Can contacts melt?
As I write this blog post, Zoe, the world’s first named heatwave, is scorching Seville, Spain. It’s hot there, it’s hot here, it’s hot pretty much everywhere. So, naturally, everyone’s asking the same questions: Can contacts be left in heat? Can contacts melt?? And, if so, can contacts melt in your eye?! Cause that seems like it’d be really bad.
In fact, we should probably put that fire out first. Let’s start by addressing the melting-in-eyes thing.
Can contacts melt in your eyes?
Some people on the Internet seem to think so. One Internet man said he was blinded for life after he stared at a barbecue fire for two to three minutes, causing his contacts to melt and fuse to his eyes. But people on the Internet think and say a lot of things.
Dr. William Barry Lee has debunked the barbecuing Internet man’s story:
“Staring into a fire for two to three minutes would not allow the contact to reach its melting point unless the person was actually in the fire… Staring into a fire could certainly lead to evaporation of the tear layer faster than normal… Dry eyes without adequate tear moisture could lead to difficulty getting the contact lens out of the eye, making it feel like the contacts were stuck to the eye, but they actually would not be.”
Okay, so contacts won’t melt in your eyes unless you’re literally on fire. Thank goodness.
Can contacts be left in heat?
Are we talking Mount Doom or your front porch on a hot summer day? If it’s the latter, your contacts will be totally fine if they’re left in the heat. Even if they sit in the sun all day while you’re at work. (Still, you should let them cool off before putting them in your eyes.)
The same can’t be said for contact lens solution. Studies show that contact lens solution degrades with prolonged exposure to high temperatures.
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