Q: I am a contact lens wearer, and I developed keratitis and then a corneal ulcer. Is this common?
A: The cornea is the transparent area in the front of the eye that covers the pupil (the black part that allows light into the eye) and the iris (the colored part), and consists of five layers.
A corneal abrasion is a scrape of the top layer, the epithelium, but does not go through the deeper Bowman’s layer underneath the epithelium. A corneal ulcer is an open sore/erosion (from inflammation or infection) that goes through Bowman’s layer into the deeper layers of the