What is the WORST thing you have heard a contact lens PT do with their lenses?

**kaledarkwind** · 10-10-2015, 07:46 AM

Had a PT(male:21) come in yesterday for a CL exam. Found out he had been wearing his Mothers contacts (he had never been fitted before, he was just wearing his mom's RX), and had them in for MONTHS because he couldnt take them out.....

I asked how he knew what strength he needed, and his mom replied "well his vision has always been pretty close to mine"

Doc did NOT give him a script for contacts, and if it were up to me I wouldn't let HER wear contacts either.... Sometimes i wonder if there needs to be a Licencing test for contact wearers, or maybe an IQ test before you can wear them.....

**fjpod** · 10-10-2015, 08:56 AM

I used to have a dentist patient who routinely wetted his RGPs by putting them in his mouth and then his eye. Didn't use solution. Stored them dry overnight. He never got an infection. He was a very successful dentist.

**newguyaroundhere** · 10-10-2015, 09:02 AM

Had a girl in high school who went over a year wearing the same contact lenses in her eyes. Ended up having a severe corneal ulcer develop in her right eye. She missed her entire senior year of high school because of it. I believe her Rx in that eye is now around -11.00 or -12.00 while the left eye was around -1.50 or -2.00

**smallworld** · 10-12-2015, 01:01 PM

I had an elderly female patient came in stating she wore the kind of soft contacts you only replace once a year. I said it's been quite awhile since I've seen them prescribed. Her response was "Yes, this pair has lasted me years!!"

**Mizikal** · 10-12-2015, 02:20 PM

I have seen this a few times. Patient was over corrected for months. Came in and had swollen corneas and the Dr told her he was not sure where she would end up RX wise. I could actually hear him raise his voice with her because she started getting an attitude. he just told her he wasn't the one who told her to wear her sister's contacts and it wasn't his fault.

Best one was a guy that had the same RGP lenses for 5 years and cleaned them with a microfiber cloth. I cannot image putting something so scratched up in my eye everyday.

**AngeHamm** · 10-12-2015, 03:02 PM

This thread is a horror show.

**harry a saake** · 10-12-2015, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by AngeHamm

This thread is a horror show.

had a young lady come in complaining of redness when she wore her cl,s, when i looked at the case it was covered with lipstick, and inside the case, in the cl solution, there were tiny bits of lipstick floating around. she did not understand why that was a problem

**CCGREEN** · 10-12-2015, 04:38 PM

Originally Posted by AngeHamm

This thread is a horror show.

This thread and this month have just begun

**mervinek** · 10-13-2015, 08:02 AM

Dropped my daughter off at school today. Principal had red eye. Everyone seems to have pink eye right now, so I asked her if she had pink eye. She said, "No. Don't feel bad for me. I have an eye infection because I thought I could save some money and wear my contacts longer." After I explained that I work in ophthalmology and see it all the time, I told her "Nope. Don't feel bad for you. But hopefully you won't do it again!" I could hear her telling other people not to feel bad for her when I was leaving.

**Uncle Fester** · 10-13-2015, 08:28 AM

I got the sad winner.

My wife works at a hospital and the Ophthalmologist was trying to save his sight after corneal transplants became complicated.

His work never left him in one place for more than a day or two. When his lenses got stuck on his cornea he popped in a new pair over the old pair. Then when they got stuck he did it again. They peeled off a total of 4 pairs of lenses and he may now be blind.

Before we go off about on line lenses remember in this case you can not legislate against stupidity- and what a price he paid...

**colem84** · 10-13-2015, 09:23 AM

Our office manager told me a story of a guy slurping the extra solution off of his soft lenses before putting them in, (in the fitting room in front of her). When she asked what the hell he was doing he said "Oh it just had a little too much juice on there." She told him to never ever ever do that again in front of her or anywhere else for that matter and explained how unhygienic it was and how it could cause infections. He said he didn't know.

**CGalloway** · 10-13-2015, 12:30 PM

And yet given a choice people would rather lose their hearing over their vision.

**cmarx** · 10-13-2015, 12:58 PM

I had a young lady about 16yrs old put her RGP's in with finger nail glue! Once the MD cut them off she immediately came to my office and wanted new lenses to put in, then and there. I refused and she started screaming at me. Her father who was with her at the time tried to explain to her why this wasn't a good idea. She stormed out and got in the driver's seat and drove off with her Dad in the car. She was on a learner's permit and her Rx was about a -3.00????

