Tips for Contact Lens Care

It is important for contact lens users to maintain personal hygiene as well as proper care and cleaning regime for your lenses. This is to prevent unnecessary infections, inflammations and injury to the eye.

To maintain the health of your eyes, these are some of the tips that can help optimize your experience with contact lenses:

Basics

  1. Keep your nails short – this will help to reduce the chances of scratching your eye, which may result in scarring in more serious situations.
  2. Always wash and dry your hands before handling contact lenses, preferably with fragrance-free soap.
  3. Clean your contact lenses every day – in up-down, left-right motion on both surfaces of the lenses.
  4. Never wear the lenses to sleep, unless directed by a Doctor.
  5. Do not swim with the lenses, unless they are daily disposables. Remember to discard them immediately after your swim and wear a fresh pair if you wish to continue wearing your lenses thereafter.
  6. Always keep 2 days/week without wearing the lenses. If not, at least 1 day/week. Remember, your eyes need to breathe normally too.
  7. Always discard your lenses promptly. Over-wearing your lenses may just increase the chances of having an infection.
  8. Never wear someone else’s contact lenses, even if they are non-prescription lenses.
  9. Always handle the same lens first to avoid confusion between the right and left lens.
  10. Never wear your contact lenses in presence of harmful vapours/fumes.

Solutions

  1. Only use contact lens solutions to clean and soak your lenses. Never use any other solutions (e.g. tap water, distilled water, mineral water).
  2. Always write down the date that you are supposed to discard the solution on the solution bottle to serve as a reminder.
    • Sterlie Saline: 3 weeks upon opening.
    • Other MPS/Hydrogen peroxide solution: 3 months upon opening.
  3. If possible, store your solutions in a dry environment. Avoid damp places (e.g. toilet).
  4. Always keep your solution bottles capped.
  5. Never let the tip of the solution bottle come into contact with any surface.
  6. Never recycle the solution used in your lens case. Always use a fresh set of solution upon each use/storage.
  7. Never mix contact lens solutions, even if they are of the same product.
  8. When the eyes are feeling dry, you may wish to get rewetting eyedrops that are suitable with contact lens wear.

Additional tips

  1. Cease lens wear when pain, irritation and itching is experienced. Consult an Optometrist on further advice.
  2. Clean your contact lens cases at least once a week: Remove all contents from the contact lens case and soak them in hot water, then air dry before placing the lenses in them again.
  3. Replace your lens case once every 3 months.
  4. Always insert the lenses before applying make up, and taking out before removing them. Remember this first in first out rule.
  5. You may wish to purchase additional items to enhance the cleanliness of your contact lenses (e.g. cleaner, protein remover). This is more essential for conventional lens wearers.
  6. Make an appointment with the optometrist at least once in every 6 months to monitor the health of your eye with contact lens use.

Additional Multimedia Sources

(The following multimedia sources are found on the net and is not produced by Optique Zone & Contact Lens Centre in any way.)

  1. Are bad habits putting your eye health at risk?
  2. Contact Lens Safety
  3. Kids & Contact Lenses: Is it safe?

Disclaimer: These information serves to help and enhance your experience with contact lenses, and each individual may have different experience with their lenses and the management may differ accordingly. When in doubt, always consult an eye care professional.

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