I've had a weird series of events surrounding my right eye over the past 3 days. First painful pressure, then light sensitivity, then the uncomfortable sensation that there was something stuck underneath my eyelid making it very itchy, and finally incredible burning/stinging that prohibited me from getting any sleep last night. In the middle of all this, I had a migraine headache (which I've never had before in my life, I don't know if this is somehow related or a coincidence) which caused floaty vision in both eyes for a couple of hours.

Anyways, I saw my optometrist today and he said my cornea was inflammed. He prescribed Tobradex, 4 drops a day for 14 days, and made me get a pair of glasses and told me that I couldn't wear contacts for this duration. In the process of getting glasses, I saw another doctor and he told me that after a week if my eyes weren't irritated I could wear my contacts again, but I had to keep using the Tobradex. I asked him if this meant taking out my contacts and waiting 10 minutes after instilling the drops, and he said no, I could use the drops with my contacts in. I was pretty surprised, but he assured me this was the case. However, I Googled and found people saying that the preservatives of Tobradex would ruin my contact lenses.

Who is right, and any further insight on the eye symptoms I experienced? My visit was rushed, being an "emergency" visit and I didn't learn as much as I would have liked to. Thanks.

Even if the perservatives in Tobradex could ruin a hydragel contact lens,it is totaly contraindicated to wear cosmetic contact lenses on a cornea that is inflammed,infected (keratitis).

Thanks for the reply. I assume this is why the doctor's statement was conditional. "Next Saturday IF and only IF your eye is as white as my shirt." I'm still going to have a full week with no contacts.

"You Got It"

I found that the preservative in Tobradex is Benzalkonium Chloride, which apparently is often used as a preservative in contact lenses, so I'm going to assume what I read before was Internet misinformation (that said preservative would damage lenses) and that the doctor is right.

Benzalkonium Chloride is used as an antimicrobial preservative in ophthalmic solutions.(Tobramycin,TobraDex,VisineA,C lear Eyes etc).It's the molecular structure of Benzalkinium Chloride that is easily absorbed into the matix of all hydrogal contact lenses, causing the material to discolor and loose water content.

It is good to know that most Optometrists are well educated in biochemisty and pharmacology and know the adverse reactions of ophthalmic solutions as they may relate to the structure of hydrogel contact lenses. Your Optometrist "was right". :)

ok, now i'm confused. if it causes the contacts' "material to discolor and loose water content"...isn't that a bad thing, in which case it wouldn't be advisable to wear contacts, contrary to what the doctor said?

Your doctor said ......"IF and only IF your eye is as white as my shirt" meaning NO signs of infections,then you can START to wear your contact lenses. BUT you will not be using your TobraDex for treatment ANY MORE.

In other words : He is saying DO NOT wear your contact lenses when you still need to use TobraDex to treat the infection. (The perservative,Benzelkonium Chloride will cause the contact lenses to discolor and loose water content).

You doctor has given you good advice. :)

Eyes

But actually he said to keep using the Tobradex. I was told to use it for 14 days, 4x daily. He said after one week, if my eyes were completely white (they are now, two days into the treatment, for what that's worth) I could wear my contacts again, but DO NOT stop using the drops. He stressed this. This is when I asked if I had to remove my contacts and wait a period before putting them back in after putting in the drops and he no, there's no need to take out your contacts when using these drops.

:confused:

I truly thought your eye doctor said NOT to wear your contacts while you were under treatment of a corneal infection. I would question a cosmetic contact lens on an eye when it is being treated for any type of corneal infection. The pervertive (BC) in the the TobraDex is in fact,detramental to the contact lens metrix, however, it is more important to NOT have a contact lens on an eye that is not fully recovered from a corneral infection.

Sometimes we want to hear that wearing our contact lenses and STILL using a treatment drop (TobraDex) is OK.

If this is what you really heard from your eye doctor, than you have the right to discuss any alternatives. ( Your eye doctor may have his/her reasons for why you can still wear contact lenses while under treatment).

Just know that you did your "Homework" also ! ! ;)

Eyes

well it sounded like yes, don't wear contacts while your cornea is inflammed, but, after a week, if it's better, you can wear your contacts again, just don't stop using the drops (just in case?)

i'm not sure what you mean by cosmetic lens. mine aren't colored contacts or anything like that.

I've read that the BC preservative is used to preserve new contact lenses. assuming this is correct, how, then, would it be damaging to contacts?

"Cosmetic" contact lenses are generally for vision correction. They are not "bandage" contacts used for medical eye treatment.

Yes, keep your contacts off until the corneal infection is totally gone. Your eye doctor will instruct you when this has occured. He/She may want you to continue using the TobraDex, HOWEVER, THE EYE DOCTOR AND YOU NEED TO AGREE THAT THE BC PERSERVATIVE IN THE TOBRADEX WILL STILL CAUSE YOUR CONTACT LENSES TO BEGIN SOME DISCOLOATION AND LOSS OF WATER CONTENT.

To my knowledge contact lenses are NOT perserved with BC, however the newest silicone lenses may have a perservative within the lens matrix. Not sure if it is,in fact,BC.

Eyes