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An estimated 40 million adults in the United States wear contact lenses, but every year, one out of every 500 of them will experience some sort of infection. If left untreated, infections such as keratitis, an infection of the cornea, can cause blindness.
But, if worn correctly, contacts can be extremely helpful to people with vision problems. There are many types of contact lenses to choose from, but about 90 percent of people who wear them, wear soft lenses. Here are some of the vision problems they can help with:
- Myopia or near sightedness: blurred vision when looking far away
- Hyperopia or far-sightedness: blurred vision when looking close up
- Astigmatism: blurred vision when looking both far away and close up
- Presbyopia: blurred vision when looking close up in older adults
We talked to eye specialist Arezo Amirikia, MD, of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System in Michigan to learn about the most common contact mistakes and how you can adopt healthy habits to prevent infections and irritation.
