When wearing contact lenses, having a foreign body sensation or feeling you have dirt in your eye is caused by many different reasons.  The most common reason is that your eyes are getting too dry or your contacts are dirty and old.

  1. For immediate temporary relief, use artificial tears or eye drops to see if it helps.  We recommend single-use preservative-free eye drops, especially if you feel the need to use eye drops more than 4 times per day because we want to avoid preservatives disrupting your tear film and exacerbating your symptoms.
  2. If you’ve been over-wearing your contacts or sleeping in them, stop wearing your contacts for a few days to allow your eyes to rest and use a new pair of contact lenses.
  3. If you’ve been working on the computer a lot, look into the distance for 20 seconds to allow your eyes a chance to refocus after every 20 minutes of computer viewing and remember to blink.  Studies have shown that people working at a computer or on their digital devices tend to blink less than half as often as normal and do not blink fully, which dries out their eyes.  Blinking is important because with every blink, your eyelids spread a fresh layer of tears across the surface of your eyes to keep them moist, comfortable and healthy.
  4. If the foreign body sensation persists, please consult your optometrist.  You may have an infection or you may suffer from chronic dry eye associated with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD).  Your eye doctor may also recommend you try a different type or brand of contact lenses.