Common Contact Lens Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Eyes

Contact lenses are safe and effective for vision correction especially when worn and cared for as suggested. As something that is supposed to make life easier, it is important that you follow proper care so as not to create even more damage.

Even if you have worn contacts for a while, there are still mistakes that put you at risk of infections. These mistakes usually stem out from being too lazy to properly care for your lenses.

Once you learn the lurking danger of improper care, you might then think twice of being too lazy about it.

Below are the common mistakes that most contact-wearers make. We also gathered a few ways that you can do to keep your eyes healthy.

Sleeping without removing your contact lenses

Researchers found that infections are more likely to occur when the eyes are exposed to contact lenses while asleep. Most contact lenses that you can find are made only for daily wear.

Just like the rest of our body parts, the eyes also need to breathe. With the lenses getting in the way of oxygen to move in and out freely, it becomes hard for our eyes to get this much needed air.

How to avoid this?

If you somehow always forget about removing your contacts before drifting off to sleep, there is no need for you to get bummed out. Unlike daily wear lenses, extended wear lenses are made of silicone hydrogel that allows oxygen to easily pass through.

Thus, this type of lenses are safe to use for up to 30 days of continuous wear. However, it is still important that you talk to your doctor before wearing one. They can properly advise you whether or not it is safe for you to wear one continuously.

Here are more reasons why you should not sleep on your contact lenses.

Wearing the wrong prescription

One common misconception that wearers think is that the prescription for eyeglasses and contact lenses are just the same. They are actually not. In fact, assuming the same prescriptions for both eye wear only does you more harm than good.

Eyeglasses sit a few millimeters away from your eyes, whereas lenses lie directly on the surface of your eyes. So do not base your contact lens prescription on what your doctor prescribed you for eyeglasses.

Since contact lenses are positioned on the tear film of your eye, their prescriptive power becomes slightly less nearsighted. As a result, the prescription for eyeglasses is a little higher compared to contact lenses.

Improper contact lens cleaning

Improper care of lenses are the largest risk factor for eye infections. However, lenses-related eye infections such as redness are often preventable with good care.

If you neglect the proper procedure of cleaning your contact lenses, you risk yourself having serious eye infections. Those who wear contact lenses can avoid infections just as easily as following the directions on the labels.

How can you properly clean your contact lens?

Always make sure that your hands are clean before you touch your lenses. Rub your lens properly and rinse it with the a sterile solution.

To avoid contamination and infection, keep your contact lens in a case that is clean and often washed. You should also not rinse your contact lens with tap water.

Using the wrong cleaning solution

The cleaning solution that you use depends on the type of lens you wear and the cleaning routine that you follow. If you have a soft-type lens, you may want to opt for multi-purpose solutions.

You can use this type of solution both for cleaning and storing your contact lenses.

Here is a quick guide of the different cleaning solutions that you can buy in stores:

Saline solution: for rinsing and storing contact lenses; not used for cleaning and disinfection.

Daily cleaner: for cleaning your contact lenses.

Multipurpose solution: is for cleaning, rinsing, disinfecting, and storing your contact lenses.

Hydrogen peroxide solution: is for cleaning, disinfecting, rinsing and storing your contact lenses.

Not properly storing your contact lenses

Storing your contact lenses in an unsealed container can let bacteria get in and infect your lenses.

If you won’t use your contact lenses immediately, store them in a closed lens case until you are ready to wear them.

You can store your contact lenses in an unopened case for a maximum of 30 days. Always remember to clean and disinfect with fresh solution if you plan to store your lens for longer periods of time.

Additionally, do not store your lenses in a simple saline solution since this type of solution does not disinfect.

Reusing cleaning solutions

Imagine having to bathe in reused water. A little gross, right? You will feel as though you still have not showered. It is just similar to cleaning your lenses with reused solutions.

It does not actually totally do the job. Even worse is that you may gather bacterias from the already used solution.

If you are trying to save bucks, you can still get disinfecting solutions at a lower price. Never opt for reusing them. It is just not the safest way to clean.

Not putting it on properly

For those who just got into contact lenses, wearing one can be a little daunting. It is almost impossible to perfect it the first time, and that is okay.

But even so, it is still not an excuse to skip the lessons. Here is everything you need to know to get the hang of it.

Not getting an annual eye exam

This is probably the biggest mistake people who wear prescription lenses or eyeglasses usually do.

Just because you think your prescription is still satisfactory does not mean that you can skip your annual eye checkup. An eye exam can expose other health conditions.

Thus, do not wait for your eyesight to get worse before you visit your doctor. Just having a comprehensive eye exam every year can certainly make a huge difference in improving your eye health.

Not giving your eyes a break

As previously mentioned, your eyes also need enough oxygen to remain healthy.

Unless you are wearing an extended wear lens, the best you can do to avoid dry eyes and irritation is to remove your contact lenses when you do not really need it. Your eyes will thank you for it.

And we cannot stress this enough: removing your lenses before sleeping significantly lowers the risk of developing infections.

Similarly, you even have to remove and disinfect extended wear lenses every once in a while. They can also carry some risks.

Keep your eyes healthy.

Whether you are a contacts or glasses kind of person, the best you can do to keep your eyes healthy is to take good care of it.

Practice good habits such as eating food that are healthy to your eyes. Clean your eyewear as needed. Rest your eyes every once in a while.

Moreover, always ask your doctor if you feel any kinds of discomfort in your eyes. As someone who does most of the test, your eye doctor is the best person to assess and advise you with what is safe for you.

References:

“Extended Wear Contact Lenses” https://www.allaboutvision.com/contacts/extended.htm“Your Contact Lens Prescription” https://www.contactlenses.org/prescription.htm