If you can’t find your contact lens and aren’t sure whether it fell out or slid somewhere under your eyelid, there are a few reliable ways to figure out what happened. The most common signs that a lens is still in your eye are a persistent foreign-body sensation, excessive tearing, and blurry vision that doesn’t match your other eye. A lens that’s truly gone will leave your eye feeling normal within a few minutes.
Signs the Lens Is Still There
A contact lens that has slid off your cornea but remains somewhere in your eye will usually make itself known. You’ll feel a scratchy, gritty sensation, especially when you blink. Your eye may water more than usual as it tries to flush out what it perceives as a foreign object. You might also notice localized redness on the white of your eye, particularly in the area where the lens has settled.
One quick test: cover your other eye and check your vision. If the eye in question sees clearly (at your corrected prescription level), the lens is likely still on your cornea, just slightly off-center. If your vision is blurry in that eye but the other eye sees fine with its lens in, the contact has either shifted significantly or fallen out entirely.
Where Contacts Typically Hide
A displaced lens almost always slides up under your upper eyelid, settling into the pocket of tissue (called the fornix) above your eyeball. Less commonly, it drifts to the inner or outer corner of the eye. The lens can also fold in half, making it harder to feel and even harder to spot.
One thing you don’t need to worry about: the lens cannot travel behind your eyeball. A continuous membrane lines the inside of your eyelids and connects to the surface of your eye, creating a sealed pocket. There’s physically no path for a contact to reach the back of your eye socket. If it’s not on your face, your clothes, or the floor, it’s in that pocket somewhere.
How to Search Your Eye
Start by washing your hands thoroughly. Then stand in front of a well-lit mirror and follow these steps:
- Look in all directions. While holding your eyelids open, look up, down, left, and right. A displaced lens will sometimes become visible at the edge of your iris as you move your eye.
- Check under your lower lid. Pull your lower eyelid down gently and look for the lens tucked along the bottom.
- Flip your upper eyelid. This is where lost lenses hide most often. Place a cotton swab or clean fingertip across the top of your upper lid, then gently fold the lid upward over it. Look in the mirror (or have someone else look) for the lens sitting on the pink tissue underneath.
- Close your eye and massage gently. If you can feel the lens but can’t see it, close your eye and use light circular motions on your eyelid. This can coax the lens down toward the front of your eye where you can reach it.
Soft lenses are nearly transparent, so you’re often feeling for it more than looking for it. A folded soft lens will feel like a small, firm bump under your lid when you press lightly through the skin.
Getting a Stuck Lens Out Safely
Dryness is the main reason a lens gets stuck. When the lens loses moisture, it grips the surface of your eye or the tissue under your lid. The fix is to rehydrate it before trying to move it.
Apply several drops of saline solution, rewetting drops, or sterile eye wash directly into your eye. Let the liquid flow over the lens for a few seconds. Then blink repeatedly. Your natural tear production combined with the added moisture will often loosen the lens enough for it to slide back onto your cornea on its own.
If blinking doesn’t do it, close your eye and gently massage your upper eyelid, pressing lightly downward toward your cornea. You should be able to feel the moment the lens loosens and shifts. Once it moves to the front of your eye, you can remove it as you normally would.
A few things to avoid: don’t use tweezers, don’t try to scrape the lens off with a dry finger, and don’t rub your eye aggressively. All of these risk scratching your cornea, which is painful and can lead to infection.
When It Probably Fell Out
Contacts fall out more often than people realize, especially during activities like rubbing your eyes, toweling off after a shower, or playing sports. If your eye feels completely normal with no scratchiness, tearing, or irritation within 10 to 15 minutes, the lens most likely isn’t in there. Check your clothes, the sink, the floor, and your eyelashes before assuming it’s still lodged somewhere.
If you wear daily disposable lenses, the simplest approach is to put in a fresh lens. If your vision corrects normally and the eye feels comfortable, the old one fell out.
Risks of a Retained Lens
A contact lens left in your eye for an extended period can cause real problems. The lens traps bacteria against your eye’s surface and blocks oxygen from reaching your cornea. This creates conditions for corneal ulcers, which are open sores on the clear front layer of your eye, typically caused by infection. Other complications include conjunctivitis (pink eye) and corneal abrasions.
These conditions can develop quickly. If you’ve been unable to locate or remove a lens and you notice increasing pain, sensitivity to light, discharge, or worsening redness, an eye care provider can find and remove the lens safely. They have specialized tools and magnification that make locating a folded, transparent lens much easier than doing it yourself in a bathroom mirror.