4 Reasons to Give Your Contacts a Break When You Are Sick

Cold and flu season is upon us, once again.  For regular contact lens wearers this hacking, sniffling and nose-blowing season can pose a challenge for our eyes!  If you are like me, you love the convenience of contact lenses, but when sickness comes, I notice they aren’t quite as comfortable.

It turns out there is a good reason for that.  Let’s call it your body’s way of telling you that your eyes need a break (and that your designer glasses will look just fine with your pajamas all day!).  

Why?

Well, I won’t just give you one good reason, I’ll give you a few. Here are four good reasons why you should let your contacts soak while you are sick!

1. Dry eyes or redness:

A common side effect of cold, flu, and some viruses is to have something going on in your eyes.  They may either feel dry, gunky, or they may be red and irritated.  It really depends on what you are actually suffering with, but if you’ve already got eye issues, don’t bring your contact lens into the conflict.  Allow your eyes to heal and rest along with the rest of your body.

2. Medication:

Who doesn’t love that dry, cotton-ball mouth feeling you get after taking an over-the-counter medication to try to clear up that nasty cold or pesky sinus infection?  I personally, hate it.  I’ve noticed my eyes kind of hate the side effects of those medications and become even drier too.  If your sickness in and of itself won’t put your eyes out of commission, there’s a good chance that a medication you choose to take to help with your symptoms will!  Chances are this will alter your contact lens wearing comfort.  So, leave them out until you feel you can go without the meds.

3. Germ Transfer:

When you are sick and wearing your contact lenses, those germs are going to get on your contact lenses.  In fact, some doctors say that wearing your contacts when you are sick can lead to infections like pink eye!  Keep them clean, safe, and out of the germ warzone!

4. Trapping the Goo:

Let’s be honest, being sick is kind of gross. Snot and coughing up phlegm are your nose and throats way of dealing with the mucous, but your eyes are dealing with it too, whether or not you can actually see it or feel it.  If you choose to wear your lenses you may start to notice this “goo” stick to them causing your vision to be blurred or distorted.

Here’s to staying healthy this season…but should a bug get you down, let your lenses take some time off.  Ask your optometrist at America’s Best for more recommendations on caring for your lenses during illness.