Question
Dr. Johnston: I have always used opti-free replenish for my contacts. They do not make my eyes itchy or anything. My old contact lenses did not really make my eyes pink or red. My new contacts have, and I was wondering, does that have anything to do with the solution? Should I be switching solutions or switching new contact lenses? Also, is it true that contacts which are better and allow more oxygen in the eye can also cause more redness because its' sucking up more moisture drying up the eyes and that's why it's red?
Is biofinity contact lenses compatible with opti-free replenish?
Thank you.
Answer
The contact lenses that allow more oxygen to the eyes, like the Biofinity lens, do not suck up more moisture and dry the eyes out. In fact, most of the silicone lenses have been designed to keep the eye as moist as possible. (Years ago, they made lenses with a very high water content because the water would allow more O2 to the eye and those did "suck up more moisture" because the original water in them would evaporate as you wore them. I do not believe any of those lenses remain in common use today.)
Nor is the Biofinity lens, strictly speaking, incompatible with Opti-Free Replenish. A while back there were some researchers saying you could only use certain solutions with some of the newer silicone lenses. However, I believe by now the major solutions have been reformulated to be compatible with all major lenses.
That being said, if you are now having a problem with your eyes being itchy and red, one must suspect an allergy situation. Although you may have been using OptiFree for a lot of years, I would bet that is your most likely culprit. It is very common for someone to tolerate a certain solution for a long time and then develop a sensitivity to the chemicals it contains. This is not technically the same thing as an allergy, but for all practical purposes, it would be handled the same way. The first thing I would do it switch to a different major brand of solution: Renu, or Complete. If you still have a problem, there is a very small chance you could be allergic to the silicone in the contact lens, in which case a trip back to your eye doctor would be in order - so you can change to a different type of lens.
