Why do my eyes hurt after I remove my contact lenses?
My eyes hurt once I've taken out my contacts. Like something is in it, but nothing is. It hurts until I wake up in the morning. Is it something to worry about?
Contact lenses create an local environment under the lens which the eye surface becomes tolerant to. When you remove the lens, there is a more direct introduction of atmospheric conditions to the eye surface and it has to re-adapt. For most, this is a simple and quick adjustment but some will experience a certain degree of discomfort and a foreign body sensation can also occur. The fact that you have this for a prolonged period suggests a problem with tear flow or composition or perhaps the fit of the lens. This would be usefully discussed with your ophthalmologist.
This question was originally answered on Nov. 6, 2012.