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Why Do My Contacts Get Cloudy?


Cloudy contact lenses can be caused by several different factors. If a contact lens is supposed to correct your vision, having lenses become blurry defeats the purpose of wearing them in the first place. Fortunately, there are many solutions to protein deposits, and preventing cloudy contacts starts with proper lens care.

For most, they simply need purchase the proper lens cleaning solution for their lenses. Visit our solutions and cleaners section to shop for new contact lens drops.

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Contact Lens Solution

What causes Contact Lenses to Cloud Up?


Cloudy and blurry contacts are generally caused by one of four factors.
  1. Protein Deposit Buildup
  2. Dry-Eye Syndrome, or dry lenses
  3. Contact Lens Deterioration and Scratching
  4. Non Contact-Lens Related Blurriness

Protein Buildup: The most common cause of contact lens blurriness is the buildup of protein on the surface of the lens. Everyone's eyes are naturally designed to self-clean through tear production. While normally this works to provide clear comfortable vision, your eyes weren't designed for contact lens wear, and contacts will disrupt this cleaning process. Protein and other oils that are found in your tears have a tendency to attach themselves to the microscopic grooves found in most contact lenses, and any outside contaminants that would normally get cleared away also have a chance to attach to the contact lens as well. After an extended period of time, this accumulates a film over the top of the lens, resulting in distorted, blurry, and cloudy vision.

Dry-Eye Cloudiness: Additional to protein and particle buildup, foggy contacts may result from inflamed and dried-out eyes, which is typically associated with dry-eye syndrome. Dry eye syndrome not only can cause cloudy vision, but can also result in an increased susceptibility to infection and damage.

Lens Deterioration: Lens cloudiness may also result from deterioration of the contact lens itself. This is usually caused by external scratching, wearing a lens for longer than it's designed for, or using corrosive chemicals to wash contacts with. It's extremely important to wash your contacts with only proper saline solutions, as chemicals can not only damage your lenses, but also damage your eyes when your contacts are later applied.

Non-Lens Related Cloudy Vision: Finally, some people may experience cloudy vision, and later find that their contact lenses aren't the cause of their vision blurring. This may be a sign of a more serious eye condition, and if vision blurring, or gradual vision loss is experienced, it's important to meet with your eye doctor immediately to determine if the condition is serious, preventable, and treatable.

How to Prevent and Treat Cloudy Vision from Contact Lens Wear



Making sure to keep a regular cleaning schedule is critical to proper contact lens care. Cleaning your contacts on a daily basis will ensure that you don't accumulate more than a day's worth of protein deposits at a single time.

Additional to keeping a regular cleaning schedule, some may find rewetting drops and lens solution drops to be helpful for reducing eye-dryness and protein buildup during regular wear.

Finally, some may simply find they they'll get better results with specific brands and styles of contacts than others would. Shopping for the right type of contacts starts with consulting your eye doctor. After a prescription is obtained, save money by purchasing your contact lenses online at AC Lens.


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