Can You Cry With Contacts In? What You Need to Know for Eye Comfort

There are moments in life where you shed tears due to one reason or another. Talk about frustrating moments, emotional or uncontrollable situations, heartfelt reunions, sad movies, or external objects coming in contact with the eyes. These moments don’t mean something is wrong with you or you are weird so don’t think too much about it.

If you are a contact lens wearer, you will probably wonder if it’s okay to cry with your contacts in. I know most people must have been curious about this. Sure, you can do that without any fear. Putting on contact lenses doesn’t affect the outpouring of tears, although there can be situations like lens displacement or temporary blurred vision, which is not harmful as long as they are managed properly.

Your Eyes and Tears

Tears are very normal as long as you are a human. It is even important for your eyes’ health; they are a combination of oil, mucus, and water containing electrolytes. They are the salty fluid responsible for cleansing your eyes and flushing out unwanted things from them. Tears also serve as a source of protein and antibacterial enzymes, which fight infection and heal the necessary parts of the eye.

The tear glands located around the eyes produce different types of tears, depending on the situation and emotional feeling. Let’s discuss the different types of tears below and their importance:

Basal Tears

The basal tears are always present in your eyes as a protective shield for your cornea. It protects and lubricates the eyes and nourishes the cornea’s health. It also protects your eyes from debris, dirt, wind, and other environmental threats.

Emotional Tears

When you feel strong emotions like sadness, grief, or joy, emotional tears come out. Your stress hormones reduce drastically when you bawl your eyes out because emotional tears are considered natural painkillers. You’ve probably noticed how they make you feel better even though the logic behind this is still under research because of how they can soothe the body, improve the mood, reduce pain, restore emotional balance, and help with grief recovery is laudable.

Reflex Tears

These are formed when your eyes need to get rid of harmful substances or irritants like dirt, debris, smoke, onion fumes, etc. They contain antibodies for fighting infections and are produced in larger amounts than the basal tears. When your eyes come in contact with foreign substances, reflex tears are produced quickly to flush them out and protect your eyes.

Layers of Tears

Every tear produced consists of three layers, which are:

• Outer Layer: it keeps the tear’s surface smooth and clear. It is responsible for keeping the other tear layer from drying up quickly.
• Middle Layer: it is the thickest layer and contains mostly water. It keeps the eyes moist and also supports the eye tissue while keeping it safe from bacteria and protecting the corneas.
• Inner Mucus Layer: this layer contains the mucus that makes the entire tear film stick to the eye’s surface.

Tears and Contact Lenses

What happens if you cry while wearing contact lenses? Nothing harmful will happen to your eye, of course. However, there are some changes that will come up due to the increase in tear secretion:

• Increase in Moisture: the tear film produces an excessive amount of tears when you cry; this can shift the placement of your lenses temporarily because of the increased moisture in the eyes.
• Mucus and Debris: mucus found in the tears is natural. You see mucus sticking out of your eyes and making vision blurry when you cry, right?.

• Temporary Blurred Vision: when you cry too much, the contact lenses get blocked and cause temporary blurred vision because of the thicker tear film due to extra tears.
• Falling Out: this is rare but crying too much can make your contacts fall out and it happens with soft contact lenses mostly.
• Dry Eyes: long period of crying while wearing contacts can make you get dry eyes because the excessive tears can mess with the balance of the tear film.

Contact Lens Types and Crying

All the experiences listed above can also vary slightly depending on the type of contact lenses you wear:

Soft Contact Lenses

These lenses are very common because they are more comfortable and flexible but they can easily shift out of the cornea when you rub your eyes because they are soft.

Rigid Gas Permeable Lenses

They are prescribed for specific vision problems so they are less common, even though they provide more stability and don’t dance around the eyes. Well, if dirt or debris gets trapped under them, they can become uncomfortable.

Tips for Healthy Crying with Contact Lenses On

Yes, crying is good but avoid rubbing your eyes because it can dislodge your contact lenses. Take caution because of possible irritation and debris entrance into your eyes. If at all you want to rub, do it gently to avoid cloudy vision or contact lenses getting stuck.

Say no to bare hands; use a clean tissue to clear away excess tears instead. Blinking frequently is another way to help with the redistribution of the tear film, which will keep your contact lenses in place.

To escape dry eyes after the crying session, put in some drops of your lubricating eye drops for extra moisture for your eyes. It is important for soothing the crying pressure and avoiding redness or irritation that can affect your daily activities

When you are done crying, if you still have a blurry vision after a few moments, your lenses should be removed and cleansed with a fresh solution. In case they end up falling out, wash your hands clean with soap and water before handling the lenses and don’t forget to disinfect with fresh solution before wearing them again.

If your contact lenses end up with a tear or scratches after crying, you should replace them with new contacts. You should also seek professional and personalized advice from your eye care professional if you experience persistent discomfort or blurry vision even after taking all necessary steps.

Shedding a few tears is not a problem but if you experience any of the following after crying with contact lenses on, then you should visit your eye doctor:

• Continuous discomfort and irritation
• Eye infection
• Blurry vision for an extended period
• Glued or stuck contact lenses to your eyelids

Conclusion

Crying is nothing harmful because it is a natural response to strong emotions or a reflex for cleansing the eyes from foreign substances. You can cry to relieve your body of stress from different occurrences or situations; it can also serve as a medium for processing your feelings and sorting them out. You shouldn’t hold back a good cry because of the fear of discomfort.

Can you cry with contacts in? Yes, you can. Pour out your tears with mindfulness and keep the explained tips above in mind for the comfortability of your eyes. You will discover and testify that your eyes will be protected and your vision will not be affected after the emotional exercise.

Bibliography

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/tears

https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-crying

https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/facts-about-tears#:~:text=Reflex%20tears%20are%20formed%20when,antibodies%20to%20help%20fight%20bacteria.