Dangers of Buying Contact Lenses Without a Prescription

Although contact lenses are one of the safest eye correction methods out there, the use of contact lenses can be risky, especially if you purchased your contact lenses without a prescription and an optometrist does not constantly monitor their use.

Anyone that wants to begin wearing contact lenses will be first examined by their eye doctor. They will make sure that the contact lenses they prescribe fit correctly. Your optometrist will also teach you how to safely handle and care for your contact lenses.

Oxygen Supply to the Eyes

Since contact lenses rest directly on top of your eye and cover the entire (or part) of your cornea, this decreases the amount of oxygen your eye receives from the environment. In order to keep your eyes in a healthy state, they require a steady oxygen supply.

When your cornea does not get a steady oxygen supply, this increases the possibility of getting eye infections. As an organ that is part of your body, the cornea depends on oxygen to function. Without proper oxygenation, the cells of the cornea can breakdown and decay. This slowly removes the eye’s natural barrier against infections.

Although lack of a good oxygen supply to the cornea is generally associated with improper contact lens care, it is also associated with wearing inappropriate types of contact lens. Depending on your needs, your eye doctor will prescribe to you with the type of contact lenses that will provide your cornea with the appropriate oxygenation that will be the safest for your eyes in the long run.

Follow a Contact Lens Schedule Provided by your Doctor

When your doctor first prescribes you a pair of contact lenses, they will also instruct you on the proper care for your contact lenses. This will include sanitation of the lenses themselves and a schedule for when to replace them.

Regardless of how correctly you follow the cleaning instructions given by your eye doctor, you have to replace your contact lenses regularly. Even if you are caring for you lenses appropriately, lens deposits start building up on your contacts throughout their usage. The more time you go in between replacements will mean more lens deposits in your contacts. This will prevent your cornea from getting the appropriate oxygenation it needs and can easily cause eye damage and infections.

Your eye doctor will also provide you with a schedule of when you should be replacing your contact lenses. This schedule will ensure that you get regular checkups and prescriptions from your eye doctor. Seeing your eye doctor for routine eye exams and checkups will make sure that your doctor optometrist can detect small problems with your eyes before they become bigger.

Before hitting your local pharmacy or the Internet to purchase a new pair of contact lenses, make sure that you have a prescription from your eye doctor. Firstly, it will ensure that you will be purchasing the pair of contact lenses that will suit you best. And secondly, it will also ensure that if you happen to have side effects from wearing contact lenses, your doctor can quickly do something about it. After all, we all have only a pair of eyes that we want to keep in optimum health!