I left my contacts on in the pool, and now my eyes hurt. Should I be worried?

Question

Luckily after 1 lap I noticed and took them off. After that my eyes became irritated.

Answer 1

Your eyes are irritated but not likely from chlorine.  I would check the alkalinity of the water, should be 7.4.  Chlorine is supposed to be 1-3ppm with 5max.  

A likely candidate is chloramine or combined chlorine.  In concentrations as little as 0.2ppm it is enough to cause irritation and burning of mucus membranes, eyes, nose and throat are some of the areas.

Solution?  Super chlorinate the pool raising the chlorine level 10x the free chlorine amount.  Best done when the sun is off the pool and use liquid pool chlorine for best results.  Test water next day for correct levels.

You're welcome!!

Answer 2

Just leave them out for awhile. You'll be okay.

Answer 3

Your eyes are probably just irritated from the chlorine...you probably should take your contacts out for a while to give your eyes a break and let them soak in the disinfectant stuff for a few hours to make sure they're not contaminated.  

Answer 4

Hey Andrew.  I used to (back in my twenties) pass out with my contact lenses in; when I woke up all I saw was foggy impressions.  Just take them out, soak them in saline, you might want a saline drop for your eyes but trust me, honestly Andrew you will be just fine with NO permanent damage.

Fears abated!

Mustang