So I decided to try some reduced contacts. I know that there’s trouble in that you can’t remove them continually, but they have some benefits in that they’re lightweight and at least they don’t limit your peripheral vision with a frame edge.
However, I feel like the curvature of my eye is fluctuating a lot and the contacts don’t continue to fit. They fit well for two days, but at some point I was getting air bubble under them and they would not stay.
Nobody believes that the curvature of my eye can change so quickly. I can feel it though, over the course of a few weeks. Sometimes they’re hard and bulging (generally when I get too stressed). I get some rest, take a shower, and do the eye chart, they shrink and they feel softer (at least to my perception). I shrank my left eye dramatically at one point (see post, the incredible shrinking eye) by using an eye bag. I had a sinus problem at the time so the heat made that feel better, but afterwards my left eye was sore (in a nice way) and much softer.
My eyes also feel harder after wearing the contacts and they feel a bit dry.
Any insight into this? I’m curious.
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2 Comments
Helena, hi — I’ve also had the experience of my eyes bulging out when I’m stressed. I always thought this was them straining forward trying harder and harder to see. When they relax back into their sockets (like relaxing into bed after a long day, with a deep sigh) they also soften. You know contacts are keeping your eyes from seeing naturally, like glasses are, so I encourage you to keep the wearing of them to a minimum, and to keep the prescription as low as you are comfortable with.
I stopped wearing hard contacts in 2001 when I went to my behavioral optometrist for the first time, and started waring soft ones which I had been told I wasn’t suited for with my strong prescription. My eyes felt like they had been let out of a tight glass cage, SO much freer! Now I can’t even imagine wearing soft lenses. It’s natural vision for me, with glasses as a back-up if I really really need them, like to drive at night.
The good soreness you refer to might be the same as the stinging I’ve been experiencing lately when looking at smaller and smaller areas on the chart. I’m seeing this as positive feedback that my eyes are moving in a more healthy way, like muscles stretching in the gym. Maybe the surface of my eyeball is changing shape, as you say, to be more round. Keep up the good work!
In regards to the shrinking eye: Intraocular pressure definitely varies over time. It’s not far fetched.