contact lens rolled to back of the eye

[bendted]

I don't know if this is possible. I have a "girlfriend" at work who said she lost her contact and felt it in the back of her eye and is contemplating going to the ER, but wants to avoid it due to not having insurance. I wear glasses and just thinking about this scenario freaks me out and solidifies my aversion to wearing contacts. Will the contact work its way out and how common is this?
Is there any risk to waiting it out (eg, optic nerve damage)? We work odd schedules so I don't know when I'll be seeing her next, but this really intrigues me.

 

[Corny]

It is possible that it slips back up into the eye socket. A friend of mine had that happening once after he fell asleep on a party. He rubbed his eyes in the morning and was suddenly all in panic when he had the feeling of a foreign material in his eye and noticed his lens is gone.
We were able to spot the (soft) lens though when he pulled his eyelid all up. We pulled the lens down carefully with a q-tip (picture that .. ). He had some irritation for a few hours but that was about it.

I am not sure if it can get "behind" the eyeball, as I would think the muscles would prevent this.

 

[KaraBulut]

The lens can't slip behind the eye. It usually just gets out of position and won't slide back into position. The shape of the lens is designed for it to fit over the cornea, so it's not uncommon for a lens to slide out of position and then "pop" back into place once it reaches the correct position.

The danger of leaving a lens in for extended periods is that it can damage the cornea and it can cause irritation and infection.

Usually a soft contact lens can be removed with a sterile Q-tip if it is visible- usually it's just a matter of moving the lens back toward the iris where it usually will slide back into position where the patient can remove it as they normally do. If she has a rigid lens, she should either go to the ED or call her eye doctor to see if he can see her immediately.

 

[LukiusCurtiss]

The only time that happened is when I pushed it too far myself, it hurt a lot for a bit. But really it never happens on its own.

BTW, the eye eventually push it out through reflex.

I like contacts because it gives me the option to not wear glasses especially when I work out and glasses kinda get in the way.

If you're considering contacts, make sure you block out time for the fitting; it took me awhile to get the hang of it. That's just my experience.

 

[CherryB0mb]

I know someone that had it slip to the back of his eye and had to have it surgically removed.

 

[CherryB0mb]

The contact lens, not his eye! Lol

 

[justsimon]

Every once in a while one of my contacts will slip back, but it always comes out with a lot of blinking and/or eye drops.

 

[mbamike]

I wore contacts for years, even slept in them. They sometimes got dislodged and went to the top of my eye under the eye lid. I always was able to retrieve it.

 

[Kester]

I had this happen to me once.

It ended with a trip to the ER after trying for ages to get it out. They ended up having to numb my eye with eyes drops so they could poke around and finally get it out.

Once they got it out they had to put a bandage over my eye while it was still numb, just in case something got in my eye and scratched my retina.

Looking at me all bandaged up you would think I lost an eye or something, not a contact.

 

[bendted]

She ended up calling her doctor and he told her to get some eyedrops to flush it out. She did, and had her significant other peel back her eyelid and pluck it out.

 

[Alistair]

I had it happen to me once right after I had gotten my rigid contacts. It slipped way off to the side, while I was driving a car. I looked to the side for oncoming traffic at a stop sign. I now have soft lens.

But to get to my point. My doctor changed the sizing on that lens. She said they should never move like that. She said sometimes you fall into the middle of a size range and it's hard to get one that fits right for you.