If you already suffer from dry eyes, wearing contact lenses is probably like a nightmare to you. People with mild dry eyes may not feel any discomfort until they wear contact lenses, and the discomfort increases with the hours spent wearing them.

There are several causes for eye dryness. Older people tend to get dry eyes as the amount of tears produced decreases with age. Some people either don’t have adequate chemical composition in their tears or they simply produce less tears than normal.

The environment where you work or live can also cause your eyes to dry. For example, if your work requires you to constantly stay in front of a computer, or if you work in an air-conditioned or overheated room, of if you are exposed to dust, smoke, or wind, your eyes will feel dry.

Some doctors recommend Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) contact lenses for dry eye patients. Unlike soft contact lenses, RGP lenses are made of polymeric materials that do not contain any water. So water will not evaporate from their surface.

However, RGP lenses may not be the perfect solution for people with dry eyes. They can irritate your eyes severely if there are not enough tears under them as they are rigid. This would make you feel much worse than wearing soft lenses.

In recent years, soft contact lenses have undergone various innovations to suit vision correction as well as people with dry eyes. Here we will take a look at several soft contact lenses available on the market today that are specially formulated for dry eye sufferer and have shown good results. If you are looking for contact lenses for dry eyes, these products are definitely worth a try.

ACUVUE OASYS with HYDRACLEAR Plus

These can be used as either daily wear or extended wear. They are made of silicone hydrogel material known as senofilcon A. It provides 98% of available oxygen to the eye. The lens contains a higher volume of wetting agent, which means they are more wettable than regular contact lenses.

Many users reported that they are so comfortable that they sometimes feel like not wearing contact lenses at all. We also found people from various age groups ranging from teenagers to people in their 50’s are having good results with ACUVUE OASYS. People who previously had dry eye problems with other contact lenses are able to wear ACUVUE OASYS for extended period of time.

Air Optix Aqua

These lenses are manufactured by Ciba Vision. They are made of silicone hydrogel called lotrafilcon B. It contains 33% water which is significantly lower than that of traditional soft contact lenses. Lower water content is said to be better for people with dry eyes as there is less chance the water evaporating through the lens.

Air Optix Aqua is designed to be daily or extended wear. They contains a unique moisture agent with hydrophilic properties that binds with the lens surface to create a comfortable feel when wearing them. It also has excellent wettability.

So what causes a person to suffer from the syndrome known as Keratitis Sicca (Dry Eyes)?

In most people it is as a result of them growing older and can especially affect women when they are going through the menopause. Some people may suffer from this syndrome as a result of medication that they are taking prescribed by their doctor. The types of prescribed medications that can lead to a person suffering from this condition are antidepressants, antihistamine tablets, some kinds of blood pressure and Parkinson’s medications. Plus women who take birth control pills may suffer from this problem.

Also anyone who lives where the climate is dry, windy and dust could develop this syndrome. Plus it is quite common for people who work in offices or whose homes have air conditioning or dry heating systems installed. Another reason why a person may also suffer from this condition is because they have developed systemic diseases like Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ocular Rosacea or Sjogren ’s syndrome.

Finally of course people who like to wear contact lenses for extended periods of time can be affected by dry eye syndrome as well. However there are certain things that they can do to actually combat and prevent this condition. The way they combat dry eyes when wearing contact lenses for any length of time is as follows:

1. Use some contact lens rewetting drops as it will help to temporarily relief the irritation one feels when the moisture in the eyes has been removed. If you have sensitive eyes then it is best to use ones that are free from preservatives.

2. Another way to reduce the effects that dry eyes have on contact lenses wear is to removed them during the day and soak them in saline solution again. Even just soaking them for a few minutes can prove effective in reducing the irritation you feel if you suffer from Dry Eyes when you are wearing your contact lenses.

3. Whether you wear daily disposables or the monthly types of contact lenses you must make sure that you take care of them properly. Also you should use new lenses as prescribed by your optician. If you don’t replace them on a regular basis then there is the opportunity for proteins to build up on them and as a result can lead to you suffering more from Dry Eye syndrome in the future. Also if you are cleaning your lenses after every use you may find that using a more powerful cleaning solution can aid in preventing this problem becoming worse.

If you keep in mind what we have discussed above in relation to info about dry eyes and how it affects contact lenses wear then you shouldn’t suffer from this condition in the future.