An English man has learned the hard way why you shouldn't wear contacts in the shower.
Nick Humphreys, 29, contracted parasitic infection Acanthamoeba keratitius in 2018, UK media reports.
"If I'd have known how dangerous it was to wear contacts in the shower, I would never have got them in the first place," he told news agency PA Media.
"I thought nothing of it at the time. I was never told not to wear contact lenses in the shower. There's no warning on the packaging, and my opticians never mentioned a risk."
Water-dwelling Acanthamoeba can stick to contact lenses. Eye drops initially seemed to have cleared it up, but a few months later Humphreys suddenly went blind in his right eye.
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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people who wear contacts are most at risk of infection by Acanthamoeba, particularly if they don't clean them properly or wear them in a hot tub or shower.
After two operations and months of drops Humphrey's infection cleared up, but the former journalist remains blind.
He now works for Fight for Sight, a charity which aims to raise awareness of the dangers of swimming or showering with contact lenses.
"It's crucial that people out there know this is a reality and it can happen because of something as simple as getting in the shower," Humphreys told PA Media.
Newshub.
