5th, June 2020 | Oh Jinna

Wear Contacts Safely With These 8 Essential Tips

Wear Contacts Safely

Today, millions of people wear contact lenses for their functional and cosmetic benefits. In fact, some users even use their contact lenses almost everyday of their lives.

Even though some contacts like daily disposable are safe to wear everyday, there are still some safety reminders to consider. For starters, if you wear contacts very frequently, you should know the type of lens you are using and its pros and cons.

After all, the first part of taking care of your lenses is learning about the Do’s and Don’ts in contact lens usage.

Essential Tips When You Wear Contacts

If you own a pair of contact lenses, you might already know a thing or two about using them. However, if you wear contacts daily, there are a few more things that you should definitely consider.

After all, the safety of your eyes should always be a top priority. With this in mind, you really have to be a little more careful about your eyes and lenses.

Now, don’t feel bad about using your lenses too often because it’s a very common habit for people. After all, contact lenses are very convenient and fun to wear.

In fact, some contact lenses can even add a lot of style to your overall look. However, there are a few habits that we should avoid if we want to enjoy our lenses more.

That’s why we’ve got the list of essential tips for you to follow when you wear contacts daily.

1. Keep Your Hands Clean

Before anything else, the most basic tip for better contact lens care is to always keep your hands clean. With all the things you touch on a daily basis, handling lenses with dirty hands could lead to eye problems.

After all, your eyes and lenses are very prone to contaminants like dust, dirt, and bacteria to name a few.

Follow these simple tips to keep your lenses clean and your eyes safe from harm:

  • Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before you touch your lenses.
  • Don’t touch your lenses when you have lotion or other substances on your hands.
  • Dry your hands with a clean microfiber towel to avoid contaminating your contacts.
  • Don’t wear contacts or take them off when you are in a dirty environment.
  • Always wash your hands whenever you have the time.

2. Don’t Rub Your Eyes

Whether you’re using contact lenses or not, rubbing your eyes has always been a bad habit to avoid. This is because rubbing your eyes could lead to eye irritation and even cornea damage.

In addition, rubbing your eyes with dirty hands could lead to even more serious eye problems. So if you want to keep your eyes safe, you can do these tips instead of rubbing your eyes:

  • Close your eyes for a few seconds when your eyes feel tired.
  • Use the right solution when your eyes feel itchy.
  • Rest your eyes from bright lights and computer screens.
  • Use a clean damp cloth to wash your irritated eyes.
  • Keep your eyes moist by using a contact lens solution.

2. Clean Your Lenses Frequently

Keeping your lenses constantly clean is essential when you wear contacts daily. After all, you wouldn’t want to wear dirty clothes all day, right? Contact lenses aren’t dirt proof so you should make sure to wash them every night before you go to bed. 

Additionally, here are few washing tips that you can follow:

  • Wash your contact lenses every night before going to bed.
  • Keep your lenses clean by placing them in their proper container.
  • Put a fresh solution whenever you leave them in their case.
  • Rub your contact lenses thoroughly with the right solution to remove any dirt build up on your lenses.
  • Clean your contact lens case at least once every week.
  • Rub the walls of your case with fresh solution to remove any dirt build up.
  • Always throw out old solutions and never reuse solutions.

3. Use New Solution

Cleaning your contacts and lens case will only be effective if you use a fresh solution. After all, used solutions are already contaminated with dirt and bacteria.

So using an old solution will only do more harm than good for both your lenses and your eyes. Additionally, there are different types of solutions and brands available in the market.

As a result, you should know how to pick the right solution for your contacts.

Check out these simple tips to help you pick the right solution:

  • Ask your eye doctor to recommend a reliable contact lens solution brand.
  • Search for the top brands that you can afford because they’re likely to be safer for your eyes.
  • Some people may be allergic to certain solutions so make sure to watch out for signs of allergies.
  • Read the label and instructions on the bottle of your solution to know how to use it effectively.
  • Never buy a solution without reading its label and proper usage.

