A woman is urging others not to shower, swim or bathe while wearing contact lenses after suffering “excruciating pain” for months and facing possible vision loss in one eye from a simple shower.
Rachel Prochnow was 34 weeks pregnant when she felt her eye itch a little last year, initially thinking her contact lenses had broken while she was at the gym. However, it was not until the next day when she began to feel severe pain and suffer from sensitivity to light that she went to an optometrist.
He was then diagnosed with the “worst eye infection you can have”: Acanthamoeba keratitis.
Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is caused by parasites found in almost all types of water, from tap water to seawater and chlorinated water, as well as soil. These parasites enter the eye through any small scratch on the ocular surface and pose significant health risks.
“The pain that comes with actinic keratosis makes giving birth feel like a walk in the park. The pain was absolutely unreal,” the American woman said on Instagram. “For three months, the most I could sleep in one go was 30 minutes. I had five different drops throughout the day that had to be five minutes apart.”
Prochnow’s pregnancy had to be induced three weeks later and she has since received an “anti-cancer drug” and biweekly blood tests to monitor her kidney activity, and AK puts her at risk for kidney failure. She had no idea of the risks involved in wearing contact lenses while she bathed.
“I’ve been wearing contact lenses since I was 12 and they never told me I couldn’t swim, shower or get in a hot tub with them on,” she said. She cannot see with her eye and there was talk of a corneal transplant. It is unknown if she will lose vision in her eye permanently.
The infection is “rare but serious” and Australian optometrists only diagnose one or two patients in their career, Optometry NSW’s Audrey Molloy told Yahoo News.
“It invades the eye tissue in a devastating way… it’s one of the big drivers behind daily disposable contact lenses, as they minimize the risk of water coming into contact with the lenses and then someone putting them in the eye.” eye,” he explained.
The pain caused by actinic keratosis is “very disproportionate to what you see in terms of eye injury.” The only way to treat it is by using disinfectants, but it is so “strong” that even these do not always work effectively.
“It can survive freezing, boiling, even disinfectants,” Molloy explained. “Contact lenses and water don’t mix well.”
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