The idea of putting small bowl-shaped lenses on one's eyes is frightening. That is only the start. How do you maintain the health of your eyes by caring for your contact lenses?
Whether you're a first-time contact lens wearer or a seasoned pro, you may use the below do's and don'ts as a free contact lens care cheat sheet.
1) Before handling your contacts, carefully wash and dry your hands. Because your hands are contaminated with bacteria, forgetting to wash them might contaminate your contact lenses and, as a result, your eyes. It's also crucial to dry your hands since moist hands are easier to spread germs than dry ones.
2) Maintain the cleanliness of your contact lens case. To avoid bacteria development, clean your case with contact lens solution after each use and leave it open to air dry between cleanings.
3) After each usage, clean and disinfect your lenses. It's critical to clean your two-week or monthly contact lenses after each use before storing them. Take turns placing each lens in your palm with a few drops of cleaning solution and rubbing it back and forth to wipe the surface after filling each chamber of your contact lens case with a new disinfecting solution. After that, rinse each lens with an additional solution and store it in the case.
4) Before showering, bathing, or swimming, remove your contact lenses. Water contains chemicals and germs that can become trapped between your lens and your eye, causing discomfort and illness.
5) Contacts that have been contaminated with water should be discarded.
6) When rubbing your eyes, be careful. You can damage your cornea, causing your contact lens to fold and fall out of your eye, or worse, trap your contact lens beneath your eyelid if you rub your eyes too hard. When wiping your eyes, be as gentle as possible, or better yet, don't do it at all.
7) Sleeping with your contact lenses on is not a good idea. It's crucial to remove and clean your contacts before going to bed, unless your optician instructs you differently. Even with "extended wear" contacts, sleeping with contacts after they've gathered dirt, pollutants, and germs during the day might raise your risk of infection and discomfort.
8) If you're sick, don't use contact lenses. When you're sick, whether it's a cold, the flu, or seasonal allergies, you shouldn't wear your contacts. When you're sick, not only are contact lenses more likely to irritate your eyes, but they're also more prone to cause eye infections like conjunctivitis.
9) Excessive heat should not be exposed to or stored with lenses. If you're wondering, contacts can't melt in your eyes (unless you're on fire, in which case you've got greater issues). However, putting your contacts to extreme heat for an extended period of time might cause them to dry out and hurt your eyes.
