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Pregnancy and Contact Lenses
Why your eyes can change during pregnancy
Experiencing a change in your vision and eyes and your tolerance for contact lenses during pregnancy is not at all uncommon. In fact some practitioners believe it can affect up to 90% of contact lens wearers albeit to a tiny extent in the vast majority of cases. This experience is due to changes in hormones, metabolism, fluid retention, and blood circulation throughout your pregnancy.
There are 2 main issues:
- Water retention, for instance, may cause the thickness and curvature of the cornea of your eye to increase slightly. It's a small change, but it could affect how well your glasses or contact lenses correct your vision. Also, the cornea can swell causing oedema. Corneal oedema may cause the cornea to become irritated more easily.
- Due to hormonal changes during pregnancy, your eyes may feel very dry. The quality or quantity of your tears may change substantially while you are pregnant. Dry eyes can sometimes cause you to feel like there is a piece of sand is in your eye. Your eyes may burn, itch or even suddenly become excessively watery. It is absolutely nothing to worry about.
Pregnant contact lens wearers sometimes start to feel a certain discomfort as your eyes change shape. Often pregnant women visit their optician or doctor with complaints of dry eyes and ill-fitting contact lenses. This is the correct course of action.
In severe cases, your doctor or optician may recommend the use of eye drops given several times per day to alleviate discomfort due to the dry eyes. If you continue to wear contact lenses during this period, make sure that the drops you use are compatible with the contact lenses you wear. There are a number of compatible products on the market and your optician or doctor will be able to recommend the most suitable one.
How can you mitigate the effect?
It is also possible that you might need a slight adjustment to the power or fitting of your contact lenses during your pregnancy. Again, your contact lens practitioner or optician is best placed to guide you through this process. But remember, the prescription is quite likely to need to be adjusted back after you’ve delivered your baby so be aware that you should schedule another visit after your baby is born. Though the new contact lenses can normally be used for another couple of months after giving birth – before the cornea goes back to normal.
- If you experience vision changes during pregnancy, they'll probably be minor. Most women who experience a change find that they're a bit more short-sighted than they were before pregnancy.
- If you wear glasses, it's unlikely that you'll need to change your prescription, but it is possible. If you think your vision has changed significantly, have it checked.
Pregnancy isn't a great time to invest in a new pair of glasses, though. In most cases, these changes are temporary and will reverse themselves within several months of delivery.
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