Thank God she never returned for service.

**obie** · 10-13-2015, 08:27 PM

1-800 robocalled for C/L verification for one of our patients. File shows no follow up for toric fit on high myope, fit was back in July 2013. I called patient and she said ONE of the lenses we gave her in 2013 was torn and she was just trying to replace it thru 1-800. It was all I could do not to shout into the phone.

**mdeimler** · 10-14-2015, 07:36 AM

Originally Posted by Uncle Fester

I got the sad winner.

My wife works at a hospital and the Ophthalmologist was trying to save his sight after corneal transplants became complicated.

His work never left him in one place for more than a day or two. When his lenses got stuck on his cornea he popped in a new pair over the old pair. Then when they got stuck he did it again. They peeled off a total of 4 pairs of lenses and he may now be blind.

Before we go off about on line lenses remember in this case you can not legislate against stupidity- and what a price he paid...

Yea, had a 75 yr old lady with 3 CLs in one eye and 2 CLs in the other eye. She simply stopped in without an appointment because her vision was blurry.

**SharonB** · 10-15-2015, 10:12 AM

OK - Patient wearing hybrid (RGP center/Soft skirt) CLs came in with corneal abrasions. Seems that he had pushed the RGP center through both lens skirts while cleaning, and just kept on wearing the centers (with rough pieces of the skirt attached).

**MikeAurelius** · 10-15-2015, 12:04 PM

Friend of my mothers dropped a lens in the toilet. Picked it out, rinsed it under water for a moment, then popped it in her eye. "What??? I just cleaned the toilet yesterday!"

**BigGuy** · 10-15-2015, 12:10 PM

Several years ago had a new patient come in to make an appointment. She had been wearing PMMA lenses, the same pair for several years, and lost one lens. She went on to explain that she had swallowed the lens while "rewetting it". She also told us this had happened once before but she was able to locate the lens after it passed through her system and it was "good as new after a quick clean up!"

**mervinek** · 10-15-2015, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by BigGuy

Several years ago had a new patient come in to make an appointment. She had been wearing PMMA lenses, the same pair for several years, and lost one lens. She went on to explain that she had swallowed the lens while "rewetting it". She also told us this had happened once before but she was able to locate the lens after it passed through her system and it was "good as new after a quick clean up!"

and with that... we have a winner!

**smallworld** · 11-06-2015, 01:55 PM

First time for this, a patient yesterday has been wearing her gas perms for 15 years or more. She was originally fit 40 some years ago and had a lady make her a couple of pairs over the years. She said the best part was the lady who made her contacts did so out of her travel agent office. Travel agent, gas perms, why not?

**Dr. Bill Stacy** · 11-06-2015, 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by smallworld

First time for this, a patient yesterday has been wearing her gas perms for 15 years or more. She was originally fit 40 some years ago and had a lady make her a couple of pairs over the years. She said the best part was the lady who made her contacts did so out of her travel agent office. Travel agent, gas perms, why not?

Wait, that might be MY patient! My wife operated her travel agency out of my office for a few years back when it was fun to have a travel agency. And I've been fitting RHP contacts for over 40 years. The Pt didn't happen to come from northern california, did he/she? I admit some of those old lenses seemed to last forever, and I remember fishing one out of a sink trap once. Yuck

**TylerOpticians** · 11-06-2015, 05:51 PM

I sat behind a girl in college years ago who always complained about her eye dryness... She would pull her CLs out in class and spit on them and put them back into her eye. Funny story part is, now she works at an optometry office in town.

One of our awesome optom techs, while working up CL pt's in the room without the Dr, would explain to them in grave detail that CL's are like wearing underwear... Needless to say, it worked great for the new CL pts.

"...And you don't want to wear skidmarked underwear on your eyes, now do you? It's like having dirty underwear on your eyes. It's really gross. "

**OIC** · 11-09-2015, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by fjpod

I used to have a dentist patient who routinely wetted his RGPs by putting them in his mouth and then his eye. Didn't use solution. Stored them dry overnight. He never got an infection. He was a very successful dentist.

Back in the day when I fitted hard contacts, this was a fairly common thing. I always thought I could have made a successful business out of bottling spit.