Contact Lens Care: Prevent eye infection as you keep your contact lenses clean

It is very important to keep our contact lenses clean. After all, we use it to enhance our eye sight and perhaps, our looks. As we use our contact lenses daily, there are some rules we have to keep in mind to prevent eye infection.

With this, we are also doing ourselves a favor: the more we take care of our contact lenses, the longer we can use them in good shape.

Read the following article to know more about how to take care of your contact lenses and ultimately, preventing eye infection.

Preventing Eye Infection: Where does infection come from and what are the symptoms?

There are many ways to get your eyes infected. Among these are using contact lenses that are not taken care of properly.

According to a WebMD article, at least 90 percent of contact lens users do not conform to the hygienic standards of contact lens use. The article has sighted the following habits that may cause infection:

1. Reuse of contact lens solution.
2. Allowing tap water to touch the lenses.
3. Not sanitizing or washing the hands before handling the contact lenses.
4. Not rinsing or rubbing contact lenses.

Read: Pink Eye | Common Symptoms and simple home remedies that you can try today!

If you think that your eyes maybe irritated or infected due to mishandling of contact lenses, then you must watch out for these signs and symptoms:

1. Itchiness or a burning sensation
2. Redness and swelling
3. Blurry or shaky vision
4. Pain and irritations when the lenses are worn

Read: The risk of buying custom contact lenses without a prescription

5. Sensitivity to too much light or to the sudden appearance of light
6. Gooey or sticky eye discharge
7. Dryness of the eyes

If four or more of these symptoms are applicable to you, then waste no time and visit your eye doctor immediately.

Contact Lens Care 101| Prevent Eye Infection with these tips:

Thanks to the internet, we can now find trustworthy contact lens care tips from reliable sources.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), you must follow the directions from the contact lens packaging when you handle the lenses.

Also, it is very important that you follow the additional instructions that your eye doctor has given you.

The following are some of the tips that AAO gave:

• Remove your contact lenses before you sleep.
• Never wear your contact lenses when you do the following: take a bath, when you are going to swim or dive, or any activity that can wet your eyes.
• Always sanitize your hands before your clean your contact lenses. Make sure to dry before you touch them.
• Never use your saliva to lubricate your contact lenses.
• GIve your eyes a break. You can use your prescription glasses if you are not wearing your contact lenses. Read: Eyeglasses or Contact Lenses. Which is better for you?
• Use new solution each time you clean and sanitize your contact lenses. Make sure not to transfer the solution to a different bottle or container, as this will cause the solution to be sterilized.
• Never use tap water as a substitute to contact lens solution. With this, tap water should never touch the surface of the contact lenses, nor should it be mixed with the prescribed lens solution.
• Store your contact lenses and lens solution properly. If not in use, close the cap or tip tightly. Make sure that dust does not enter, or the solution to drip.
• It is advised that your store your lenses in its case for the maximum length of three months. After that, change it immediately. Especially if you start to see cracks.
• The shape of you cornea can change after some time. This means that your contact lenses may no longer fit after a couple of months. Make sure to visit your eye doctor regularly to know if you need to change your lenses.

What to do if your eye got infected?
What if the eyes are already infected? Is it too late?

First, we must go to the doctor and ask for professional help. For the meantime, avoid touching, rubbing or scratching your eye area, as it will cause more damage.

Make sure to remove the contact lenses that you wear,  and do not use eye make-up until you meet with your doctor.

Also, do not let any foreign liquid or substance get into your eyes. If possible, stay away from dusty or pollen-full areas.

Read: Important tips about colored contact lens for you

Eye Infection Stories | Learn from people who suffered contact lens infection

Here are some stories from the AAO website that may help you understand the risks of using infected contact lenses.

Meet Laura | The unexpected horrors of colored contact lenses.

Laura bought a pair of colored contact lenses to vamp up her look on Halloween. However, after 10 hour of use, the contact lenses that she bought from a souvenir shop began to irritate her eyes. She describes the feeling as if “the lenses stuck to my eye like a suction cup.”

Laura experienced extreme pain to both of her eyes. Furthermore, she explains that the contact lenses that she wore were not fitted by an eye doctor or a professional.

The lenses eventually infected her eye, causing an corneal abrasion.

To ease her condition, she had to take medication for four weeks. What’s worse?

She had trouble with her vision, which made it difficult enough to drive a car for eight weeks.

Now, Laura lives with a corneal scarm vision damage, and a drooping eyelid.

Read: Five Common Eye Problems that we usually miss out at first

Meet Julian – Costume contact lenses that can change your looks, and eventually change your life – in a very bad way.

Julian is your typical high school student – young, curious, and often daring. He was 17 when he tried on colored contact lenses which were only 20 dollars per pair.

He bought them at a gas station, with no prescription from an eye professional.

The lenses that he bought were easy to find, cheap, and colorful, from gray, blue, green and so on.

It turns out that these contact lenses were actually infections. In fact, the FDA in the United States actually banned these lenses, as they were dangerous for its users.

These types of contact lenses are usually sold from non-licensed distributors.

These knock-off lenses are unusually cheap and strangely colored. They are also inclosed with non-sterilized containers.

However, it was too late. Things took a horrible turn when the 17 year-old got a cataract, multiple eye infections, and secondary glaucoma. Julian is now legally blind in his left eye.

His right eye is still in the shade of brows, but his left eye is now blue.

He’s had multiple eye surgeries, a stent to control the pressure in his eye, and the worst: things may no longer be reversed.

Read: Everything that you need to know about Toric Contact Lenses

Major Takeaways

Our eyes are one of the most important organs in our body.

They are also very sensitive, especially if you use contact lenses and maybe, for some, prescription glasses, frequently.

But with healthy habits and compliance to hygienic instructions, you can rest easy as you enjoy a wonderful scenery throughout your lifetime.

Sources that we trust:

WebMD – https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/caring-contact-lensAll About Vision – https://www.allaboutvision.com/contacts/caresoftlens.htmVision Direct – https://www.visiondirect.co.uk/eye-care-centre/contact-lens-care
American Optometric Association – https://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/caring-for-your-vision/contact-lenses/what-you-need-to-know-about-contact-lens-hygiene-and-compliance