Avoid Eye Infections from These Bad Contact Lens Habits

Did you know that improper contact lens care can lead to eye infections? There are some simple and easy steps you can take to ensure that you maintain good eye health while you wear contact lenses.

Don’t Sleep in Your Contact Lenses Overnight

You should never sleep in your contact lenses unless you have been advised to by your optician. This is because sleeping in your lenses makes you much more susceptible to eye diseases such as acanthamoeba keratitis/bacterial keratitis, which could potentially lead to vision loss or blindness. 

Keep Your Lenses Away from Water

Water contains bacteria, if bacteria reach your contact lenses, it can cause eye diseases which can cause irritation and even vision loss. It doesn’t matter what kind of water it is, tap water, distilled or rain, all water should be kept away from your lenses. You should never wear your contact lenses whilst:

• Swimming
• Showering
• In a hot tub

You should also only handle your lenses with clean, dry hands. If you don’t dry your hands thoroughly and then pick up your lenses, water residue can then transfer to the lens.

Don’t Overwear Your Contact Lenses

Daily contact lenses should never be used for more than 24 hours, after which they should be discarded and replaced with a new lens. Equally, two weekly lenses can be worn for 2 weeks and monthly lenses should be worn for 30 days before being thrown away/replaced. It’s important to adhere to the wearing time of your lens. 

Lenses are only designed to be worn for a specific period of time, overwearing your contact lenses regularly can lead to corneal abrasions, which can cause vision loss. Overwearing lenses can also limit the amount of oxygen that reaches the eyes, because our corneas get their oxygen from the atmosphere, and lenses can sometimes cause a barrier, although this will depend on the type of lens as some lenses are more breathable than others.

Always Remove Your Lenses If They Cause Irritation

Contact lenses should never cause pain or irritation, if they do, you should remove your lenses, rinse them and try re-applying them. If they are still causing you trouble, take them out and switch to glasses. You should then visit your optician who will be able to determine why your lenses aren’t agreeing with you and work out a suitable solution.

How Do I Look after Contact Lenses?

If you wear 2 weekly, monthly or yearly contact lenses, you will need to implement a daily lens cleaning routine to ensure that you maintain good eye health. Daily lenses are the most convenient as they can simply be thrown away at the end of the day before going to sleep. They also have the benefit of not needing a lens cleaning routine, making them the most hassle-free option. Daily disposables are also the most hygienic as they are replaced daily, which doesn’t allow much time for dirt, debris, or other irritants like pollen to build up on the lens.

Also, Read About: Best 24-Inch Monitors For Eye Strain

How Do I Clean My Lenses?

Cleaning your lenses is a quick and easy process that shouldn’t take much time from your day. Follow the steps below to clean and store your contact lenses every evening before bed. 

Step 1: Fill your contact lens case with new solution. Never top-up old solution with new.

Step 2: Put 1 lens in the palm of your hand. Apply a few drops of the contact lens solution. Using the pad of your finger, rub the lens gently on both sides

Step 3: Rinse the lens with some solution and store the lens in your case.

Step 4: Repeat the above steps for the other lens and close the lens case. 

Note, your contact lens solution will explain how long you should soak your lenses for. If you do not wear your lenses daily, the solution inside the case will need to be changed every now and again, the timeframe for this will also be on the contact lens solution packaging.

How Do I Clean My Contact Lens Case?

It’s very important to clean your lenses, but it’s equally as important to keep your contact lens case clean. There’s no point in cleaning your contact lenses to put them into an unclean contact lens case. Follow the below steps to learn how to keep your contact lens case clean.

Step 1: Discard any remaining solution from the lens case.

Step 2: Rinse your lens case with fresh solution. 

Step 3: Leave the lens case to air dry

Please note, you should always replace your contact lens case at least every 3 months. This is to avoid any irritation or bacteria build-up that could lead to infection.

Only Buy Your Contact Lenses from reputable sellers

You should only ever buy your contact lenses from reputable retailers that are supervised by a registered optician. Luckily, such establishments exist online, allowing you to easily order contact lenses from the comfort of your home, some sites even provide next day delivery, especially useful if you’re running low. Sellers such as Feel Good Contacts make the ordering process quick and simple. For more information about the types of contact lenses available to buy online, click here.

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