Acanthamoeba

I Wore Contact Lenses to the Pool and My Optician Showed Me What Was Burrowing Into My Eye

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I Wore Contact Lenses to the Pool and My Optician Showed Me What Was Burrowing Into My Eye

Millions of contact lens wearers swim without removing their lenses, assuming chlorine makes it safe. What they don’t know is that soft lenses act as a sponge for dangerous single-celled organisms that can burrow into your cornea, potentially causing permanent vision loss. One afternoon in the pool could trigger a year-long infection.

The Invisible Threat Hiding in Your Tap Water: How Contact Lenses Create the Perfect Breeding Ground for a Dangerous Parasite

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The Invisible Threat Hiding in Your Tap Water: How Contact Lenses Create the Perfect Breeding Ground for a Dangerous Parasite

A tiny, resilient organism called Acanthamoeba lurks in nearly every water source, but it becomes dangerous only when a contact lens creates the perfect conditions for infection. Most contact lens wearers unknowingly expose themselves to this risk daily—and doctors frequently misdiagnose the resulting infections, sometimes for over a month.