It happens to the best of us. You’re standing in front of the bathroom mirror, poking at your eyeball, and suddenly—poof. The lens is gone. You didn’t see it fall into the sink, so it must be in there somewhere. It feels like a scratchy piece of gravel is lodged under your eyelid, and your eye is starting to turn a lovely shade of lobster red. Don't freak out.
Honestly, the biggest mistake people make when a contact stuck in eye situation occurs is aggressive rubbing. Stop doing that immediately. Your eyelid is basically a pocket; a contact lens cannot physically slip behind your eye and get lost in your brain. There is a membrane called the conjunctiva that seals the back of your eye. The lens is trapped, sure, but it’s still in the "front office."
If you're currently squinting at this screen with one eye watering like a faucet, take a breath. We’re going to get it out.
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Why Your Lens Decided to Hide
Most of the time, a lens migrates because your eyes are too dry or you rubbed them too hard. When the cornea loses moisture, the lens loses its grip and its shape. It can fold in half like a taco and slide up under the superior fornix (the deep fold under your upper eyelid). Soft lenses are the usual suspects here because they are flexible and thin.
Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) lenses—the "hard" ones—usually stay put, but if they do shift, they can suction onto the white of your eye (the sclera). This requires a slightly different approach than the soft lens wiggle.
How to Find a Contact Stuck in Eye
First things first: wash your hands. Use plain soap. Avoid anything with heavy perfumes, oils, or lotions, because getting Lavender-Vanilla moisturizer on your cornea is going to make your current problem feel like a walk in the park.
Once your hands are dry (use a lint-free towel!), stand in a well-lit area with a mirror. Pull your lower lid down and look up. Then, pull your upper lid up and look down. You're looking for a tiny, translucent edge or a slight wrinkle on the surface of your eye. If you still can't see it, try to feel where the irritation is coming from. Usually, the lens is exactly where the scratchiness is most intense.
The Saline Trick
If the lens is stuck because it’s bone-dry, it might be literally suctioned to your conjunctiva. Pulling on a dry lens can cause a corneal abrasion. Instead, flood the eye.
Use a generous amount of sterile saline solution or rewetting drops. Avoid tap water. I cannot stress this enough—do not use tap water. Tap water contains microorganisms like Acanthamoeba which can cause sight-threatening infections. Stick to the bottled stuff.
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Close your eye and gently massage your eyelid in a circular motion. This often rehydrates the lens, allowing it to "un-taco" itself and slide back toward the center of your eye where you can grab it.
Flipping the Lid
If the lens is stubbornly stuck under the upper eyelid, you might need to get a little more invasive. This is a trick many optometrists, like those at the American Academy of Ophthalmology, suggest for stubborn debris.
- Look down into a mirror.
- Grasp your upper eyelashes gently.
- Place a cotton swab (Q-tip) horizontally on the outside of your upper lid.
- Flip the lid upward over the swab.
It looks terrifying, but it doesn’t actually hurt. This exposes the "pocket" where lenses love to hide. If you see the lens, use a finger wetted with saline to gently slide it down.
What if it’s a Hard Lens?
RGP lenses are a different beast. If a hard contact stuck in eye happens, do not massage the eyelid. You could accidentally press the edge of the firm plastic into the eye's surface.
Instead, use your finger to apply gentle pressure on the edge of the lens to break the suction. If you have one of those tiny suction-cup removal tools that come with RGP kits, now is the time to use it. If not, try to use the "blink method": pull the outer corner of your eye toward your ear and blink forcefully.
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When to Give Up and Call a Doctor
Sometimes, you just can't get it. Maybe the eye is too swollen, or maybe the lens has actually fallen out and you're just feeling the ghost sensation of a scratch.
If your eye is intensely painful, light-sensitive, or if your vision is significantly blurred after you think you've removed the lens, call an urgent care center or your optometrist. You might have a corneal abrasion. This is basically a paper cut on your eye. It’s not the end of the world, but it needs professional attention and usually some antibiotic drops to prevent infection.
The "Ghost Lens" Phenomenon
There’s a very real thing where you feel like you have a contact stuck in eye, but the lens is actually sitting on your bathroom counter. If you’ve scratched your eye while trying to find the lens, the scratch (abrasion) feels exactly like a foreign body.
Every time you blink, your eyelid rubs over the scratch, tricking your brain into thinking the lens is still there. If you’ve flushed the eye for 15 minutes and looked everywhere and still see nothing, there's a good chance the lens is gone and you're just feeling the aftermath.
Preventing the Next Disappearing Act
Lenses usually migrate because of bad habits. If you sleep in lenses that aren't rated for overnight wear, they dehydrate and move. If you use "redness relief" drops instead of lubricating drops, you’re actually drying the eye out further over time.
- Hydrate: Drink water. If you’re dehydrated, your eyes are dry.
- Blink more: Especially if you work at a computer. We blink 60% less when looking at screens.
- Replace your case: A dirty case leads to protein buildup on the lens, making it "sticky."
- Check the fit: If this happens weekly, your lenses might be the wrong base curve for your eye shape.
Your Immediate Action Plan
If you are reading this while the lens is currently MIA:
- Stop rubbing. You’re making the inflammation worse.
- Wash your hands with non-moisturizing soap.
- Flush the eye with sterile saline for at least 30 seconds.
- Look in all four corners (Up-Left, Up-Right, Down-Left, Down-Right) while holding your lids open.
- Massage gently through the closed lid to move the lens toward the center.
- Use a mirror and a friend if you have one nearby; a second pair of eyes is invaluable.
If the eye remains red and painful for more than two hours after you think the lens is out, get it checked by a pro. Most optometrists keep "emergency" slots open for exactly this reason. Better a 15-minute office visit than a week-long infection.
Once the lens is out, give your eyes a break. Wear your glasses for the rest of the day. Your cornea needs oxygen to heal from the stress of the "search and rescue" mission you just performed. Throw that specific lens away—if it was stuck and folded, it’s likely damaged or covered in debris that you don't want to put back in your eye tomorrow.