A 42-year-old British woman visited an ophthalmologist (eye specialist) since her upper eyelid was swollen and painful. The lump was pea-sized below her left eyebrow. This cyst had grown over a six-month duration, which led to her eyelid sagging.

The ophthalmologist diagnosed it as a cyst which should be operated. During the operation, the eye surgeon was shocked to find a rigid gas-permeable contact lens. The patient had not used the specific type of contact lens in 28 years, according to a report published in the journal BMJ Case Reports.

This contact lens was perfectly encapsulated by tissue when viewed on an MRI scan. In the process of removing the lens, it became cracked and fragmented.

The patient was totally confused since the warning signs of a trapped contact lens include sharp pain, redness of eye and sensitivity towards light. But she had no such symptoms.

Her mother remembered a past accident when the patient was 14 years old. While playing badminton, she was hit in the left eye by a shuttlecock. At the time, she was wearing a rigid contact lens. After the incident, she never found the left eye’s contact lens. Since her injury wasn’t serious and she healed, they assumed that the lens had flown out. She never used the contact lenses again after the accident.

Losing a contact lens inside an eyelid is a very common occurrence among the lens wearers. But doctors suggest that patients should inform them about past eye traumas. It is also mandatory to check for wayward contacts.