It happens in a split second. You go to rub your eye or try to fish out a lens that feels a bit wonky, and suddenly—poof. It’s gone. You look in the mirror, and there’s nothing on your cornea. You poke around the edges. Still nothing.
The immediate thought is usually: "Is it behind my brain?"
Honestly, it feels like it. That scratchy, foreign-body sensation is enough to make anyone lose their cool. But here is the biological reality: it is physically impossible for a contact lens to slide behind your eyeball and get lost in your head. There’s a specialized membrane called the conjunctiva that folds back on itself, creating a sealed pocket. It’s a dead end.
While it might feel like the lens is on a journey to your frontal lobe, it’s actually just folded up and tucked into the "basement" of your eyelid. Knowing how to get contact out from behind eye is mostly about patience, lubrication, and resisting the urge to cheese-grater your eyeball with your fingernails.
The Anatomy of Why You Aren't Going Blind
Your eye has a built-in safety net. The fornix is the deepest part of the conjunctival sac—the fold where the lining of the eyelid meets the lining of the eyeball. Think of it like the crack in a sofa. Things get lost in there, but they can't fall through to the floor.
The lens usually gets stuck because it’s dehydrated. When a soft contact lens loses moisture, it shrinks and becomes "tacky." It sticks to the underside of the lid rather than gliding over the surface of the eye. This is especially common if you’ve fallen asleep in your lenses or if you’ve been staring at a computer screen for eight hours without blinking.
Dr. Jennifer Fogt, an associate professor at the Ohio State University College of Optometry, often notes that the sensation of a "lost" lens is frequently just a corneal abrasion. You might have already blinked the lens out onto the floor without noticing, but the scratch it left behind feels exactly like a lens is still stuck there.
Step 1: The Flush and Blink Method
Before you start digging, you need to turn your eye into a slip-and-slide. If the lens is stuck, it’s because it’s dry. Adding friction by poking it with a dry finger will only make it adhere tighter or, worse, tear the lens.
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Grab some preservative-free saline or rewetting drops. Don’t use tap water. Ever. Tap water contains Acanthamoeba, a nasty little parasite that loves to eat corneal tissue.
Flood the eye. I mean really soak it. Tilt your head back and drop 5-10 drops in there. Now, close your eye and gently—gently—massage the eyelid in a circular motion. You’re trying to break the suction. After a few seconds, look down toward your nose and blink rapidly.
Oftentimes, this lubrication is all the eye needs to float the lens back into the center. You’ll see a little edge of clear plastic peek out from under the lid.
Don't Dig: Use the Eyelid Flip Instead
If the "flush and blink" didn't work, the lens is likely tucked way up under the upper lid. This is the most common hiding spot.
You’ve gotta be brave for this part.
- Look all the way down. This relaxes the muscles and pulls the "pocket" open.
- Grab your upper eyelashes and gently pull the lid out and down over the lower lid.
- Release.
Sometimes, the lower lashes act like a little squeegee, grabbing the edge of the lost lens and pulling it down as the upper lid slides back up.
If it's still being stubborn, you can try the "eyelid eversion." This is what eye docs do. You place a Q-tip horizontally across the outside of your upper lid, grab the lashes, and flip the lid inside out over the Q-tip. It looks terrifying in the mirror, but it doesn't actually hurt. Once the lid is flipped, you’ll usually see the lens sitting there like a shriveled piece of saran wrap.
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When the Sensation Lingers (The Phantom Lens)
Here’s the thing: you might find the lens, take it out, and still feel like it's in there.
This is the "foreign body sensation."
If you spent twenty minutes poking at your eye, you've likely caused minor irritation to the epithelium, the top layer of the cornea. It’s extremely sensitive. Even a microscopic scratch feels like a boulder.
If you can see your entire iris clearly and you’ve searched the fornix (the folds), and you still feel something, stop. Give it a rest. If the eye isn't excessively red and your vision is clear, the sensation will usually fade in a few hours.
Why Lenses Get "Lost" in the First Place
Most people who search for how to get contact out from behind eye are using soft lenses. Hard lenses (GP or Scleral) rarely do this; they usually just pop out entirely.
- Dryness: The #1 culprit. Dehydrated lenses lose their shape.
- Eye Rubbing: Hard, horizontal rubbing can fold a lens in half and shove it upward.
- Poor Fit: If a lens is too flat for your eye's curvature, it’s more prone to sliding off-center.
- Sleep: Your eyes dry out significantly when closed, causing the lens to migrate.
If this is happening to you more than once a month, your fit is wrong. You might need a lens with a different "base curve" or a different material that retains moisture better. Mention it to your optometrist; they aren't going to judge you, but they will probably check your lids for Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis (GPC), which can make lenses "crawl" up the eye.
When to Actually Call a Doctor
You don't need an ER visit for a stuck contact 99% of the time. However, there are a few "red flag" scenarios where you should stop DIY-ing and call your eye doc’s emergency line.
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If your eye is becoming "angry red"—not just pink, but deep, beefy red—that’s a problem. If your vision is blurry even after you think you got the lens out, or if you see a white spot on your cornea, you might have an ulcer or a serious scratch.
Also, if the lens actually tears while it's in your eye, don't leave the fragments in there. Small shards of silicone hydrogel can cause recurring infections. An optometrist has a slit-lamp (a high-powered microscope) and special yellow dye called fluorescein that makes lens fragments glow under blue light. They can find a microscopic piece of plastic in seconds that would take you hours to find.
Actionable Steps for the Next 10 Minutes
If you are currently reading this with one eye squinted shut and a lens stuck in the "void," do this:
- Wash your hands with soap and dry them with a lint-free towel. Wet, soapy fingers make everything worse.
- Dump a generous amount of saline into the eye. Don't be stingy.
- Look in the opposite direction of where you think the lens is. If it’s stuck at the top, look down. If it’s stuck to the left, look right. This moves the lens toward the center.
- Use a mirror with good lighting. Use your phone’s flashlight if you have to.
- Check the floor. Seriously. Half the time, the lens fell out five minutes ago and you’re just poking an irritated, empty eye.
Once you get it out, do not put a new lens in that eye for at least 24 hours. Your cornea needs to breathe and heal. Use preservative-free artificial tears every hour to help the surface cells regenerate. If the pain gets worse instead of better after the lens is gone, get an appointment scheduled for the next morning.
The "lost" lens is a rite of passage for contact wearers. It’s annoying, it’s a bit scary, and it feels gross. But remember: your eye is a sealed system. It isn't going anywhere. Relax your eye muscles, hydrate the lens, and it will eventually come out.
Next Steps for Long-Term Comfort:
- Switch to Daily Disposables: If you have chronic dryness causing lenses to stick, dailies are thinner and hold more water.
- Check Your Base Curve: Ask your doctor if a steeper base curve would prevent the lens from sliding off the cornea.
- Keep "Emergency Saline": Always have a small bottle of saline in your bag; using spit or tap water to "fix" a stuck lens is a recipe for a fungal infection.