Contact lenses are a great way to correct your eyesight, improve your appearance or even change your eye color. But sometimes your eyes can feel dry which will change the way the contact lens works to correct your sight. To minimize your discomfort and any damage to your eyes from lenses that are dirty and poorly maintained you must adopt safe procedures for taking care of contacts.
Your eye care professional will make recommendations about the type of solutions they believe are the best to use with the contacts that you purchase. Many lens manufacturers also have recommendations about their lenses. Get a copy of these and use them diligently.
Here are a few more tips for caring for contact lenses that will extend the life of your contacts and minimize any damage that could be done to your eyes with the use of lenses that are themselves dirty or damaged.
1. Hygiene is incredibly important to the care of your eyes. Anything that goes in or around your eyes should be clean. This means that before you handle your contact lenses or place them in your eyes you must wash your hands. You can easily transmit bacteria or viruses to your eyes if you don’t.
2. Don’t use your nails to handle the contact lenses. No matter how durable they appear to be nails can easily tear the lens or cause a nick in the side of the contact.
3. Put your contacts in before putting on make up to prevent getting make up on the lenses when they are being inserted.
4. Wear your lenses as prescribed by your doctor. Your doctor will recommend a wearing schedule and a number of hours that they should be worn. Don’t over use your lenses because you are also overusing your eyes as well.
5. When you remove your lenses clean and store them as recommended. Always use a clean case with fresh solution. Follow the recommendations for use on the bottle of solution and clean the contacts as the doctor recommends.
6. After each use clean the lens case with hot tap water and let it air dry.
7. Never wear another person’s contact lenses even if you believe they have the same prescription. Wearing another person’s lenses is a way to spread infection or particles from one person’s eye to the others.
8. Wearing contact lenses makes your eyes more sensitive to the sunlight. Wear sunglasses with UV protection and a wide brimmed hat when outside.
9. If you believe you may have an infection, or if your eye has discharge, pain or swelling stop using the contacts immediately and call your physician for an appointment. Continuing to use the lenses may cause permanent damage to the eyes or the lenses.
10. Don’t let the tip of the contact solution bottles touch each other, your fingers or anything else. These solutions are sterile and will become contaminated if they touch anything. Once contaminated they can grow bacteria which is then introduced to your eyes when you clean the lenses.
11. Depending upon the type of lenses you are using you may have to use a special solution to remove the protein deposit build up on the lenses. This protein makes wearing the lenses uncomfortable and also affects your vision. If you wear disposable lenses this isn’t necessary but if your lenses are replaced annually you definitely will.
12. If your eyes are dry and you need eye drops use only those that are appropriate for people who wear contact lenses. If you use an eye drop that isn’t for lens wearers you could be faced with the lenses that are suctioned to your eyeballs making removal difficult and painful.
13. Avoid getting tap water on your lenses. Tap water carries microorganisms that cause serious eye infections.
Reply