Contacts, dry eye and stress, I know weird combo :)?

I was wondering... I have quite a bit of chronic stress and I don't breathe very well. I also get eye strain easily. Do you think a lack of oxygen contributes to more dry eye and eyestrain? Also since your eyes need oxygen wouldn't bad breathing make it a little unsafe for contact lens wear? I have not got contact lenses but I am planning on getting RGP ones.

My dry eyes is not a factor on what kind of contacts i'm getting, I'm getting RGP regardless.

Actually, it makes sense that you would wear RGPs, since rigid gas permeable lenses let more oxygen into the eye and are often prescribed for dry eyes, since they don't absorb as much tear film. As far as lack of oxygen, remember that the corneal epithelia receives oxygen from the tear film, not from the inside of the eye, so as long as your eyes are "breathing" properly, it doesn't matter if you are. Finally, your eye strain could be from overblinking due to dry eyes, or it could be from other problems (such as myopia--nearsightedness).

I would say that if your eyes are dry, you'd do better with soft contacts, unless there is a specific medical reason for you needing the RGP's. Your eyes can breathe a good bit better with soft lenses.

Your eye doctor should be able to tell you if your breathing issues will affect you negatively with contacts. Each person is different, so he/she will really be the only one who can tell you for certain if contacts will be good for you or not.