Summit Vision Center

Dr. Langford August 14th, 2007

What does the above grid mean? In short, it means use a peroxide-based care system if you want to be sure to achieve maximum possible comfort with your soft contact lenses. If you prefer a multi-purpose solution, it means we need to tailer which kind you use according to the brand of contact lens you wear.

I’ve heard many people tell me how they cannot wear contact lenses because their eyes are too uncomfortable. They usually report problems with dryness and itching. Some brands of contacts help prevent dryness, but when used with the wrong care system (solution for cleaning, storing, and disinfecting your contacts), then you could still get dryness. The gold standard is hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-based systems like Clear Care by Ciba. H2O2 is reduced down to saline water after sitting 6 hours in its special container which contains a catalyst. Because there are no extra chemicals to irritate your eyes, the contacts feel great.

Multi-purpose solutions (MPS) contain saline water, but they also contain small amounts of all sorts of chemicals: preservatives, disinfectants, surfactants (soap), buffers, and conditioners. If your eyes are sensitive to any one of those ingredients, you could experience irritation. The best MPS across all contact lens brands appears to be Opti-Free Express or Replentish according to the work done by the eye doctors at www.staininggrid.com who are studying the biocompatibilty between your eyes, your contacts, and your care system.

Let’s compare the interaction of a popular brand of contact lens, O2Optix, with Opti-Free Replentish and Equate MPS.

All the little, green dots on the right side represent stippling, like on a golf ball, wear the cornea surface has been compromised. This will make your eye more irritated and possibly more prone to infection. (This picture courtesy of staininggrid.com. See more pictures at their photo gallery.)

So if you just buy whatever contact lens solution that is cheapest, then consider how your eyes feel and and reevaluate whether that is a good option. Am I saying that you should never buy Equate MPS? Not exactly. There are a couple lenses in the study that don’t seem to interact with your eyes and a generic MPS to cause problems.

At your yearly/bi-yearly eye exam, I can explain the best care system product and the best contacts for your eyes.

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