Skin oil, sebum, protects the skin, but its acidity may burn the eyes. Clean your kid’s face – especially the eyelid area – before putting in or removing contact lenses.
My son had been removing his overnight contact lenses by himself for the past few days. He had been doing it successfully. And he was getting it down to a routine, which I hoped soon would translate into heuristics.
This morning was one of these mornings that it felt difficult to wake up, both for my son and for me.
After applying the morning artificial tear and getting all accessories out, my son tried to remove his contact lens using the plunger rod. It was one of these days; he failed several times then he asked for my help.
The first eye was quick, but I struggled with the left eye.
I tried a few times, but he involuntarily kept on shutting his eyelid before I could get to the lens. And his eyelid was more slippery than normal.
As soon as I stopped, before giving it another try, my son shouted, “Dad, it hurts!”
I was worried and anxious. What could be happening? Could it be the lens moved to an improper position? Could I have accidentally broken the lens, and it was scratching the cornea?
Then, it occurred to me what could be happening.
I drained a small vial of artificial tear into his left eye. The pain stopped after a few seconds. Then, I was able to remove the second contact lens in no time.
What happened was we forgot the first step of the morning routine - clean his face. So, some sebum (the oil produced by your sebaceous gland on your skin) on his eyelid got into his eyes, which caused the burning sensation.
Sebum is important to the health of the skin. It keeps moisture inside the skin and promotes skin hydration and flexibility. It is slightly acidic – pH of 4.5 to 6.0 – and helps prevent harmful bacteria or viruses from penetrating the skin.
This was the culprit this morning.
Lesson learned
An important routine to make sure that develops into your kid’s heuristics is cleaning the face. It not only could help maintain good hygiene, but it also prevents sebum from getting into the eyes.
In the unfortunate case, if it does, apply some artificial tear to wash the sebum out. The burning sensation should go away in a few seconds.
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