contact lens torn in eye, what shall i do now, advices PLEASE!

[noranora]

hi all,
on saturday before taking my dd to swimming class i put my lens on, a moment later i felt uncomfortable and took it out, saw an edge of it missing. i looked everywhere but couldnt see the missing edge.
i put on my glasses and we went swimming, i swam too. on the way back we went to the optician to be looked at. he couldnt see anything in the eye. he told me to come on monday(today) if i feel like there is something there.
i havent worn lenses yet, i feel like there is still something in the eyelid, it may be psycological i dont know.
shall i go to optician or to my gp?
is there a possibilty that it goes to the back of eye? someone told something like that in the past, i dont know, it sounds a bit strange.
did anyone have such experience?
will it come out eventually at the end by itself?
what problems can it cause?
did you still wear lenses while suspicious there might be a piece in your eye?
thank you very much in advance.

[redwards363]

Thank you for all these posts. Have whole contact lense stuck in top of eye..Can't get it out & Was in a 'blind panic' but feel very much encouraged by reading All the advice. I will NOT rush to a+e now! Will try the advice & see what happens. Thank you again!

[BadKitten]

noranora - I suspect the answer you would get from your optician would be no cos of the risk of sewage. I have to admit I have done - like TheUrbanDyrad I was a liability if I didnt wear some correction and glasses are rubbish in the sea.
Since my cataract surgery I don't wear contacts but thats a whole different ball game....

[noranora]

how about sea? can we wear contact lenses while swimming in the sea?

[theUrbanDryad]

BadKitten - that's what i do! if i don't wear some sort of correction i'm totally blind and it can be very dangerous (i had to be rescued by a lifeguard when i was a kid cause i couldn't see where the deep water signs were! )

[BadKitten]

Another reason you shouldnt wear contacts while swimming is an organism called Acanthamoeba which can cause severe eye infections. It is found in chlorinated swimming pools as well as else where. My optician got very upset when he found out that I was wearing lenses in the pool. He was kind of ok with me wearing a disposable lens and a pair of goggles as long as I discarded the lenses afterwards.

[noranora]

thanks theUrbanDryad, i guessed so too , otherwise all the eyelashes that came off and everything could go back.
the other thing is its best not to swim with the lenses in the pool i think, like one of the posters said here, i agree with that. it can damage the lens and eye, it can cause the lens to be torn as well.

[theUrbanDryad]

noranora - just for future reference, it is not possible for a lens to go behind your eye, the anatomy of the eye prevents it (can't remember quite why, i think it's because of the way the nerve goes anatomy was never my strong point) but i definitely remember my tutor telling me it wasn't possible!

[noranora]

i thought i would give an update:
last wednesday i put my lenses on during the day, i didnt feel anything wrong.
but on thursday when i woke up, when i touched my eyes the torn edge came to my hand.
thank you very much to everyone who answered me and made me feel easier about it.
x

[mrsbabookaloo]

This always worked for me: put your finger on your eyeball, close your eyelid over your finger, then look left and right and up and down, moving your eyeball around. If it's there, you'll find it.

[belgo]

oops. Didn't know that about the swimming with contact lenses.

[LoveAndSqualor]

woah, nomoremagnolia, is that true? I had no idea. Eek. I swim with mine in all the time!

[Chopster]

I'd try furball's trick - put in a fresh one and it might dislodge any fragment in your eye. I didn't realise I had a torn piece of one in my eye until I managed to pull it out with the fresh one at the end of the next day!

[harleyd]

this happened to me too, the optician couldnt find it and said i had just scratched my eye
out it came on its own a few days later

i use the continual wear ones now, they are fab!

[nomoremagnolia]

You really shouldn't go swimming with soft CL in - they absorb the swimming pool water (even if only a tiny bit gets in your eye) and then hold that chlorine water against the surface of your eye for the rest of the day. My friend effectively 'burnt' her eye because of this and had to not wear lenses for two months while her eye recovered.

[belgo]

I always wear my contact lenses going swimming. glasses just get wet.

[noranora]

hi all,
i am still wearing my glasses, waiting if there is still piece inside for it to come out.
the optician couldnt find anything before.
he put that orange colored liquid and looked, i think its the one that numbs the eye.
i was swimming with the lenses on but was careful not letting water in, when it goes in, the lens is moving and when that happened i gently let the water out, its not easy i know.
last weekend i swam with glasses, it was allright

[Furball]

gosh, sounds like you've got bionic eyes! my friend has had laser surgery and said its the best ever. Me? I'm too much of a wuss and don't even have my ears pierced.

[fizzbuzz]

How do you swim with lenses in?

[fizzbuzz]

I had to go to A&E when mine disappered up to under top lid, and impossible to locate.

They put numbing drops in, and tweezed it out (oooh, all of a 20 second job)Not at all yucky or nasty

[pralinegirl]

Well Furball it sounds gross but is a bit like a cataract op - except they leave your own lens in, the contact or ICL is implanted behind the iris in front of your own natural lens. It is great for severe short sight - I was -8 in one eye and more than -10 in the other with astigmatism in both. I have been wearing contacts since 16 and am now 42. Gas permeable ones except for the last year or so when I switched to soft but even the most expensive ones got sore after a day so useless for going out and I hate glasses on me! I had 3 consultations for laser after my best friend had it in August but all said not suitable or recommended these. It was really expensive though and a bit scary, although remember nothing due to the sedative. So now am better than 20/20 in both eyes and can get up 10 minutes later each day, take naps when I like, etc, have had to sell DS to afford it but never mind.....

[Furball]

praline girl - tell us more about the implant please - sounds ery interesting

[lazarou]

Ouch! I've never had my contact lens tear in my eye, but I have had to peel them off my eyes sometimes when they have been really dry. Horrible.

[LoveAndSqualor]

I've had this too - puts you into a blind (no pun intended!) panic when it happens, but mine worked its way out after a couple of days, iirc. Agree with pralinegirl on optrex and so forth - soothing, even if it doesn't flush it out straight away.

[pralinegirl]

I now have them permanently implanted in my eyes - behind the iris, after not being suitable for lasik and fed up with tearing them, sore eyes etc and so far its great! Could not do housework like floor cleaning or bending over for several weeks - great stuff!
I'm sure it will work its way out - have you tried lots and lots of drops to flush it out.Or optrx in eye bath has same effect and hold eye open really wide.