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Fnord666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Sometimes, there's more to old age than meets the eye—sometimes, it's 27 contact lenses jammed in there [doi.org], according to a case study published this month in the British Medical Journal.

A 67-year-old British woman, complaining of eye discomfort and dryness, was scheduled last November to have routine surgery to remove cataracts when doctors discovered a "blueish mass" of 17 disposable contact lenses stuck in one of her eyes. Upon further examination, they fished out 10 more, the case study reveals.

Doctors were startled, according to Rupal Morjaria, a specialist trainee ophthalmologist on the case who spoke with Optometry Today [aop.org.uk]. "None of us have ever seen this before," she said. "It was such a large mass. All the 17 contact lenses were stuck together. We were really surprised that the patient didn't notice it because it would cause quite a lot of irritation while it was sitting there."

It's unclear how long the contact lenses had been in there or over what period they accumulated. But, she told doctors that she had been using the monthly disposable lenses for 35 years and did not get frequent eye exams in that time.

The woman, who was equally shocked by the discovery, said she was a lot more comfortable after the lenses were removed, Morjaria reported.

Source: ArsTechnica [arstechnica.com]

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