Eye health: STOP wearing contact lenses in shower; expert warns it can lead to permanent vision loss

If you have a weak eye-sight and wear contact lenses at the start of your day, you might also jump into the shower later while keeping your lenses on. Do you do that?

If the answer is yes, you need to stop this right away and always take off your contacts before going for a bath. This is serious, as wearing lenses while showering can increase your risks of developing a very painful and serious eye condition, known as Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Acanthamoeba is a naturally occurring, free-living amoeba, which lives in sources like tap water, sewer systems, soil, swimming pools, hot tubs and saunas.

Optician Tina Patel explained to Express UK that, in general, encountering Acanthamoeba doesn't cause any harm. However, you can get Acanthamoeba keratitis if contaminated water comes into contact with the eye. When this amoeba infects the cornea, it can lead to Acanthamoeba Keratitis. Wearing contact lenses in the shower increases your risks of getting infected with this otherwise rare condition.

Marie Mason, 54, from the UK, wore 30-day contact lenses and she believes that Acanthamoeba entered her eye when she showered without removing her lenses.

"It would have got under the lens then multiplied, so my eye was riddled with it, " she told BBC News.

Talking about her initial symptoms, Mason said, "I started feeling like I had a foreign body in my eye like a bit of sand or grit which, when you rub, it will normally go away, but it wouldn't."

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Doctors diagnosed her with Acanthamoeba keratitis and treated it with various medications, eye drops, and three cornea transplants. However, they were all unsuccessful.

"There were just lots of hospital visits, lots of eye drops, lots of operations and procedures and lots of pain," Mason told SWNS, a UK-based news agency.

After five years, the decision was finally made to remove her left eye, and she has worn a false replacement since the operation two years ago.

"I do struggle sometimes because my vision on my left side is rubbish, well it's not there. It's quite hard walking down the street when you've got people whizzing by you, and it makes you jump a bit because you don't expect it," she said.

Symptoms of Acanthamoeba keratitis are very similar to other common eye infections and can often be misdiagnosed. Therefore, it is important to know these and consult your doctor if you experience any of them. Some common symptoms include:

-Red eyes

-Increased sensitivity to light

-Extreme eye pain

-Blurred vision

-Constant feeling of having some foreign object in the eye

-Excessive tearing

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Acanthamoeba keratitis infects the transparent outer covering of the eye called the cornea. Patients should consult their eye doctor if they experience any of the above symptoms. Ignoring the signs can lead to severe complications.

Apart from severe pain in the eye, it can also lead to visual impairments, possible vision loss or blindness if untreated. Doctors note that in severe cases, a corneal transplant may be necessary.