Question:
Can wearing contacts for many years visibly change the shape of your eyeball?

Answer:
It depends upon what you mean by "visibly."  Your eyes certainly do change shape, and it is measurable.

Gas permeable and the old hard (polymethylmethacrylate) contact lenses change the shape of the eye more so than soft contact lenses.  Lenses that are fit flat  in  relationship to the front corneal surface flatten the central cornea.  This has led to the practice of orthokeratology which utilizes this effect to reduce nearsightedness, but the effects do not last.

Contact lenses that are steeper than the cornea do not move properly and the central cornea becomes oxygen deprived and swells. The changes caused by steep or flat contact lenses create "spectacle blur", a condition in which patients do not see well with their glasses when they first remove the contact lenses. All long term contact lens wearers suffer thinning of their corneas.

All of these things can be easily measured in the ophthalmologist's office, but should not be apparent to the naked eye.  If there is a bulging of the cornea noted on side view or looking down, keratoconus is present, usually not related to contact lens wear.

Answered by:
Richard G Shugarman, MD

Categories:
Eye Diseases, General Eye Health