The importance of contact lens checkups or "reviews" as they are too referred to cannot be over emphasized. Regular contact lens wearers, irrespective of the type or modality of wear, need to have their optometrist, review the effect their lenses are having on their eyes.

Statistically it is well known people over wearing their contact lenses and often do not adhere to the guidelines for hygiene or schedule as recommended by their eye care professional. It has been shown 12% of people over wear their daily disposables, considering they are not supposed to store their lenses overnight this is alarming. 28% of monthly disposable patients extend the life of their lenses, by on average an extra week and a whopping 53% of frequently replacement contact lens wearers, fortnight disposables, extend their wearing time significantly.

There are many complications that arise from this behavior. A large majority of these, due to their slow chronic development, are not symptomatic until the problems are well established. Due to the increase in the popularity of daily disposable wear, we are now getting a better understanding of the complications of people "cat napping" in their lenses, and more alarmingly people sleeping all night in their daily disposable lenses.

Manufacturers of contact lenses go through very stringent trials to get licensing for their respective lenses. Lenses that are licensed to be worn on a continuous wear regime, i.e. day and night, undergo extremely complex testing to ensure their safety. Various anatomical changes occur when the eye lids are closed and this is the reason sleeping in ones lenses can have a very different reaction than over wear in daily light hours.

Corneal ulceration is the most serious outcome for a patient miss-management of their contact lenses and this is an ocular emergency.

Regular testing, to evaluate the contact lens prescription is also important to ensure people are wearing the correct type of lens. Don Stack of Stack O'Brien Opticians maintains "that yearly visits to an eye care professional can help to ensure people's contact lenses prescriptions are as up to date as possible, which ensures optimum vision correction".

The optometrist can also help to spot any deficiencies in the eye which could compromise the wearing of contact lenses. he also states

"There is no such thing as over-the-counter contact lenses. Do not trust, lenses available at a beauty salons or petrol stations, these are being distributed illegally and should be reported to your optometrist, who will pass on these details to the regulating body for optometry in Ireland."

There is a lot of publicity recently about counterfeit lenses being sold online. This is an unfortunate development and a real indicator regulation of the industry online is needed.