Misuse of contacts in teenagers leads to increase in eye injuries

July 26, 2010

Researchers at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently conducted a study detailing medical device injuries in children and teenagers and discovered that almost 25 percent of eye injuries were due to misuse of contact lenses, EMazHealth.com reports.

The most common injuries were eye irritation and corneal abrasions, which is when the transparent tissue covering the front of the eye is scraped of cut.

Contact lenses are just one of the medical devices that send an estimated 70,000 children and teenagers to the emergency room every year in the United States.

Dr Steven Krug, who heads emergency medicine at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital, told the news provider that "health care providers need to be aware of these kids and their devices and how to recognize or diagnose problems that can arise."

The FDA is now considering issuing a warning about certain devices for children and teenagers after the organization has finished conducting another study on adults and comparing the data.

Children and teenagers should not be using products like contact lenses without consulting eye care professional and being given a proper prescription, the American Optometric Association recommends.