Meabh McHuh-Hill, a 23-year-old in the UK, recently did something that will undoubtedly make you squirm. She hastily removed her contact lenses, which she realized had been in her eyes for ten hours. Since she suffers from dry-eye, and should only wear her lenses for eight hours at a time, she didn’t take the necessary step of lubricating with eye drops before peeling the lenses off. She got more than she bargained for as a result.
In what turned out to be a painful and scary ordeal, Meabh ended up removing part of her cornea in her left eye, along with her contact lenses. OWW is right. Left in excruciating pain, and with an intense sensitivity to light, the young woman realized the gravity of her situation. She went right to the doctor, who informed her that she was lucky to not have been blinded.
According to the Daily Record:
Film Studies graduate Meabh now has a permanent scar on her pupil and is limited to only being able to wear one contact lens – in her undamaged right eye – when she goes out, which she admits renders her virtually ‘blind’ for the night.
“The biggest disappointment was being told that because of the corneal scarring I’m not now suitable for laser eye surgery, which is a huge blow.”
This cringe-worthy incident should be a reminder of how dangerous contact lenses can be if not used properly. Those who wear them are far more likely to develop eye infections and, like Meabh, suffer from dry eyes.
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