A Woman Had A Contact Lens Stuck In Her Eye For 28 Years and Did Not Notice At All
When we first switched from our coke-bottle lenses to contacts when we were back in high school, our optometrist had the pleasure of watching us freak out at the prospect of this happening. The doc calmed our fears by telling us that it wasn’t possible for a contact to get “lost inside of the eye,” but his words still didn’t make us feel 100% better.
As a matter of fact, our fear came back full-force when, years later, we fainted while a blood sample was taken during an annual physical. When we came to, we immediately noticed that we couldn’t see out of one of our eyes. After further inspection — and much concern from the poor nurse! — we realized that our left contact had somehow vacated our eye!
We looked and looked and looked all over the floor, our hair, and our clothing, but we were never able to find that contact lens! It’s been years since that took place, but we still can’t shake the feeling that maybe, just MAYBE, that lens is somewhere floating behind our eyeball.
Our long-suffering optometrist has assured us that it’s not, but after we heard the story we’re going to share with you today, we’re not so sure…
How one woman lived with a contact lens stuck in her eye for 28 years
In a piece published in BMJ Case Reports, researchers describe how a woman lived with a contact lens stuck behind her eyelid for a whopping 28 years.
According to the 42-year-old British woman, she thought that she had lost the contact lens back when she was a teenager, something that happens to most contact lens-wearers at one time or another.
Almost three decades later, though, she visited her doctor when she noticed that she had developed a lump on her eyelid that was painful to the touch. The woman also reported that her eyelid was droopier in appearance than normal.
Upon examination, her doctor decided that it was best to remove the lump, but when the procedure was underway, they found a hardened contact lens which had, apparently, migrated behind her eyelid.
Nope, we’re not kidding.
Luckily, the woman was fine, but it’s a case that has served as a real learning experience for ophthalmologists. The authors of the report are calling for more comprehensive examinations as well as better trauma reporting across the discipline. We’re happy to hear that!
To learn even more about this terrifying story and to get the scoop on how the woman managed to not notice the missing lens in the first place, be sure to watch the video below. We don’t know about you, but we’re DEFINITELY going to make sure that our contacts are out of our eyes when we “lose” them. It’s not a common situation, but it could happen to any contact-lens-wearer!
We can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this creepy story. Have you ever gotten a contact lens stuck in your eye before? If so, what was your experience? Do you have any expert contact lens care tips that you would like to share?
