To ask for your sure-fire way of removing a contact lens?

[TimeIy]

Sorry for posting in AIBU but it is a dilemma, and I could do with the traffic.

I’ve been wearing soft daily contact lenses for a few months now. Popped out the right one earlier no problem, but the left one just isn’t shifting. My eye is now quite irritated. I did put in eye drops to try and counteract this, and to see if dryness was causing the issue, but it’s hadn’t helped.

Does anyone have some kind of a guaranteed way to remove it? Please don’t recommend some form of tool that I don’t have access to tonight.

Yours in sore desperation…

Is it stuck behind your eyeball?

Pretty much this.

Give it a few hours and it will pop back round and you'll be able to get it out. Hideous when it happens but not unusual, if it's still there in the morning go to the opticians.

I just do a ‘big pinch’ sort of action - open up the eye with one hand, and with the other - fingers to the sides of eyes and bring towards the middle and it should pick up the edges and pull it out x

Its probably not got enough lubricant if your eye is dry. Do you have any comfort eye drops or similar? Do not use ordinary water or other eye drops that are not suitable for lenses.

You need to slide the lens across the eyeball, or pinch it up to break the vacuum its created on your eye.

Blink lots, add drops if you have them and go for it. If your eye is sore tomorrow, use Brolene drops for a day or two (without lenses).

It will come out on its own. Just keep putting eye drops in. Try not to touch your eye too much. I tend to wait for a bit after drops and then really move my eye ball around to get in to come unstuck. I've been wearing lens for 30 plus years and this has happened a lot and I've never needed to seek assistance in getting it out. Just don't panic and keep putting the drops in and moving your eyeball around.

Oh shit. How do I know?

My eye is so sore now that I can’t see where the lens is. It’s very gritty when I blink- but more so towards the front of the eyeball.

Look at your nose and wipe your finger across towards the edge of your eye
Always gets mine out and I struggle any other way
You can pinch it once you've wiped it across your eye

You sure it hasn’t popped out already?
I take mine out by pulling at the outer corner of my eye and blinking

I could never pinch mine to remove, I always pull them down to the bottom of my eye so they crumple up on my bottom lid.

I've fallen asleep with them in by accident before, and put loads of drops in and they've come right out.

But - Is it definitely still in your eye, and definitely over your iris, can you see it? I've accidentally poked myself in the eye before when trying to remove a lens that isn't there...

I always use a pinch method.
Kind if mimicking how you would get an eyelash off your cheek but use the side of you forefinger and thumb.

I agree with opening your eye wide and pinching - also make sure that your fingers are really dry would be my best tip.

Ahh sorry I thought you meant it was stuck at the back. You can normally tell as you can feel it if that is the case. I just pinch mine either side to get them out.

Are you sure it's not out all ready? I've done that before, been pulling at my eye getting it all irritated and then realised its come out already!

If it is 'behind' your eye don't panic. It can't go anywhere! Just use lots of eyedrops and try and blink it into view. If in doubt go to the optometrist.

If it was me I'd try to leave it alone for a bit so it can calm down, then try and have another look. If you have someone else with you get them to look while you roll your eyes around

Contact lenses cannot go behind your eye, it could be stuck under a lid. Use the drops and get assistance first thing if I luck. Chances are its already out and your fishing around in your eye without a lens in.

Cover your other eye, if you can't see well it's stuck somewhere behind.

If it's properly in the front, make sure your hands are very dry. Look up and to the side, and do a quick pinch, not in the very centre but slightly towards the edge of the lens.

I don't touch my contact lens with my fingers at all to get them out. I open my eyes very wide, then put the side pad of my index finger on the lash line/very edge of my top eyelid, and the side pad of my thumb on my very edge of my lower lid. Then I gently press my eyelids into my eyeballs and my fingers control a blink. My eyelids are then doing the pinch rather than my fingers and my lenses pop right out.
I use dailies so I do this over the sink, but you could catch the lens with your other hand if you were using monthies.

Leave it. If you cannot see it, you’ll not get it out. Wait until tomorrow morning and try again(if you can see it). If not, go to your optician first thing

You can use a torch in the bathroom mirror to try and spot a rogue contact that is hiding somewhere in your eye socket. It's happened to me a handful of times over the years. I've always managed to blink them back round by swirling my eyeball around a bit.

If it’s definitely still in the eye, I close the eye and v gently massage all over my eyelid and sometimes that shifts it back into place so I get it out

Check in the corners of your eye in case it’s got folded up in there, but 9 times out of 10 when this happens, it’s fallen out and I haven’t realised and I then spend 30 mins making my eye red trying to find it. If it’s still there it will make itself known.

Ouchy. I feel your pain. Its likely that your eyes a little dry so it's stuck on a bit too tightly. I'd put a few comfort drops in, drink a big glass of water and then try again in 15 minutes.
Always helps me if my hands are cold and damp when removing. I wash them well in cold water first, then towel dry and then pop a little bit of contact lens solution onto my thumb and finger and just Sweep it off the front of the eye.
Wear glasses tomorrow if you can as your eye may need a bit of time to calm down.

Is it definitely still in there? When I used to wear contacts and spent an age trying to get the left one out, eye was bright red and puffy before I realised it was already out and sitting on my foot!
id obviously managed to flick it out and not realised.

Happens to me a couple of times a month or so that a contact lens gets stuck somewhere behind my eye. I close the eye where I can feel the contact lens being stuck in, rub the eyelid (not the eye directly) with my fingers in a circular motion to bring it out towards the iris. I then open my eyes and the contact lens usually appears on the far side of my eye or at the top under my eyelid. I grab it by sliding it down gentle with a finger, essentially poking myself in the eye until it glides out.

Make sure to use eye drops and have newly cleaned, dry hands. I made the mistake once and ended up visiting the eye hospital in Marylebone. Contact lenses can be tricky!

This often works for me. Open your eye by grabbing the top eyelid and lower in the same way you do when you put them in. Then look left then right and do a big blink. 8 times out of ten it works for me. Failing that I wipe my eye with mak-up remover and it often pushes it to a place I can pinch it out.