Do your allergies often cause you to experience watery, itchy, gritty-feeling eyes? Then we’ve got great news for you! Contact lens wearers are especially vulnerable to dry eye symptoms from allergies due to pollen and other allergens, but now an innovative new contact lens is reported to offer relief from these symptoms. The US Food and Drug Administration has recently approved Johnson & Johnson’s Acuvue Theravision with Ketotifen.

These convenient daily-disposable contact lenses are the first ever to combine the crystal-clear vision afforded by high-end contacts, with the 12-hour itch relief of ketoifen, an antihistamine that’s commonly used to treat itchy eyes caused by allergic conjunctivitis.
 

How Do Acuvue Theravision Contact Lenses Work?

The Acuvue lenses are the world’s first drug-eluting contact lenses. This means that they dispense medication, ketoifen dry eye medication, directly to the eye.

The lenses deliver 50% of the medication within the first 15 minutes after a patient inserts them. Over the next 5 hours, they will continue to release the medication, which protects your eyes against itching, burning and other ocular symptoms of allergic reaction for up to 12 hours. And of course, your vision will be clear the whole time you wear the contacts!

The journal Cornea, reports that in two separate clinical trials, Acuvue Theravision contacts produced a “statistically and clinically significant” difference for people who commonly experience eye allergy symptoms.

These lenses may not be suitable for some people with astigmatism, and aren’t for people with red eye.

Development is also underway on a similar technology that can treat glaucoma via contact lenses.

For more information about how our eye care team at can help treat your eye allergies and provide you with crystal-clear, comfortable vision, visit us or give us a call at today.
 

Q&A

Why do contact lenses often make dry eye worse?

The reason many contact lens wearers with dry eyes experience worse symptoms is because contact lenses can interfere with the formation of thickness of the tear film. A thinner tear film does not spread as easily over the eye and may evaporate more quickly, causing dry eye symptoms.
 

How can I reduce dry eye symptoms when wearing contact lenses?

Though contact lenses can cause an increase in dry eye symptoms, there are a number of steps you can take to reduce these symptoms. Among these steps is making sure to always use fresh solution to store your contacts, always wash your and before inserting or taking them out, and never wear your contacts for longer than your eye doctor recommends.