So You Lost Your Contact Lens in Your Eye. Here’s Exactly What to Do

Just don’t flush your eye with tap water, Dr. Thau warns. “If your eye is irritated, there can be [microscopic tears or scratches], and microorganisms can get into your eye,” causing an infection, she says. And never squirt a contact-lens solution that contains hydrogen peroxide directly into your eye—again, any version of rewetting drops or regular ol’ saline is best here.

If you’re struggling to get the liquid into your eye without blinking, it might help to enlist a trusted friend to carefully drop it into the corner of your eye while you look away.

Look in the opposite direction of where you think the lens is located, and lift your lid to find it and maneuver it out.

You can do a little manipulation with your fingers to access and nudge out the lens—but before you put your hands anywhere near your eyes, give them a good wash first. You don’t want to mistakenly transport bacteria right onto your eyeball, Dr. Brisette says.

From there, do your best to assess where you think it is, even if you aren’t totally sure. Generally, it’s more likely to be under your upper lid because there’s more area and the stronger muscle is more likely to pull the lens up. Then, look away from that direction to locate it—so if you think it’s under your upper lid toward the right, lift the lid and look down and toward the left. A flashlight or phone light can help you spot it, Dr. Thau says, because contacts typically have a slight blue tint that can reflect in the light. “When you see it, lightly touch it with the tip of your finger and gently drag down and pinch it out,” she says. You always want to grab it when it’s over the white part of your eye—not on your colored iris or pupil, as this area is shielded by the cornea, which will “hurt like crazy if you scratch it,” Dr. Thau says. For the same reason, never use a sharp object like tweezers near your eye, Dr. Brisette says. It might seem like a good way to get leverage and pluck out the lens, but you risk poking your eye or otherwise causing serious damage.

If you truly have no idea where the thing is, you can also just try some gentle massage over your full eyelid to see if you can get it to come down, Dr. Brisette says. (Touching your lid is always a safer bet than poking around your actual eyeball while searching for it.) She also recommends continually flushing your eye if you’re having trouble, as the additional liquid will help it slip around more easily, perhaps to a place where you can see it.

If you can’t find it after a little while, try inverting your eyelid.

This means flipping your eyelid inside out, and it can admittedly be a little challenging to do on your own. “Look down, grab your [top] eyelashes, and pull the lid down and out slightly,” Dr. Thau instructs. “Then, push on the crease of the eyelid with a cotton swab and flip the lid up.” It can feel really uncomfortable, so you may want to enlist that trusted friend or loved one for help at this point—just make sure they wash their hands thoroughly before going anywhere near your eyes. Recruiting a fellow contact-wearer is even better.

Your eye should expel the lens eventually, but if you’re still uncomfortable, call your eye doctor.

“If it really gets tucked up there, it can be especially difficult to find,” Dr. Thau says. It can also just be pretty hard to examine your own eye in the mirror, Dr. Brisette points out, because you might be trying to look in a certain direction with the affected eye while using the other to locate the contact—but your eyes of course move in unison.