A Guide on Caring for Your Contact Lenses

Caring for your contact lenses is the best way to achieve optimal eye health and always enjoy comfortable, clear vision. Read our top 8 tips put together by our optometrists to get the most from your lenses and avoid contact lens contamination.

1. Use the lenses as directed

Of course, if you want to know how to care for your contact lenses, the first thing to do is use the lenses as directed. Subsequently, easy, daily disposable lenses get thrown away after each wear. They should not be re-worn. Likewise, after 14 or 30 wears, fortnightly and monthly lenses are thrown away. The lenses are cleaned and stored daily in the recommended solution during this wear cycle.

2. Wash your hands and don’t use tap water, and avoid contact lens contamination

First and foremost, wash your hands before inserting your contact lenses to remove any potential contaminants. In addition, contact lenses CAN’T be stored or rinsed in tap water. Because this potentially introduces bacteria, fungus, viruses, and parasites to the contact lens and ultimately your eye.

3. Keep your fingernails short and steer clear of contact lens damage

Another way to care for your contact lenses is to keep your fingernails short. One of the main reasons contact lenses split is that rubbing your fingernails on your lenses weakens them. For this reason, use the pads of the fingers to remove your lenses – don’t use your fingernails.

4. Circumvent contact lens contamination and replace your contact lens case regularly

Contact lens cases are the leading cause of eye infection. In fact, the recommendation is to throw away your cases every time you replace your contact lens bottle solution.

5. Don’t sleep in your lenses

Ordinarily, it would be best not to sleep with your lenses on your eyes for the best contact lens care. However, in some cases, your practitioner may recommend this. Ultimately, this can cause problems with your lenses AND your eyes. Therefore, only sleep in your lenses if advised by your practitioner.

6. Use non-preserved eye lubricants and maintain your contact lenses and eye health

Non preserved eye lubricants come in small plastic vials or a pump-style bottle. These lubricants give you the moisture you need without the preservatives, affecting your contact lenses and eye health.

7. Do not use any drops other than lubricants with your contact lenses

Examples of other drops you may ordinarily use on your eyes include whiteners, antihistamine/allergy drops, and glaucoma medications. You can still maintain your eye health and use contact lenses in this situation. The best way is to insert these drops without your contact lenses in your eye and wait 10 minutes before inserting your lenses.

8. Take care with your makeup and face creams

 Caring for your contact lenses when using makeup and face creams doesn’t have to be tricky. Makeup under your lens can be very irritating. Also, face creams and lotions will stick to your lens, making them permanently blurry. Hence, Put your contact lenses in first and then do your face/eye cream and makeup. Lenses contaminated with face creams will need to be discarded.

Clean, clear contact lenses give comfortable and clear vision. Look after your contact lenses!

Also check out Optometry Australia’s top tips for contact lens wearers YouTube video below.

Read more articles to help learn about caring for your contact lenses

• A Guide on Caring for Your Contact Lenses
• 5 Reasons Your Contact Lenses are Uncomfortable
• I have a lost contact lens in. What should I do?
• How to choose the right contact lenses
• How to Read Your Contact Lens Prescription?