pop!

recently our friend jeremi stopped over and couldn't find his way out of our cozy apartment.  alas, we all sat down with a beer and got to talking about a&p.  he studied neurophysiology, so he appeared less bored than many of my other friends who "get" to learn all about the human body when they hang out with me these days.


anyway, he made a comment that triggered my google search button, and in turn, my blogger keyboard.  he wishes he could wear contact lenses but he claims his eyeballs build pressure and change shape when he exercises and the contacts pop off his eyeball.  what?!?!  i've never heard such a thing.  and despite some significant research, i couldn't find anything reliable to prove or disprove jeremi's theory.  but i did find an interesting (although also unreliable) q&a about sunbathing with contact lenses.

Q: If you sunbathe while wearing contact lenses, is there a potential problem with heat dispersal? — S., England

A: Not really, but your corneas can swell and make your lenses fit tighter, causing some temporary redness and irritation. I recommend that my patients put some form of lubricating drops in their eyes before tanning. And remember to wear protective glasses to block the really harmful UV radiation from getting to your eyes — it has been linked to cataracts, macular degeneration, etc. — Dr. Dubow

if corneas can swell from uv radiation it is not far-fetched to think they might also swell from high-intensity exercise.  but in this case, it sounds like the swollen corneas cause the contact lens to fit tighter, not to pop out of the eye.  i will be sure to ask my eye doctor about this next time i go in for my annual pupil dilation.