Allergies take toll on contact lens wear

A recent survey of 814 allergy sufferers conducted by the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), has revealed that half of those questioned who wear contact lenses switch to glasses when their allergies act up, while 45 per cent report that they wear their contacts less often.

Some of the contact lens-wearing allergy sufferers revealed that not being able to wear their lenses affected how they felt about themselves and impacted their performance at work, school and when playing sports. 'Having to stop wearing contacts or wearing them less frequently creates a wide range of emotions among allergy sufferers,' commented Mike Tringale, director of external affairs for the AAFA. 'Contact lens wearers say they feel less attractive when wearing their glasses (37 per cent), unhappy (35 per cent), less confident without their contacts (29 per cent), and less able to perform activities as well as when they are wearing their contact lenses (26 per cent),' he said.