Study Suggests That Lenses Laced With Pain Meds Could One Day Replace Regular Eye Drops

Researchers are developing contact lenses that rely on nanotechnology that are designed for slow delivery of painkilling/anesthetic drugs directly to the cornea after laser eye surgery, eliminating the need for frequent post-LASIK and PRK numbing eye drops.

“This would represent a version of time-release which would reduce the number of drops that a patient would need,” says Robert F. Steinert, MD, an eye surgeon who is professor and chair of the department of ophthalmology at the University of California at Irvine, and a spokesman for the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Webmd.com “I think it would add convenience, but it probably isn’t a game changer,” he says, noting that most patients are currently able to control their pain after PRK by using eye drops every couple of hours for the first three days or so, and they already have to wear bandage contact lenses while their eyes heal.

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