Stephanie wrote:
Three weeks ago I woke up with some crust around my eyes. I thought it was no big deal but it has been occurring ever since. I wear both contacts and glasses. Two weeks ago I noticed a dramatic decrease in the clarity of my vision. It has not worsened, but I just got my prescription changed in March and now I feel like I need a new one again. I also got new contacts with my updated prescription… about 3 months ago… The old one I wore were power: 2.25 and BC:8.5 in both eye’s and the new ones are power:2.5 in on and 3.00 by BC:9. Could the change in the BC be irritating my eyes and effecting the dramatic change in MY vision? And what about the crust around my eyes? I’m worried can you help?!

Thank you so much!

ANSWER

Dear Stephanie
If you are wearing soft contact lenses, dramatic changes in vision are not usually caused by a change in base curve (BC) such as you have described. Going from a BC 8.5 to a BC 8.9 lens means that the primary curve of the back surface of the lens is flatter on your new lenses than on your old lenses. If the material of the lens has been unchanged, then I would expect the new lens to fit a little bit looser on the eye. This normally does not cause a dramatic change in the clarity of the vision. However, different contact lens materials fit on the eyes differently and if your doctor has prescribed a different contact material, it is entirely possible that the new lens made up in an 8.9 base curve fits the same as your old lenses fit with an 8.5 base curve.
I also see that you used to wear the same prescription in both eyes and that now the prescription is different. If you accidentally reversed your contacts (put the left lens in the right eye and the right lens in the left eye), you would have perceived a dramatic change in vision. You could try switching the lenses to see if that clears the vision.
The crustiness of your lids in the morning suggests that your eyes are inflamed. This may be caused by a number of factors that include infection, sensitivity to your contact lens solutions or irritation from the fit of the contact lens to name a few. The only way to determine what is causing your symptoms is to see your optometrist, describe your symptoms and concerns, and have your eyes carefully examined and your contact lenses reassessed. Infections, contact lens fitting issues and sensitivity to solutions can arise at any time, and must be dealt with when they occur.
I hope this is helpful.

Dr. Smit

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