Contact Lenses – Can Contacts Cause Headaches?

Patients sometimes worry that trying contact lenses will be uncomfortable, or even cause headaches. This may be because they’ve known someone who had a bad experience with contact lenses, because the idea sounds uncomfortable to them, or because they tried contacts in the past and did not like the way they fit their eyes.

It’s important to know that appropriate contact lenses with the correct prescription should be very comfortable and should not at all cause headaches. Some people find that different brands feel better to them than others, but it should be relatively easy to settle on a brand of contact lenses that feel good to you so long as your prescription and eye conditions make you eligible for wearing contacts.

Not everyone is able to wear contact lenses for various reasons—sometimes dry eye syndrome, eye shape, particular allergies, or certain strong prescriptions preclude people from wearing them. If your eye doctor has prescribed contacts, you’ve been fit for them, and you are experiencing headaches or discomfort, contact the office right away. It’s possible that an error was made in the manufacture of your lenses, or that something is wrong with the prescription. Most people take some time to adjust to contact lenses, but this should happen within a few minutes or more before you don’t even realize you’re wearing them.

Even if your contact lenses are the correct prescription and fit, headaches can happen due to other vision-related difficulties like computer vision syndrome. Though contacts do not aggravate computer vision syndrome, some people may blink less when using a computer screen and wearing contacts. The lenses can dry out when this happens and begin causing discomfort that may lead to headaches. Additionally, you may be experiencing another undiagnosed ailment like sinus problems or the onset of allergies.

If you are ever concerned about your vision or eyewear, call us right away. If you are testing contacts and experiencing headaches, see if wearing your glasses helps. If not, it may be one of the other possible issues. Be sure to let the doctor know if you are only experiencing headaches with your contact lenses and we will try to solve this problem so that you can find contact lenses that work for you!