four eyes

September 8, 2011

limbic hyperemia
[or something like that]


so i’m out of my contacts right now. my left eye has been turning red off-and-on over the past 3 weeks or so. at first i thought it was conjunctivitis [gross], but there were never any of the telltale signs [you know: crusting, goopy discharge, pain — all of the things that put conjunctivitis on the top 10 list of gross and slightly embarrassing medical issues].

it seemed to be related to my contacts. i’d give them a break for a day and things looked better, only for the redness to return by the end of the next day’s wear. finally, i stopped playing the google-diagnosis-game [yes, MDs do this too] and went to the eye doctor.

she took a look and assured me it was not conjunctivitis [good]; the redness was localized to specific areas and she could see that the eye was actually inflamed in those spots [not good]. she called it limbic hyperemia, and thought that the most likely culprit was that the blood flow changes and fluid shifts in pregnancy had already caused my contact lens to become TOO TIGHT. yes, along with my skinny jeans, i guess i need to say goodbye to my current size of eyewear.


luckily, it’s not such a big deal — she felt the redness would go away after some time away from contact lenses, and then i can try contacts again — in a looser, more forgiving fit with extra oxygen permeability to boot. the only problem?


THIS is how i feel about spending the next week or so in glasses. y’all, these aren’t any ordinary glasses. my contact lens prescription is for -12.0 and -11.50, which is ophthalmology-ese for PRACTICALLY BLIND. the above side view gives you an idea of the lens thickness [and that’s with the top-of-the-line, most $$$ compression available] and the eye/face-distortion is uhhh, less than flattering.

i guess the only thing to console myself with is that it’s for a good reason! perhaps the universe is trying to rid me of my vanities before i wind up dressed in a muu-muu postpartum covered in baby puke.

well, anyway. happy thursday to you, too!

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