The Dangers In Wearing Contact Lenses By Ladies

Contact lenses are corrective plastic discs that are inserted on the eye’s cornea to correct the wearer’s vision. They have the same function as eye-glasses. Unlike eyeglasses, however, they are worn directly on the eye, are light-weight and almost invisible. Contact lenses are mostly used to correct blurry vision caused by far-sightedness, etc. These are conditions in which images are not focused properly on the retina, therefore cannot be relayed clearly to the brain.

 These lenses stick to the tear film that covers the front of the eye, so that each time the eyelid blinks, it passes over the lens and causes it to move slightly. This motion allows fresh tears to flow under the lenses providing necessary lubrication and oxygen to the underlying cornea.

 In Nigeria today, people put on contact lens for a variety of reasons. Some wear it to correct their vision as well as to ease the burdensome nature of wearing glasses all the time, which some say alters the way they look and affects the way people address them. In some other instances, contact lenses are not worn for vision correction at all, but for special effects or fashion.

 People use it for cosmetic pur-poses, such as changing their eye colour, for example, from black to gray or blue to suit their fashionable look. This is mostly seen on ladies at parties and high society events. While contact lenses are safely used by millions of people every day, they do carry a risk of eye infection. Speaking with Sunday Mirror on this issue, an Optometrist with Clear Vision Clinic in Lagos, Dr Clara Ochigbo, explained the various problems that can occur while wearing contact lenses. 

“Because contact lenses are worn directly on the eye, they can potentially cause side effects. The lenses, roughly the same diameter as a person’s iris, float on a layer of tears right in front of the cornea. When they are prescribed and fitted properly, contact lenses provide great vision, including peripheral vision, and they are hardly noticeable; but when they are not prescribed, they pose a great threat to the vision of the wearer,” she said.

 It is important to note that the lens are not “one size fits all,” as some people erroneously believe. In fact it must be carefully prescribed to match not only the person’s prescription, but his eye size and shape. Dr Ochigbo condemns the wrong use of contact lenses in Nigeria especially by young ladies.

 “This is the mistake we see in Nigeria today. People just go to the market to buy various colours of contact lenses for cosmetic purposes without proper prescription from an eye doctor. We see this trend especially in the young ladies in the university who do so mostly for fashion purposes. They only come to us when they begin to experience the side effects associated with wearing the wrong size of contact lens without prescription,” she decries.

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