Is it safe to use eye drops while wearing hard lenses or scleral lenses?
This is a question we get almost every single day.
In general, it is ok to use preservative free artificial tears while you are wearing contact lenses. In some cases, you can use eye drops that say “for contacts” on the label. The reason you can’t use regular eye drops is because most eye drops contact preservatives. This is normally not that much of an issue for the surface of the eye, because blinking and tearing will flush the preservatives off of your eye surface fairly quickly. However, when you wear contact lenses, the preservatives stick to the contact lens material and then that gets held onto the surface of your eye for many hours.
Your eye doctor will be able to recommend a safe eye drop specific to your unique eye and the type of contact lenses you wear. If you have a compromised ocular surface, it is very important to use preservative free products to limit the amount of BAK or other preservatives that make contact with your eye.
Keep in mind that 90% of eye drops that you see on the shelf of your locals stores are made to be used WITHOUT contacts.
If you have questions, talk to your eye doctor. Your eye doctor knows your eye the best and they are experts in eye drops!
Find out what eye drops Dr. Woo recommends here.