4. Don’t Overuse Your Contacts

You can ruin both your eyes and lenses if you wear contacts for too long. Even if you’re wearing daily disposable lenses, you still have to give your eyes a break from your lenses.

After all, your eyes need enough oxygen to stay healthy. But wearing contacts for too long can’t stop oxygen from reaching your eyes. As a result, you are more prone to problems like eye infections and corneal scratches.

Check out these tips so you can avoid overusing your contact lenses:

  • Ask your eye doctor about the time usage for your specific contact lenses.
  • Create a schedule that maps out how long you can safely wear your lenses.
  • Find time to rest your eyes from your contact lenses every once in a while.
  • Wear glasses for a few days in a week to help you minimize your contact lens use.
  • Always take out your lenses when you rest your eyes for long periods of time. In fact, you should never sleep with your contact lenses on.

5. Avoid Wearing Lenses When Your Eyes Tired

As mentioned above, your eyes are very sensitive to irritation and iffections. So if your eyes are already feeling irritated, you’ll do yourself a favor by avoiding contact lenses. In other words, don’t wear contacts when your eyes don’t feel well.

Here are a few reason why you shouldn’t wear contacts when your eyes hurt:

  • Contact lenses can worsen your condition by rubbing directly on your eyes.
  • Your contact lenses could be the reason for your irritation in the first place.
  • You could be allergic to your contact lenses or your lens solution.
  • Contaminants in your lenses may be causing you eye problems.
  • Wearing contacts when your eyes aren’t well could lead to serious problems like blurry vision, eye pains, and even vision loss.

6. Water Can Damage Your Contact Lenses

If you own a pair of eyeglasses or contact lenses, you might know how inconvenient they can be for swimming. This is especially true if you love to swim at beaches and lakes.

The inconvenience usually comes from the fact that you should never wear contacts during swimming. In fact, you shouldn’t expose your contacts to water to be more precise.

This is because you can find lots of bacteria and other contaminants in any sources of water. As a result, water can contaminate your lens and potentially cause eye infections.

Follow these easy tips to avoid putting your contact lenses and eyes at risk:

  • Don’t take a bath with your contact lenses on.
  • Never wear contacts during swimming and other water activities.
  • Buy special eye protection that you can use for water activities.
  • Use reliable swimming goggles if you need to swim with your contacts on.
  • Stay a few meters away from puddles of water when you’re wearing your contact lenses.
  • Never use tap water to wash your contact lenses.

7. Keep Chemicals Away From Your Lenses

There are a lot of our every-day chemicals that can ruin our contact lenses. For example, hair spray products and make up can definitely ruin your contact lenses and even cause eye problems. 

Follow these quick tips whenever you accidentally put on some makeup or other stuff on your lenses:

  • Close your eyes whenever you’re using spray products to avoid contaminating your lenses.
  • You can wear protective eyewear whenever smoke, gasses, or water is present in your environment.
  • If you put makeup on your lenses, take them out immediately and wash them with disinfecting solution.
  • Avoid wearing your lenses when you’re handling toxic chemicals of any kind.
  • Don’t wear contacts in dirty or hazardous places.

8. Stay Updated With Relevant Contact Lens News

Whether it’s for eye health or for cosmetic reasons, staying updated with the latest news is a good habit. After all, there are a number of growing trends that revolve around contact lens use.

However, not all news about lenses are positive in nature. In fact, there are even contact lens myths that need to be dunked

You should make sure that you know the right information about your contact lenses. Who knows, you might even learn about amazing types of lenses that can make you look more beautiful.

For example, you can find a wide array of colored contacts that come in different shades, sizes, and designs!

References:

Development of contact lenses and their worldwide us

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17975417

Common Cornea Problems

https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/cornea-conditions-symptoms-treatments#1

Water related ocular diseases

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319453417301376

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