You’ve been going through old stuff and found a package of contact lenses that are a couple of years old, and you’re wondering, do contact lenses expire?
Yes, contact lenses expire, even when still in the original packaging. Here’s how and why in a full guide to understanding contact lens expiration dates, so that you can wear your lenses with confidence.
How to Find the Expiration Date
To find your contact lenses expiration date, look either on the box or on the packaging of the lenses itself. Look for the letters EXP or an hourglass symbol that looks similar to this: ⧖
That’s where you’ll find a date that tells you until when your lenses can be safely worn.
Usually, contact lens expiration dates for soft contact lenses are between 1 and 5 years from the date of manufacture. So if you can’t find the expiration date on the box or the packaging, but you know that you bought the lenses more than a year or two ago, it’s safer to discard the lenses and buy new ones than to take a risk and wear compromised lenses.
Why Do Contact Lenses Expire?
When you buy your lenses, they come sealed in a neat little package that contains sterile saline. The packaging and saline is specially designed to be safe against possible bacteria, so that you can pop the lens into your eye without worrying about its safety. Each plastic cup holding a lens is fused to the foil seal so it’s impenetrable.
But over a long period of time, usually over a year, the packaging starts to deteriorate, and it won’t be quite strong enough to keep all the bacteria away. Changes in temperature and humidity break down the strong chemical bond between the foil seal and the plastic packs.
When this happens, bacteria can enter through the packaging and get into the saline surrounding your lenses. Then, if you wear the lenses, the bacteria can enter your eyes and cause infection.
Another reason contact lenses expire is because soft contact lenses are made of hydrogels or silicone hydrogels, which can lose their shape if they sit for too long. Then the lens won’t fit your eyes properly and can be painful or blurry.
Risks of Wearing Expired Contact Lenses
There are several dangers involved in wearing expired contact lenses. Here are a few examples of the risks.
Bacterial Keratitis
If bacteria gets into the compromised packaging of an expired contact lens, and then someone wears it, that person is in danger of getting bacterial keratitis. Bacterial keratitis is a corneal infection that can cause permanent vision loss if not treated promptly. It’s considered a medical emergency. Symptoms include severe eye pain, redness or inflammation, and blurred vision.
If you see any of these symptoms after wearing expired lenses, see a doctor immediately.
Corneal Ulcer
Contact lenses can get misshapen once they’ve expired. If you try to wear that misshapen lens, it can leave tiny scratches on your eye. Even worse, bacteria can then enter those tiny scratches and cause a localized infection called a corneal ulcer.
If you see a gray or yellowish spot on the surface of your eye, along with blurry vision, pain, and heavy tearing, it is a medical emergency to get that eye treated.
Conjunctivitis
You probably know conjunctivitis as “pink eye,” because that’s what it looks like. It’s a very common result of wearing expired lenses or other poor eye hygiene. You’ll see pink or red in the white of one of your eyes, plus more tearing and mild swelling of your eyelids.
Conjunctivitis is usually treated with prescription eye drops, so you’ll want to visit your doctor to get the prescription.
Daily vs. Monthly Lenses
There’s no difference between the expiration dates of daily vs. monthly lenses, as long as both of them are still in their original packaging. The expiration dates are set based on how long the packaging is guaranteed to hold up, not how long the actual lens will last once opened. Therefore daily and monthly lenses will have the same shelf life of between one and five years.
Once you open a package of monthly lenses, on the other hand, you’ll be able to wear the lens for a month before it needs to be thrown away. Daily lenses expire after one wearing, as they can never be reworn.
What To Do With Expired Lenses
If you see that the expiration date on the box of your contact lenses has passed, do not wear those lenses. Never wear contact lenses that have expired. Instead, dispose of the lenses safely.
Some parts of the lens packaging can be recycled, such as the paper box surrounding your lenses and the plastic cup holding the lens itself. The lenses should be thrown in the garbage.
Now it’s time to buy new lenses so that you can safely and comfortably wear contact lenses without worrying about expired lenses causing you trouble. Check out our packages at eiyanlens.com/collections/lenses to get fresh lenses at the most affordable price point.
FAQs
Can I wash my expired lenses with lens solution to make them safe?
Lens solution can possibly help wash away the bacteria that might have gotten into your expired contact lens packaging. But there’s another problem with expired lenses and that’s that they can become misshaped. If that happens, they can leave tiny scratches on your eye or even block the oxygen from entering your eye. Both of these can be dangerous for your eye, so no, washing with lens solution won’t make the expired lenses safe. Just throw them out and order new ones.
Does contact lens solution also expire?
Yes, contact lens solution also has an expiration date, and for good reason. After a long time, lens solution can break down and its chemical preservatives stop working. Then the solution is no longer good at killing bacteria, which is its job in keeping your lenses safe.
Also, as the lens solution’s chemical makeup shifts, it can become irritating for your eye, and you’ll feel burning or stinging after using it.
What should I do if I accidentally wore an expired lens?
If you realize that your lenses were expired while wearing them, take out the lenses immediately. Rinse your eye very well with sterile saline solution to rinse away any bacteria that might have gotten in. Then switch to glasses instead of lenses for a day. For the next day or two, keep a close watch on your eyes and if you see any unusual symptoms, see an eye doctor as soon as possible.
