Should I wear contacts when using Erythromycin ophthalmic ointment?!
Question: Should I wear contacts when using Erythromycin ophthalmic ointment?
What worries me is that I don't know if I should wear contacts while I'm going through this. On some of the directions it says that I can but I just have to wait fifteen minutes before I do...and I read in other places that it is not recommended to wear them.
I have a highly active lifestyle so contacts are very important to me. I don't know what to do :/
Answers:
NO! You are using the Erythromycin to treat a bacterial infection in the eye. If you use a contact lens, that lens can get the bacteria on it, you reuse it and you will just keep re-introducing the bacteria to the eye as well as contaminating your contact lens case. This will prolong your treatment and may end up causing the bacteria to become resistant to the Erythromycin. If you had been using your cotacts when your eye first became infected, you need to throw out the contacts as well as the case you were using. I am an optometrist so you can trust what I am telling you is true. Did you see an MD or and OD. If you saw a primary care physician, that is why you were not informed about contact lens care during your treatment. Next time, see an optometrist for any eye related problems.