that causes a lot of itching, redness and excessive tearing.

You may notice that your eye doesn’t look great, or a doctor may diagnose you with pink eye. Either way, one of your first questions might be “Can I wear contacts with pink eye?” This definitely isn’t an uncommon question, since millions of people wear contact lenses in the United States alone.

So what’s the answer? Before you can understand if pink eye and contacts go together, you need to know more about pink eye itself.

What Is Pink Eye?

Pink eye is the common name for the eye condition called “conjunctivitis.”

The conjunctiva is a thin membrane that lines the inside of your eyelids and covers the white part of your eye (the sclera). It works to keep your eye lubricated, and protects the eye from debris, dust, and bacteria. It also prevents irritation due to friction between your eyelid and your eyeball.

Conjunctivitis (aka pink eye) is when this membrane becomes infected and inflamed.

Causes of Pink Eye

Although the conjunctiva is transparent, it contains blood vessels. When it gets infected and inflamed, these blood vessels get bigger. The inflammation is what leads to the reddish-pink look that the condition gets its name from.

The causes of pink eye include bacterial infection, a viral infection, or an allergic reaction.

Bacterial conjunctivitis: This is caused by a bacterial infection and is quite contagious. It can also lead to extensive eye damage if left untreated.

Viral conjunctivitis: This arises from viruses (like the common cold) and is very contagious. But it tends to clear up by itself within a few days without medical intervention.

Allergic conjunctivitis: This type is caused by irritants like dust, pollen and animal dander. It usually affects those with allergies on a seasonal (summer flowers) or situational basis (a dusty home or furry pets).

What Are the Symptoms of Pink Eye?

The following are the most common pink eye symptoms:

• Pinkness/redness in the affected eye(s)
• Itchiness
• Irritation
• Tearing/watering
• Swollen eyelids
• Green or white eye discharge
• Blurred vision
• Feeling of grit or sand in the eye
• Eye crust
• Photophobia (light sensitivity)

You may have a few or all of these symptoms in one or both eyes. Pink eye is contagious and can spread from one eye to the other. You can also infect others.

The duration of these symptoms depends on the underlying cause. Symptoms usually last between 7-14 days for a viral pink eye. For a bacterial pink eye, you will likely need antibiotics. Symptoms start clearing within 24 hours of starting an antibiotic regimen. Allergic pink eye symptoms resolve once there’s no exposure to the irritants.

Is it OK to Wear Contacts With Pink Eye?

Now we’ve arrived at the question we need an answer to: can you wear contacts when you have pink eye?

Short answer? No. You shouldn’t.

But let’s get a bit more detailed with this answer. You need to understand why you shouldn’t wear contacts when you have pink eye.

Contaminated Lenses

Whatever caused your pink eye (a virus, bacteria, or allergen), may have transferred to your lenses.

So if you’re wearing monthly or weekly contact lenses, you’ll need to get rid of them. If your contacts have a longer replacement schedule, then you need to remove and thoroughly disinfect them.

If you keep wearing your contacts, this can prolong your pink eye through reinfection.

Contacts Can Make Pink Eye Worse

When your eye is infected and inflamed, it is more sensitive to damage. If you wear contacts when you have pink eye, you could scratch your cornea and make your symptoms worse.

Your contacts will only aggravate your condition. It’s best to forgo them and favor glasses until your eyes get better.

Pink Eye Treatments

Pink eye has a few different treatments. The treatment effectiveness will depend on how you contracted pink eye in the first place. An antibiotic ointment is good for bacterial pink eye, but it won’t help a viral form of pink eye.

If you have a viral pink eye, then treatments that alleviate common cold symptoms may be effective. The allergic form of the condition requires that you stop exposure to the irritants.

Keep these things in mind as you try these treatment methods:

Eye Compress

Try soaking a cloth or a soft towel in cool water and placing this over your infected eyes. You don’t have to press down too hard.

The cool water will help reduce the redness and swelling. It can also soothe some of the irritation and itching you might be feeling. You can use warm water if that feels better.

Wash Your Clothes, Sheets, and More

If an allergen caused your pink eye, that allergen could still be on your clothes, pillowcases, sheets, and towels. Even in the cases of bacterial and viral pink eye, you should be careful to eliminate any sources of reinfection.

Wash everything you come in contact with to prevent yourself from getting irritated or reinfected.

Eye Drops

Over-the-counter eye drops can help soothe some of your symptoms. These are usually labelled as lubricating eye drops or artificial tears. They’ll reduce the redness, itching, and irritation by keeping your eyes moist and lubricated.

See a Doctor

If your symptoms worsen or don’t go away after 3-5 days, then you should see a doctor. This could be a sign that you might need antibiotics to treat your pink eye.

Antibiotics

In cases of bacterial pink eye, you’ll need to take a course of antibiotics to rid yourself of the infection.

A doctor can prescribe antibiotic ointment or antibiotic eye drops to clear up the condition.

When Can You Wear Contacts After Pink Eye?

Most doctors recommend waiting to wear contacts again until:

• After you’ve taken your full course of antibiotics

  OR

• There is no redness/pinkness in your eye(s)

  OR

• You haven’t experienced any pink eye symptoms for 24 hours

Please remember to discard or disinfect the contacts you were wearing when you got pink eye. Your contacts case should also be discarded or disinfected.

As well, check that your lens solution is not expired, as it needs to be effective in disinfecting your contacts. You want to avoid reinfection at all costs!

