Panic is usually the first thing that hits. You're standing in front of the bathroom mirror, poking at your cornea, and the lens just isn't there—or worse, it’s definitely there but won't budge. My friend Sarah once spent forty-five minutes clawing at her eye until it looked like a cherry tomato, only to realize the lens had fallen out on the sink counter twenty minutes earlier. It happens. If you can't get contact out of eye, the absolute worst thing you can do is keep digging with dry fingers. Your eye is a remarkably resilient organ, but the epithelial layer is thin. Scratching it hurts like nothing else.
Why that lens is actually stuck
Basically, your eye isn't a bottomless pit. That’s the first thing you need to internalize. There is a physical barrier called the conjunctiva that prevents anything from sliding "behind" your eyeball and getting lost in your brain. If you feel like it's back there, it’s likely just folded over in the superior fornix—the pocket under your upper eyelid.
Most of the time, the lens is stuck because it’s dehydrated. Soft contact lenses are like tiny sponges. When they dry out, they lose their lubrication and suction themselves onto the cornea. If you've been sleeping in them (we've all been there, even if our optometrists hate it) or if you’ve been staring at a computer screen for eight hours without blinking, that lens is basically shrink-wrapped to your eye.
Another culprit? Protein deposits. Over time, the film on the lens can make it tacky. Or maybe you’ve shifted the lens off-center and it’s now lodged on the white part of your eye (the sclera). The sclera isn't as moist as the cornea, so the lens grips it like a suction cup.
Stop poking and start hydrating
Before you do anything else, wash your hands. Use plain soap. Avoid the fancy stuff with perfumes or oils because getting lavender-scented moisturizer on a stuck lens is a special kind of hell.
Hydration is the secret weapon.
If the lens is stuck dead-center on your pupil, do not try to pinch it off. You'll just pinch your cornea. Instead, flood your eye with saline solution or rewetting drops. If you don’t have those, use multipurpose contact solution. Blink a lot. You want to get fluid under the edges of the lens to break the seal.
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- The "Wait and See" Method: After you drop in the saline, close your eye. Keep it closed for a full minute. Let your natural tear film and the saline work together to re-moisturize the plastic.
- The Massage Technique: While your eye is closed, very gently—and I mean gently—massage your upper lid in a circular motion. You’re trying to coax the lens into moving. If it starts to glide, you’re winning.
Hunting for the "lost" lens
If you can’t see the lens but you feel a scratchy sensation, it’s probably migrated. It's tucked under the lid.
Look in the mirror and pull your lower lid down while looking up. No lens? Okay. Now, flip your upper lid. This is the part people find gross, but it's effective. Look down into a mirror, grab your upper eyelashes, and pull the lid out and down over the lower lid. You can also use a Q-tip to gently fold the upper lid back.
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the "foreign body sensation" can persist even after the lens is out. This is a huge trap. If you have a corneal abrasion (a tiny scratch), it will feel exactly like a contact lens is still in there. People often keep digging and scratching, making the injury worse. If you’ve looked everywhere and flushed the eye but it still feels like a lens is there, stop. Just stop.
What if it's a gas permeable (hard) lens?
Hard lenses are a different beast. They don't dry out and stick the same way soft ones do, but they can migrate to the white of the eye and stay there.
Do not use the pinching method.
You need a suction cup tool—those tiny orange or green plungers—if you wear RGP (Rigid Gas Permeable) lenses. If you don't have one, you have to use the "blink out" method or use the edge of your eyelid to catch the edge of the lens and pop it up. If it's stuck on the sclera, use a finger to gently press the edge of the lens to break the suction, then slide it back toward the center of the eye where it’s easier to grab.
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Real-world risks of the "digging" habit
I spoke with an optometrist in Chicago who told me the most common injury he sees isn't from the contact itself—it's from fingernails. People get desperate. They start using their nails to "hook" the edge of the lens. This is how you end up with a fungal infection or a nasty scratch that takes a week to heal and requires antibiotic drops.
If your eye is:
- Extremely red.
- Producing yellow or green discharge.
- Experiencing sudden blurred vision.
- Light-sensitive.
Then you aren't just dealing with a stuck lens anymore. You might have an ulcer or a significant abrasion. This is the point where "doing it yourself" ends.
When to actually go to the ER or Eye Doc
Most people don't need the ER for a stuck contact, but you might need an urgent care or an after-hours optometrist. If you have spent more than an hour trying to get it out and your eye is becoming increasingly painful, you’re done.
An eye doctor has a slit-lamp microscope. They can see exactly where that lens is in about three seconds. They use a fluorescein stain—a yellow dye—that glows under blue light. This dye highlights the lens and any scratches on your eye. They can pop a stuck lens out with zero trauma to the tissue. It’s worth the co-pay to avoid permanent scarring.
Actionable steps for right now
If you are reading this while staring at a red eye in the mirror, follow this sequence:
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1. The 15-Minute Rule. If you’ve been trying for more than fifteen minutes, walk away. Your eye is inflamed and the tissues are swelling, which actually "grips" the lens tighter. Go sit in a dark room for twenty minutes.
2. The Saline Flood. Don't just use a drop. Tilt your head back and literally pour saline into the corner of your eye. Blink rapidly.
3. The Eyelid Roll. Look as far down as you can. Grab your upper lashes and pull the lid away from the eyeball. This often breaks the suction of a lens that’s migrated high up.
4. The Mirror Check. Use a secondary light (like your phone's flashlight) to look from the side. Sometimes the lens is transparent and hard to see head-on, but the flashlight will catch the edge of the plastic.
5. Check the Floor. Seriously. Half the time the lens has fallen out and you’re poking a naked, irritated eye. If the "lens" doesn't move when you blink, but your vision is blurry, it’s likely still there. If your vision is clear (and you're nearsighted), it's gone.
Moving forward, if this happens often, look into your lens material. You might need a lens with a higher water content or a different base curve. Some eyes are just "steeper" or "flatter" than the standard lens shape, which causes them to get stuck more easily. Also, ditch the habit of "topping off" solution in your case. Fresh solution every time keeps the lenses from getting that tacky, protein-heavy film that acts like glue.
If you get it out and your eye still feels "sandy" or "gritty" tomorrow morning, see a professional. That’s the classic sign of a corneal scratch. Don't put a new lens in that eye until the feeling is 100% gone. Your eyes are the only ones you've got; don't treat them like a DIY project when things get hairy.