How To Care For Your Contacts
Properly caring for your contact lenses is synonymous with caring for your eyes.
Contact lenses are safely used by millions of people everyday. They do, however, carry a risk of eye infection if worn or cleaned improperly. Your eyes allow you to see and experience the world around you, so it’s important to protect them, especially if you wear contacts.
Safeguard Your Sight
Unfortunately, a whopping 40 to 90 percent of contact lens wearers don’t follow care instructions for their contact lenses. If contacts aren’t worn and cleaned as directed, eye infection and even vision loss can be the unhappy result. When you practice good contact lens hygiene and care, you are safeguarding your sight!
Choose the right contacts
It’s important to choose contact lenses that fit your personality and lifestyle. If you are less diligent about your hygiene habits, then perhaps daily disposable lenses are for you. If you choose two week or monthly contacts, daily cleaning is required.
Wear as directed
The first step in caring for your contacts is wearing them as directed by your eye care provider. Follow the appropriate replacement schedule and don’t try to stretch them out longer than they are meant to last. That goes for cases as well–they should be replaced at least every three months.
Develop proper cleaning technique
Basic cleaning care for contact lenses consists of five easy steps.
- Wash your hands. The last thing you want to do is transfer germs from your hands to your eyes!
- Rub the lens. Using a few drops of the recommended solution, rub the lens in the palm of your hand. This will clean off any debris or protein buildup.
- Rinse. To get off any loosened debris, rinse the contacts with solution taking as long as the package directs.
- Use fresh solution to store. Never use your old solution from the day before. This solution will not properly disinfect your contact lenses and can cause infections.
- Repeat. Simply repeat these steps for your other lens!
