Advertisement

Woman makes disturbing discovery 28 years after losing contact lens

A woman who lost a contact lens as a 14-year-old playing badminton has found it again in her eye – 28 years later.

The 42-year-old woman from the UK had gone to see a doctor about a swollen eye and drooping eyelid, but when doctors took an MRI, they found something surprising.

The contact lens that the woman assumed had been knocked out 28 years ago had actually moved upwards, lodging just above her left eye, according to a case study in the journal BMJ Case Reports.

The woman presented to doctors with a slightly swollen and drooping eyelid. Source: BMJ Case Reports
The woman presented to doctors with a slightly swollen and drooping eyelid. Source: BMJ Case Reports
An X-ray shows a cyst above the woman’s left eye. Source: BMJ Case Reports
An X-ray shows a cyst above the woman’s left eye. Source: BMJ Case Reports

The MRI had revealed a cyst, which doctors surgically removed.

Inside that cyst was a fragile, hardened RGP (rigid gas permeable) lens.

The doctors could not come to a conclusion on why it had taken nearly three decades for the embedded contact lens to cause swelling or discomfort.

Initially, the 42-year-old woman could not remember how the contact lens could have remain lodged in her eye – until her mother reminded her of the badminton incident.

Doctors removed a cyst and found a hardened contact lens inside. Source: BMJ Case Reports
Doctors removed a cyst and found a hardened contact lens inside. Source: BMJ Case Reports

“At the time she did have eyelid swelling which eventually resolved with conservative management from the GP,” the report notes.

“The patient never wore RGP lenses following this incident.

“We can infer that the RGP lens migrated into the patient’s left upper eyelid at the time of trauma and had been in situ for 28 years.”