Successful Soft Contact Lens Wear And Care Tips
- Wash and rinse hands thoroughly and dry them completely with a lint-free towel. Use a mild soap that does not contain cold cream, lotion or deodorant. Ivory or Dial work really well.
- Handle your lenses with the fingertips, avoiding contact with the fingernail.
- Before insertion of the lens, make sure it is not “inside-out”. Hold it up on your fingertip and inspect it carefully. Look for a bowl-shaped lens and any inversion markers that you were told about. If you do put it on your eye in-side-out, you will notice blurry vision or lens discomfort. If this occurs, simply remove the lens, invert it and insert again.
- Lenses should be cleaned and disinfected daily or after each wearing period.
- Always keep a back-up pair of glasses around. There will be times when you are unable to wear your contact lenses.
- When your lenses are not on your eye, keep them in solution at all times. If they are not in solution, they will dry up and you will have to purchase new ones.
- Apply hair spray before inserting your lenses. Apply make-up after inserting your lenses.
- Every morning after contact lenses have been inserted, empty the used solution and allow the case to air dry. The case should also be replaced frequently.
- If lenses are not worn on a daily basis, they should be stored in the lens case with fresh solution and disinfected before each use. If lenses are stored for more than a few days, fresh solution should be added to the case every 30 days.
- Clean and disinfect one lens at a time to avoid mixing up the right and left lens. Always start with the same eye. Example… Insert the right lens first and remove the right lens first. Get into this habit.
- As you are adjusting to your new lenses, be sure to carry a contact lens case and solution with you. Keep this in places such as desk, car or purse.
- NEVER use water on your lenses and never store your lenses in water or saline. Water contains bacteria and if this gets into your lens, it will cause an infection. Saline does not contain any disinfectant to protect against growth of bacteria. Lenses should always be stored in the recommended solution.
- NEVER sleep in your lenses. Even short naps are not advisable.
- NEVER re-use solution. Always put fresh solution in the case at night.
- NEVER swim in your lenses. Pool water, and especially hot tub water, contains bacteria, which may stick to your contact lenses. Continuing to wear these dirty lenses will result in infection. If you do swim in your lenses, dispose of them afterwards.
- Don’t wear your lenses for a longer amount of time than recommended. Limit contact lens wearing time to 12-14 hours per day.