Contact Lenses Care: Ways to Keep Your Lenses Clean & Safe

  Last Updated on January 16, 2023 by Aaron Barriga

You can wear contact lenses for either vision correction or aesthetic purposes. Either way, you should take proper advice from your eye care professional. Also, it’s crucial to keep your contact lenses clean and take good care of them. This is because unclean contact lenses can lead to serious eye infections and long-term vision problems. Also, with proper contact lenses care and hygiene, your lenses last long.

Thus you should know how to clean contact lenses and take care of them before you start to wear them.

Risks Associated With Contact Lenses

There are certain risks associated with wearing contact lenses. You can prevent any damage to your eyes due to contact lenses by being aware of these risk factors. They are as follows:-

• Using eye drops while wearing contacts without the recommendation or approval from your eye doctor can cause problems.
• Old and ill-fitting eye contact lenses may scratch your eyes.
• If the contact lenses are not fitting well, they can even lead to blood vessels growing in your cornea. This may also lead to vision loss in the future.

You should always contact your eye doctor at the earliest if you notice any uncomfortable symptoms like red & watery eyes, blurry vision, or increased sensitivity in your eyes.

Tips on How to Clean Contact Lenses

Cleaning your eye contacts properly can protect your eyes from infections. Following these everyday cleaning tips will help you a lot:-

• The “rinse and rub” method is an ideal cleaning method for all types of cleaning solutions. In this method, you rub the contacts with clean hands and then rinse with the cleaning solution, and afterward, you can soak them.
• Before touching the lenses, wash your hands with soap and water. Also, dry them with the help of a napkin which should be lint-free.
• Store contacts in their solution only. Don’t store in water.
• Keep the contact lenses solution in its bottle only. The solution will not remain sterile if you keep it in another container.
• Don’t clean eye contacts with your saliva or any other liquid. Use its solution only.
• Don’t use old solutions to clean the lenses.
• Keep the bottle storing lenses closed tightly. The tip of the solution should not touch anything.
• Don’t use a DIY saline solution.
• Throw away expired contact lenses and cleaning solutions.
• Trim your nails regularly so that you don’t scratch your eyes or lenses.
• Use hair spray or face mist before you place your lenses on your eyes.
• Do your eye make-up after putting on lenses.

Safety & Care of Your Contact Lenses

Apart from its cleaning, few contact lenses care and safety measures are also helpful in making your contact lenses long-lasting, without any damage to your eyes. They are as follows:-

• Always remove lenses before sleeping.
• Never get water in your eyes while wearing contacts. Thus remove them before swimming, taking a shower, or getting into a bathtub.
• Follow the schedule suggested by your eye doctor for wearing, removing, and replacing the contacts.
• Your cornea can change shape after a point of time, and eye contacts can also wrap. Thus, you will get an eye exam schedule by your doctor to ensure that the lenses fit properly and the prescription is relevant. Don’t miss that appointment or delay it further. It can adversely impact the quality of your vision.
• Your doctor, contact lenses manufacturers, and cleaning solution manufacturers will provide you with a particular set of instructions. Follow those instructions diligently.
• If, for any reason, you keep your contact lenses for 30 days or more without re-disinfecting, don’t wear them again.

Contact Lenses Care System

Apart from the cleaning, safety, and caring routine, there is a proper contact lenses care system prescribed by the doctor of optometry. It is based on the lenses material and the way you wear them. There are basically 2 types of care systems – multipurpose care solutions and hydrogen peroxide care solutions. Multipurpose solutions are suitable in the case of GP (Gas Permeable lenses).

You can also be prescribed cleaning and soaking solutions for GP lenses. There are some generic contact lenses solutions as well. They are mostly suitable for older lenses. Following the correct care system is crucial for the success of contact lenses. If you wish to change the care system, do it with the recommendation of your optometry doctor only.

Contact Our EYE Experts in Fresno to Place Order for Best Suited Contact Lenses for You

Wrapping up!

The information mentioned above must help you in maintaining your contact lenses on a day-to-day basis. But for your overall vision safety with eye contacts, you should follow the eye check-up schedule with your eye doctor. A little care with lenses ensures youthful vision with a sparkle in your eyes always.

Contact InSight Vision Center in Fresno, CA for a Detailed Evaluation of Your Eyes.