Final Thoughts

Some forms of pink eye aren’t serious. But pink eye is an uncomfortable and unfortunate thing to experience nevertheless. If you’re wondering, “can I wear contacts with pink eye?” now you know the answer: No, you shouldn’t.

Break out the old glasses and be prepared to get through your infection. Soothe your symptoms with the treatments we mentioned. But seek medical attention if your symptoms worsen or persist.

You can help to prevent pink eye by keeping your contacts clean. Be sure to check out our article that explains how to best clean your contact lenses.

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Conjunctivitis

The topic of eye health is very relevant now, because outbreaks of conjunctivitis are more often observed during the rainy season.

What is conjunctivitis? And what are the reasons for its occurrence?

Dr. Bundit Leethanaporn, ophthalmologist at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, explains that the condition is an inflammation of the conjunctiva (the connective tissue of the eye). The most common causes of conjunctivitis are viruses and bacteria that are all around us.

Viral conjunctivitis

Viral conjunctivitis, like any viral disease, is very easily transmitted to a person through direct contact: by exchanging objects, coughing or breathing. The disease will appear within the first two days after infection. After the conjunctiva turns red, the virus becomes active to infect others for the next 2 weeks. Symptoms of the disease: sudden redness, irritation of the eyes, increased sensitivity to light, tearing and swelling. Conjunctivitis can affect only one eye, but after 2-3 days the virus will get into the second.

In some cases, conjunctivitis is accompanied by complications, such as keratitis, which causes blurred vision or irritation. Symptoms will appear within 7-10 days after conjunctivitis is diagnosed. Keratitis can last for up to a month if the person does not receive proper treatment.

Different forms of conjunctivitis require different treatment.

• If the conjunctiva is inflamed, the ophthalmologist will recommend using eye drops to relieve this symptom.
• Painkillers to relieve pain and irritation (for example, paracetamol).
• Clean the eyelids with cotton swabs moistened with clean water. Wearing sunglasses is recommended to reduce irritation from the light. Avoid using a patch on an infected eye as this will only aggravate the inflammation. Try not to wear contact lenses until the problem is completely fixed. Give your eyes a rest.

Ways to protect and control the spread of the virus:

• The infected patient must be isolated. Those who are sick must stay at home to stop the spread of the virus.
• Do not touch or rub the inflamed eye, the virus can be transmitted through hand towels or clothing, be sure to cover your mouth when coughing.
• Wash your hands with soap and keep your hands clean at all times.

Bacterial conjunctivitis has similar symptoms: redness, irritation of the eyes, pain, and possibly a thick yellow discharge that makes the eyelids stick together. For treatment, doctors use antibiotic drops. With the progression of the disease, ophthalmologists advise to increase the frequency of use of the drug: at first every 1-2 hours, and after improvements are visible, reduce the use of drops to 4-6 times a day (every 4-6 hours), Eye ointments are usually used , at bedtime, so that the substance remains in contact with the eye all night. When using the ointment during the daytime, the patient will not be able to see clearly. The condition with conjunctivitis will improve 2-3 days after the start of treatment, the disease will be completely eliminated in a week. The principles of protecting others and other possible treatments are similar to the treatment of viral conjunctivitis.

The symptoms listed above can also be caused by other eye conditions, such as glaucoma, corneal infection or uveitis. If you notice causeless redness of the eyes, immediately contact an ophthalmologist for adequate treatment, please do not self-diagnose and self-medicate.

What is conjunctivitis? | CooperVision UK

Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, the clear mucous membrane that covers the eye.

Conjunctivitis occurs due to a bacterial or viral infection. The difference between them is not always obvious. Eyes affected by a bacterial process are more crusted at night due to a significant amount of purulent discharge. Viral epidemic conjunctivitis affects one eye first, while bacterial epidemic spreads to both eyes simultaneously.

Bacterial conjunctivitis can be treated with antibiotics; viral conjunctivitis usually resolves on its own. However, if there is no improvement after 5 days, you should consult a doctor.

How can you get conjunctivitis?

The redness of the eyes, known as conjunctivitis, can be very frightening if you are experiencing it for the first time. Conjunctivitis is accompanied by a feeling of irritation and discomfort in the eyes, the appearance of discharge and crusts; eyes look reddened.

Your conjunctiva (the white part of your eye around the clear cornea) turns red or pink. However, you shouldn’t be too worried. This will pass in about a week.

How infectious is conjunctivitis?

Conjunctivitis is very easy to catch. Coughing, sneezing, or touching can spread the infection very quickly.

Infection spreads easily among school-age children, so contact should be avoided in the first few days after onset. Covering your mouth with a gauze bandage and washing your hands frequently with hot, soapy water can help prevent transmission.

If you or your child has conjunctivitis, try to limit contact as much as possible. This means skipping school or not going to work for the next 36-48 hours after the onset of the disease, as this is the most “contagious” period.

Contact an optometrist for more information, especially if the condition persists within 5 days.

Treatment of epidemic conjunctivitis

As already mentioned, conjunctivitis goes away on its own after a few days. To get rid of bacterial conjunctivitis more quickly, there are over-the-counter drops containing an antibiotic that are sold in pharmacies.

Warm compresses to the eyes can be tried as a home remedy. This will help them and relieve stress. Try not to watch TV and use only a personal towel for compresses. Otherwise, the infection will quickly spread to other people.

As you can imagine, the spread of infection to all family members is not a very positive story.