I had a corneal abrasion, (fingernail in eye) immediately visited the optometrist who prescribed antibiotics, steroid drops, and no contact wear. After followup 4 days later, the drops were tapered off and I was cleared to wear contacts in a few days (7 days after injury). I could somewhat verify the progression of healing at home; the vertical light on my makeup mirror reflected on my cornea - the reflection was smooth expect for the injury, where the reflection rippled. After a week, the whole area was smooth again. I waited 10 days instead of the recommended 7 and inserted my RGP contacts for a few hours without issue. However on the 11th day, I blinked while inserting the contacts and it did not go in right, the edge of the lens must have bumped the injury and removed some cells. I didn't experience pain at this time and wouldn't describe the lens as having poked my eye, but I could see the corneal surface was disrupted since the vertical reflection of the mirror light on my cornea was again rippled where the injury was. I returned to the optometrist who seemed a bit perplexed this happened, and they noticed some very tiny recurrences of abrasion, and noted that the surface indeed wasn't smooth anymore. I have a followup in two days, at which time the optometrist thinks it's likely I can return to contact lens wear - but I am concerned this issue will happen again if the edge of the contact bumps the abrasion healing area. My question is, should I wait longer for the cells to solidify/strengthen beyond what my optometrist is recommending, or, is it possible I'll never be able to wear RGP lenses again? The optometrist did not mention if there was damage to the Bowman's layer. A second question is, given that the optometrist seemed a bit surprised by the issue, would I benefit from visiting a corneal specialist?