Crying is inevitable when you are suffering from emotional distress or simply just chopping onions for dinner. It is most likely that these are reasons that can trigger your tears while wearing contact lenses. Tears play an important role in keeping eyes moist and allowing eyes to wear contact lenses comfortably every day. Excessive tears can leave deposits that can blur vision while wearing contact lenses.
It is important to know the three types of tears and their purposes:
- Basal tears are responsible for lubricating and protecting eyes from any dirt, dust, and debris
- Reflex tears are responsible for washing away irritants such as smoke or onion fumes.
- Emotional tears come out in response to feelings including joy and sadness.
Basal tears are always present in your eyes but both reflex tears and emotional tears are being released in larger quantities which affects contact lenses. Crying can cause eye irritation and wearing contacts can make it worse.
Can Crying Make My Contacts Blurry?
Crying is known to affect your vision temporarily. There are enzymes, lipids, and mucus found in your tears that can leave deposits. When there are deposits, vision will appear to be blurry as it sticks to contact lenses. Many people are worried that their contact lens may fall out when they cry. When you tear up, the contact lens is lubricated which allows it to move a little on the surface of the cornea. This occurrence should not make the contacts pop or fall out of your eyes.
Do not touch your eyes if you cry with contacts. If you rub one of your eyes, it may fold your contact lens which causes it to dislodge from the cornea and get stuck under the upper eyelids. Be careful when you swipe or blot your eyes with a tissue because it can tear a soft contact lens. Eye pain and irritation may result even in a tiny rip in a contact lens.
Steps to Clean Contacts After Crying
Make sure you remove your contacts if your eyes are red and puffy. It is important to clean contacts after crying to remove the deposits on the lenses.
- Wash hands with soap and water thoroughly. Dry with a clean and lint-free cloth.
- Take out one contact lens and clean with a cleaning solution as prescribed by the eye doctor.
- Rinse the lens two times. Gently rub in between rinsing.
- Store the lens in a clean contact lens case and cover it with a disinfecting solution.
- Repeat the same process with another contact lens. Give it some time for the lenses to complete the disinfection process as they are soaked in the solution.
