{"id":917232,"date":"2026-07-06T22:24:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T22:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/917232\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T22:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T22:24:24","slug":"why-you-shouldnt-wear-contact-lenses-on-airplanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/917232\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you shouldn’t wear contact lenses on airplanes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Tis the season for travel, but here\u2019s some insightful information for jet-setting contact wearers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When packing for a summer trip, you may be tempted to leave your eyeglasses at home and just wear contact lenses on the plane.<\/p>\n

Before you whip out your boarding pass, though, you may want to reconsider swapping for your specs \u2014 lest you end up with some pretty painful side effects.<\/p>\n

\"WomanIt\u2019s tempting to ditch the eyeglasses before a vacation, but wearing contact lenses on a plane can sometimes be a no go. Anastasiya \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Contacts aren\u2019t always off limits \u2014 it really depends on a few key factors.<\/p>\n

Dr. Priya M. Mathews<\/a>, the Director of Cornea and Ocular Surface Disease at the Center for Sight, says a short hop \u2014 say, from New York to Florida \u2014 should be fine for keeping those contacts in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your eyes are healthy, the flight is short to moderate in length, and you do not plan to sleep during the flight, it is generally OK to wear contact lenses,\u201d Mathews, a cataract, LASIK and corneal surgeon, told The Post.<\/p>\n

But there are situations when those glasses could be a sight for sore eyes \u2014 literally.<\/p>\n

For one, on long flights \u2014 like that summer trip to Europe. That\u2019s because the air circulating in the cabin<\/a> is super dry, so the longer you\u2019re exposed to it, the more dried-out your eyes \u2014 and contacts \u2014 can become.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome contact lens wearers notice that their eyes feel uncomfortable, gritty, or sensitive on airplanes,\u201d Mathews explained. \u201cMany are surprised to learn that these symptoms are often related to dry eye worsening in the cabin environment, leading to discomfort, redness, irritation or pain,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The cabin is also pressurized for the high altitude, which reduces oxygen intake for your eyes. Combined with dryness, a whole host of gruesome problems can arise.<\/p>\n

In some worst-case scenarios, your contacts could suction to your eyeball or you might experience micro-tearing on the eyes\u2019 surface. Those scratches \u2014 plus tight quarters with other travelers \u2014 can leave you at higher risk of infection.<\/p>\n

\"Close-upWhile wearing lenses on shorter flights is fine, avoid putting them in if the eyes are dry, irritated or you have an infection. daniiD \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Besides causing pain and discomfort, these issues could become severe enough to lead to temporary (or even, in rare cases, permanent) vision loss.<\/p>\n

Dr. Arjan Hura<\/a>, a board-certified cataract and anterior segment surgeon at the Maloney-Shamie-Hura Vision Institute in Los Angeles, also warns against sleeping with contacts in because it can \u201csignificantly increase the risk of an eye infection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, Hura added, you should always opt for glasses if your eyes are already red, irritated or light sensitive, or if you have a pre-existing infection.<\/p>\n

What should you do if you are wearing contacts?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re already wearing them and notice some dryness, practicing good hygiene by washing your hands can help alleviate symptoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to washing hands\u2026 making sure there is appropriate contact lens solution available, replacing the solution every time, using proper contact lens cases and avoiding washing the contacts with tap water can all help prevent infection,\u201d Hura said.<\/p>\n

He also recommends using artificial tears, replacing the lenses with new ones or taking a temporary break.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re wearing dailies while traveling for more than 24 hours or across multiple flights, stick to the same replacement schedule when you\u2019re not traveling.<\/p>\n

If good hygiene can\u2019t be maintained onboard, Hura suggests sticking to glasses. Both he and Mathews recommend packing a backup pair in case something happens to the lenses, case or contact solution.<\/p>\n

And speaking of solution, no need to transfer it to a TSA-compliant container.<\/p>\n

\u201cContact lens solution comes in travel-sized variants, so the solution shouldn\u2019t be transferred to a different container for ease of use, where it could get contaminated,\u201d Hura stressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018Tis the season for travel, but here\u2019s some insightful information for jet-setting contact wearers. When packing for a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":917233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[11],"tags":[71542,6335,40542,24746,8483,210,37416,1164,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-917232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-contact-lenses","tag-exclusive","tag-eyeglasses","tag-eyes","tag-flights","tag-health","tag-infections","tag-travel","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116875381245361939","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}