23 contact lenses found stuck in 70-yr-old woman's eye: US ophthalmologist

An elderly woman who thought there was "something in her eye" actually had 23 daily disposable contact lenses lodged under her eyelid, according to her ophthalmologist

An elderly woman who complained of impaired vision and a feeling of "something in her eye" in California was found with 23 disposable contact lenses stuck under her eyelid, Dr. Katerina Kurteeva of California Eye Associates in Newport Beach, California, told TODAY. 

Dr Kurteeva said she was shocked to discover the clump of contacts and added that all the contact lenses were hidden underneath the upper lid in a pancake stack. "To this day, the patient herself does not understand how it took place. She is still baffled by it all," she said.

The patient, who is in her 70s, used contact lenses for 30 years, according to the physician. On September 12, she complained that her right eye felt like it had a foreign object in it. She also noticed mucous there. She then went to see Dr Kurteeva. The woman had been skipping her regular visits to the ophthalmologist out of concern for Covid.

According to the doctor, she first examined her eye to rule out conjunctivitis or a corneal ulcer. She also checked her right cornea for an eyelash, piece of mascara, pet hair, or other common material that might create the impression of a foreign body, but she found nothing. She did observe a discharge. The elderly woman then informed Dr Kurteeva that when she lifted her eyelid with her fingers, she saw something dark sitting there but could not get it out. That's when Dr Kurteeva examined her eyelid using a lid speculum, an instrument made of wire to keep eyelids open and far apart. On looking deeper under the eyelid, she saw the first couple of contacts stuck together. 

After retrieving a few contact lenses from her eye and finding more, Dr Kurteeva had her assistant video the removal of the contact lenses on her phone thinking this would be her Guinness Book of World Record moment. However, removing 23 disposable contact lenses in one eye in a patient is not a record-breaking number. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, in 2017, a 67-yeay-old British woman was found to have 27 contact lenses stuck in her eye. 

Photos and videos of the stack of contact lenses being pulled out of the woman's eye have gone viral.