Bad habits in the shower often go unnoticed because it's such an automatic activity. Some, however, can cause permanent loss of vision - according to experts.
Speaking to the Express, Optician Tina Patel of Feel Good Contacts said people need to think twice about wearing contact lenses in the shower. She added: "You can get Acanthamoeba keratitis if contaminated water comes into contact with the eye. And it is is increased when wearing contact lenses in the shower, "so don’t wear lenses when showering", warned the optician.
What is Acanthamoeba keratitis?
Acanthamoeba keratitis is a very painful and serious eye condition that affects the cornea. It is a naturally occurring, free-living amoeba (single-celled organisms).
Acanthamoeba lives in other water sources such as sewer systems, tap water, soil, swimming pools, hot tubs and saunas.
Ms Patel said: "When we encounter Acanthamoeba, in general, it doesn't cause any harm. However, when amoeba infects the cornea, this results in Acanthamoeba Keratitis.
"Although it's a rare infection, it is more common amongst contact lens users. It can have severe complications for sufferers, resulting in visual impairments or permanent vision loss. In severe cases a corneal transplant may be necessary."
The warning comes after a woman had her left eye removed after she showered while wearing contact lenses and it got infected. The chilling case study said Marie Mason caught Acanthamoeba keratitis as a result of the poor practice.
The 54-year-old wore 30-day contact lenses and believes the organism entered her eye when she showered without removing them.
"It would have got under the lens then multiplied, so my eye was riddled with it, " she told BBC News. Mason first noticed something was wrong in 2015.
She added: "I started feeling like I had a foreign body in my eye like a bit of sand or grit which, when you rub, it will normally go away, but it wouldn't."
An optician advised Mason to go to hospital, and doctors diagnosed her with Acanthamoeba keratitis and treated it with various medications, eye drops, and three cornea transplants — but they were all unsuccessful.
"There was just lots of hospital visits, lots of eye drops, lots of operations and procedures and lots of pain," Mason told SWNS, a UK-based news agency. Five years later the decision was made to remove her left eye, and she has worn a false replacement since the operation two years ago.
"I do struggle sometimes because my vision on my left side is rubbish, well it's not there. It's quite hard walking down the street when you've got people whizzing by you, and it makes you jump a bit because you don't expect it," she said.
Acanthamoeba keratitis can be difficult to initially detect as the symptoms are very similar to other common eye infections and often can be misdiagnosed.
Some common symptoms include:
- Red eyes
- Increased sensitivity to light
- Extreme eye pain
- Blurred vision
- The constant feeling of something in the eye
- Excessive tearing
