Why contact lenses can disturb the microflora of the eye and how to avoid it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A new study by the New York University Medical Center has found the types of bacteria responsible for the predisposition of people who wear lenses to certain types of infections. What are these bacteria and can diseases be avoided?

It turned out that you can't just shove two pieces of plastic in your eyes and assume that everything will be the same. At the annual meeting of members of the American Association for Microbiology, ophthalmologist Lisa Park presented new research on contact lens wearers.

Scientists led by Park analyzed the eyes of nine people who wear contact lenses and eleven people who never wear them. It turned out that in the former, the bacterial composition of the eye is more similar to the bacterial composition of the skin under the eye. While in the second group, they differ.

More precisely, in the first group, the predominance of such types of bacteria as lactobacilli, acinetobacter, methylobacterium and pseudomonas was found. Their excess may explain the predisposition of contact lens wearers to eye infections, in particular corneal ulcers.

According to Lisa Park, not everyone who wears contact lenses is prone to infection, but this bacterial shift does have an effect. Park believes that the main problem is the process of putting on the lens, in which we first place it on our finger and then apply it to the eye. At this point, unwanted dirt can get on the eye, which also contributes to the development of infections.

If you want to protect your eyes from microflora disturbances, it is best to wear daily lenses.

The next step is to analyze the eyes of people who have had or are ill with eye infections, and to understand how the microflora has changed in their case. The park also does not rule out that the body of people who have worn lenses for years can adapt to them. She will devote her next research to this issue.