Rainy season eye care: floodwater, contact lenses and infection risk

Habagat season has a routine to it. The rain starts mid-afternoon, the streets fill, the commute home takes three hours, and everyone arrives soaked. Most people worry about their phone and their shoes.

The bigger risk during flood season is one almost nobody thinks about, and it applies specifically to contact lens wearers.

Why floodwater and contact lenses are a bad combination

A contact lens sits directly on the cornea and holds whatever is on it against the eye surface. That is helpful for a cleaning solution and dangerous for anything else.

Floodwater is not clean water. It carries soil, sewage overflow, animal waste and street runoff. Non-sterile water contact is a recognised risk factor for microbial keratitis, an infection of the cornea. Among the organisms associated with water exposure is Acanthamoeba, a microorganism found in soil and untreated water. Acanthamoeba keratitis is uncommon, but it is painful, difficult to treat, and can threaten sight. Contact lens wear combined with water exposure is the classic risk pattern.

Splashes are the realistic route. A passing jeepney, a tricycle through a puddle, water running off an awning onto your face. You do not need to be wading chest-deep.

What to do during flood season if you wear lenses

• Wear glasses on heavy rain days. This is the whole recommendation in one line. If the forecast says flooding, leave the lenses at home.
• Carry a spare pair of glasses. Not in your bag's outer pocket where it will get wet, but with you.
• If floodwater reaches your eyes while wearing lenses, remove them. Do not put those lenses back in. Discard daily disposables entirely.
• Never rinse lenses or a case with tap water, mineral water or rainwater. Only sterile contact lens solution. This rule applies year round and matters more in flood season.
• Do not wear lenses while swimming, and treat wading through floodwater the same way.
• Wash your hands with soap and clean water before touching your eyes at all, and if you have been in floodwater, before touching your face for any reason.

The other rainy-season problems

Conjunctivitis spreads more easily. More people indoors in crowded, humid conditions, more shared surfaces, more hand-to-eye contact on packed public transport. Do not share towels, pillowcases or eye cosmetics, and keep your hands off your eyes on the commute.

Humidity and cases. A damp contact lens case is a place bacteria like. Empty it, rub it with solution, and air-dry it face down after every use. Replace it every three months. The same humidity that fogs your glasses is working on your lens case.

Fogging is a safety issue, not just an annoyance. Stepping from aircon into wet heat blanks your lenses at exactly the moment you are crossing a flooded street with hidden kerbs and open drains. Slow down instead of walking through the fog.

Wet frames slip. Sweat and rain reduce grip at the nose pads. If your glasses are already sliding in dry weather, they will be on your nose tip in a storm.

When to get seen

Do not wait it out if you get eye pain, light sensitivity, blurred vision, discharge, or a persistent feeling that something is in your eye, particularly after any floodwater contact while wearing lenses. Remove the lens, keep it out, and get examined. Corneal infections respond far better to early treatment, and the early symptoms of a serious one look much like the early symptoms of a minor one.

Do not use leftover antibiotic drops from a previous episode. That is how a treatable infection becomes a complicated one.

Get a backup pair before the next storm

Book a Vision7 eye test at your nearest Vision Express store. Our seven-step exam includes a visual health check of the eye surface, which is exactly what you want after a flood-season scare, and it gives us the current prescription for a glasses pair you can rely on when lenses are the wrong call.

For a same-day backup, ask for Opulens Advanced 1.60 at the counter. It is in stock and your glasses are ready in 20 minutes, so you can walk out with a rain-day pair rather than planning to sort it later. Thin enough to be comfortable as an everyday spare, not just an emergency one.

If your rain-day pair is also your screen pair, ask about Opulens Ultra 1.60 instead. It holds up better against the smudging and moisture that come with wearing glasses through Philippine humidity. Also ready in 20 minutes.

Contact lenses are a separate fitting rather than a lens-counter purchase, so if you want to keep wearing them safely, book a contact lens fitting with our team in store.

Every pair includes free lifetime ultrasonic cleaning, free lifetime custom fitting and adjustment, and a one-year warranty.