Will Your Contact Lenses Make You Blind?

Will your contact lenses make you blind? Maybe is the correct answer. If you wear contacts your eyes could be the latest victims of a parasite found in tap water that eats through eyeballs and could make you blind.

The culprit is the Acanthamoeba that is found in nearly everything from dust to the ocean, showers and swimming pools putting you in contact with it on a daily basis. The actual number of infections a year are small, but if you are unlucky enough to get the parasite in your eye the treatments are long, painful and not 100% effective.

People studying the ameoba and working on producing better contact lens solution say that the parasite is 'absolutely everywhere'. If you're unlucky enough to have it come into contact with your eyeball it starts to eat your cornea, the outer layer of your eye and breeds as it devours your eyeball.

Opticians say permanent vision damage can happen in as little as a week. So if you all the sudden have itchy watery eyes, blurred vision, light sensitivity, swelling of your upper eyelid and extreme pain in your eye it could be the parasite feeding and breeding. Doctors say a lot of issues come from people who rinse their contact cases or lenses in tap water or wear them while swimming and showering.

To avoid having your eyeball becoming parasite food; it's suggested to keep your contacts and cases clean per doctor's orders and replace them regularly.