contact lenses+chopping onions=no tears?

[mum2sarah]

Just curious if this is all in my head or if anyone else noticed the same thing. Whenever I wear my contact lenses while cutting onions, I could chop them all day and it doesn't seem to irritate my eyes or cause any tears. This is despite the fact that my sister (who's blessed with perfect vision) will be crying halfway across the room from the onions. However, if I wear my glasses instead of my contacts, I have the same reaction as her; I can't even chop half an onion without having to take a break from all the tears. Are the contacts somehow insulating whatever it is about onions that irritates the eye? Anyone else noticed this?

[Casey]

I don't wear contact lenses, but I have heard that a lot of people have the same experience as you do when chopping onions while wearing their lenses. I think it has something to do with the onion chemical coming into contact with water that causes the reaction, and if you're wearing contact lenses the chemical doesn't come into contact with your moist eyeballs.

What really works if you want to stop crying when cutting onions, is to keep your onions in the refrigerator. I read the whole scientific explanation for it somewhere (something about the chemical that causes crying being less reactive when cold, or it's not released if the onion is cold, or something like that), but I've done it for years and I NEVER cry when chopping onions. But if I take an onion out of the fridge and don't get around to cutting it for a while (ie. it has a chance to warm up) then I cry like crazy. I know there's a theory that you shouldn't keep onions in the fridge, but I've never had a problem with it and they stay fresh for weeks (maybe longer, but I go through onions pretty quickly). Apparently it's the only solution that really works.

[mum2sarah]

I know there's a theory that you shouldn't keep onions in the fridge

Wow, I must be stupid; I never thought of *not* keeping the onions in the fridge! I guess I just figured they'd go bad or stink up the house if they weren't refrigerated. In fact, I pretty much keep all produce in the fridge except for bananas.

But as far as the onions warming up before I cut them, they probably do get a chance to warm up prior to chopping because I tend to take all the ingredients I need for a recipe out at the same time and then get to chopping, dicing, etc. So maybe I can try waiting on the onions until right before it's time to cut them. Thanks for the idea.

[vegma]

mumtosarah, I thought I had "outgrown" my onion-crying until one day I was wearing my glasses instead of contacts (a rare occurence!) Waaaaaaaaaa - it took me forever to chop that onion!

[Jenica]

What sort of contacts do you folks wear? I have worn soft lenses and disposables alternately for over ten years and I often have trouble chopping onions, even when they come out of the fridge.

[mum2sarah]

Jenica
I am currently wearing 2 week disposable soft contacts. Except for not crying with onions, I hate these contacts; I much prefer the monthly disposables. I've been wearing soft contacts for 15 years. I started out with the yearly soft contacts, then about 5 years ago switched to the monthly disposables and found them much more comfortable and easy to care for. The 2 week ones were prescribed to me accidentally at my last year's check-up and they're really annoying--uncomfortable and they get grimed up so fast! Anyway, like I said, maybe it's all in my head about the onions?