Can high humidity conditions make contact lenses foggy?

Question

Hello doctor,

I live in high humid condition and my contacts have been foggy and making my vision blurry. I am nearsighted but I cannot even look at a book clearly when I wear them. If I take them out and rinse them I can see clearly for about three minutes until it is blurry again. Could the change from low humidity and high humidity and low altitude affect my contacts? I recently had a check-up for new contacts. So they are not expired.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

As you mentioned, you are having a problem with your contact lenses since you moved to an area of higher humidity. Usually, it is lower humidity that causes problems like it disturbs tear film stability and reduces tear film breakup time. There may be debris on the contact lens that would need cleansing more frequently. This problem is more common with contact lenses with higher water content. Higher humidity has not been proved to cause significant effect on contacts in research studies but still, it can affect the lenses. A similar problem can happen at high altitude where oxygen will be less and your cornea suffer from hypoxia. Hot climate increases evaporation and can cause contact lens dry. There may be increased reflex blinking to overcome dry eyes or artificial tears could be helpful. It is better to see an eye doctor. He will check your eyes for any other cause of blurring. There might be lens fitting problems. Because loose or tight contact lenses both can affect eyes. They can cause corneal hypoxia, epithelial edema or erosions. He might prescribe you some lubricants or artificial teardrops.