Troubleshooting Eye Discomfort: Why Do My Lenses Hurt?

Are your new contact lenses hurting your eyes? Different coloured contacts feature different measurements, prescriptions, and flexibilities, which means that they’re not all going to be equally comfortable. It’s possible that your lenses will take a while to get used to, or that they may slightly impair your vision. However, if your eyes are itching, stinging, or feeling sore, this is NOT NORMAL. While it’s possible to feel eye strain and eye fatigue, contact lenses should never give you eye pain. If you are in this situation, simply follow the steps below to troubleshoot your eye lens problems and figure out how to treat eye pain.

Have you chosen the right contact lenses?

As we said, all different lenses feature different sizes and designs. When you’re shopping for colored lenses, you should be browsing for the correct measurements and prescription that fit your eyes. Not sure what your eye measurements are? You can ask your eye care provider for them at your next eye appointment. 

Why are my lenses blurry? Why are my eyes irritated?

If your lenses are the right measurements and prescription, the next thing to check is flexibility and visibility- is there anything in the lens description that tells you whether the lenses may impair visibility or may be thicker than regular contacts? If you’re sure that you picked the correct lenses, keep reading.

Have you prepared the contact lenses properly?

Contact lens care is super important when it comes to your eye health. Before you even insert your lenses, you should go through the following contact lens care instructions:

• Check your contact lens packaging to ensure that the lenses are what you ordered, and that they’re not expired.

• Before opening the package, view the lens through the little window, and check that it shows no damage or debris.

• Once you have opened the lenses, hold them gently with clean fingers or sterile tweezers, and rinse them in contact lens solution (this is necessary to rinse off the package solution, which is stronger and may be harmful to your eyes).

• Soak the lenses in fresh contact lens solution- within a sterile lens case- for a minimum of 2 hours.

Need some help? Check out our lens care accessories.

Have you inserted the contact lenses properly?

Inserting lenses can be daunting, but there’s nothing scary about it- you can follow our step-by-step beginner guide here, but the essentials are to use clean fingers or a silicone lens inserter, and to have lots of patience. Hold your eyelid open gently, and place the lens on the eye, right-side up. 

TOP TIP: You can tell the lenses are right-side up because they’ll look like a little ‘U’ on your fingertip. If the lens looks more like a ‘V’, with a sharp, convex tip, you may need to invert it. Once you insert your lenses, blink gently and allow yourself a few moments to adjust.

Lenses DOs and DON’Ts-

• DO use clean, washed hands whenever handling lenses.

• DO clean the lenses using eye-safe solution, and nothing else.

• DON’T ever wear lenses for longer than 8 hours, or overnight.

• DON’T let the lenses come into contact with foreign substances like water or chlorine (meaning DON’T swim or shower with contact lenses).

• Eyes tired, dry, or strained? Give them a little rest- if your eyes are more sensitive than usual, try to wear your contact lenses a little less. To fix dry eyes, try using a little more eye-safe solution.

Gone through all the steps? If you’ve picked out the perfect lens for you, examined the package and lenses, cleaned the contacts, inserted them correctly, and your eyes still hurt- then we advise taking the lenses out immediately, and contacting a trusted eye care provider. It may be that there’s a material in the lenses that your eyes are sensitive to or allergic to, or that you have an illness or infection. There’s nothing to worry about- simply contact your optician or doctor, and they can help you get to the bottom of it. 

Want to know more about contact lens care and find more contact lens tips? Read all of our other care guides.