Smoking is notoriously bad for your physical health, as it is often linked to severe health conditions such as cancer. However, smoking is also detrimental to your eye health. In fact, fewer than 10% of smokers realise smoking can affect their eye health, compared to 92% of smokers associating the habit with lung cancer and 87% identifying a link between smoking and the risk of heart disease. Experts have warned that smoking may cause long-lasting damage to your eyesight — or even cause blindness. From a short-term perspective, tobacco smoke can also cause dry eye syndrome, which leads to irritated and painful eyes.

In a previous post on how smoking affects contact lens wearers, we emphasised that cigarette smoke and the chemicals in cigarettes can enter the bloodstream, restricting blood flow to the retina. This causes itchy or dry eyes, making contact lens adherence almost impossible. Below, we’ll delve deeper into what smokers can do to preserve their contact lenses and boost eye care:

Swap out cigarettes for oral nicotine products

As mentioned above, cigarette smoke can damage your eyes and cause irritating dryness exacerbated by your contacts. As such, smokers should look for smoke-free alternatives to cigarettes. Oral nicotine products such as nicotine pouches, gum, and lozenges are currently the most popular products on the market. Unlike traditional tobacco products, these are 100% tobacco-free and smokeless. Newer nicotine pouches from brands like ZYN, VELO, or On! are also super discreet, so you can use them wherever you are. On the other hand, nicotine gums and lozenges are relatively older and approved forms of nicotine replacement therapy to help smokers quit. Still, new smoke-free alternatives are constantly being developed to help smokers ease the habit and to prevent long-term damage to their contacts.

Clean your contacts regularly

Knowing how to take care of your contact lenses will also help preserve them — this is especially important if you’re a smoker, as your hands may carry particles and dirt from the cigarette or smoke. These can quickly transfer onto your lenses and your eyes, causing irritation or damage. Effective lens care involves proper and regular cleaning, and using the appropriate cleaning solutions. Hydrogen peroxide is a strong oxidiser, making it an effective cleaning and disinfecting agent. Hydrogen peroxide removes stubborn protein deposits and biofilms more effectively than multipurpose and saline solutions. When using hydrogen peroxide, follow the instructions to ensure safe and effective lens cleaning, including the recommended soaking time and what neutralising agent to use.

Keep your eyes moist

Last but not least, as mentioned in our introduction, dry eyes paired with contacts can be irritating or painful. Unfortunately for smokers, cigarette smoke tends to dry up your eyes. To prevent eye infections, it’s essential to keep your eyes and contacts lubricated. However, note that water and contact lenses don’t mix. Wearing your contacts in the shower or a pool can diminish their quality and cause eye inflammation or even severe eye-threatening complications. You must only use lubricant or re-wetting drops for your contacts to prevent lens damage. Water can also alter the shape of your contacts, damaging the cornea. If your contacts come into contact with water, you should immediately clean or discard them.

Ultimately, the best advice for smokers to preserve their contact lenses (and eye health) is to quit the habit entirely. However, this is often easier said than done. Aside from looking for smoke-free alternatives, it’s crucial to take extra care of your contacts to avoid worsening the effects of smoking on your contacts and eyes.