What To Do If Your Contact Lens Gets Lost In Your Eye

You blinked and it disappeared... and we're not talking metaphorically. While it almost never happens, your contact lenses really can pull a disappearing act while you're wearing them. And no, you won't be spending the rest of your life (or the foreseeable future) with a bit of silicone stuck inside your eye, simply because extracting a wandering lens is not as challenging as you might think. 

Lenses (especially soft ones) can — and do — pop out of place, but as a rule, they should sit comfortably on your eyeball. If this doesn't sound like you, Health says something is wrong and it may be time to see your optician. But what if your contact lens has vanished for other reasons, and you're sure it's still in your eye?

Pediatric ophthalmologist Kim Le tells Health that you should be able to tell if a contact is still in your eye by checking the space between the iris (dark part) and sclera (white part). She then suggests rinsing your eye with saline solution to flush it out. Health points out that because of the way your eyeball and your eyelid are positioned, there is really no chance of the contact lens going too far back. Once your eye is properly lubricated, the lens may slip down gently on its own. But if it doesn't, AC Lens suggests you gently massage or rub your eyelid until your lens comes loose. As this is your eye we're talking about here, be gentle. You don't want to inflict any serious damage on your eye, like scratching the cornea for instance.

If it still doesn't pop out, both Health and AC Lens recommend you see your eye doctor immediately. But before you do that, it may be a good idea to make sure the contact hasn't actually fallen out of your eye already.