California ophthalmologist removes 23 contact lens from patient’s eye

A doctor in the United States has removed 23 contact lenses from the eye of a patient who “forgot to take them out” for almost a month. The woman kept putting new lenses in every morning without removing the set from the day before.

Dr Katerina Kurteeva posted pictures of her teasing the lenses from underneath a woman’s eyelid. According to the California ophthalmologist’s post on Instagram, the patient put in a new set of lenses for 23 days in a row without ever taking the previous day’s out.

Posting on the California Eye Associates Instagram page, she wrote:

“A rare occasion when someone ‘forgot’ to remove contact lenses at night and kept on putting a new one in every morning. 23 days in a row!!!”

Elaborating in a separate Instagram post, she wrote:

“Over a million views, glad to have an opportunity to educate the public about contact lens hygiene.

“I have carefully separated all the contact lenses and counted a total of 23. I had to use a very fine surgical instrument, a jeweller’s forceps, to separate the contact lenses.

“They were essentially glued together after sitting under the eyelid for a month.”

Dr Kurteeva added…

“In nearly 20 years of practice, I had never seen anything like it. The patient couldn’t believe it either and asked if I was sure about the number.”

She added that the patient was sent away with eye drops and was feeling “better already,” which is more than can be said for the British tourist who lost an eye recently after contracting an infection in Pattaya.