How do I wear and care for my contact lenses?
Once you decide to use contact lenses to correct your vision, you will have to add some new habits and precautions to your lifestyle. That being said, most wearers of contacts find that the brief time it takes to care for their lenses is well worth it.
As a new wearer, you will need to adapt to the lenses. Once the eyes are used to the lenses, however, it will simply be maintenance as usual. Here is some practical advice on wearing and caring for your lenses.
The Process of Adapting to Contact Lenses
The contact lens experience is a very individual one. However, there are a few common experiences, as well as symptoms of problems, of which you should be aware. So let's summarize some initial issues you might experience when you start wearing contacts, as well as a few warning signs to look out for regarding possible complications.
When you first start wearing contact lenses, your eyes will go through a period of physiological adaptation; they will actually "learn" to ignore the contact lenses. This is not asking something unreasonable from your eyes.
Adaptation to rigid lenses can take up to a week or two, but soft lenses might take only up to a few hours to get used to. Contacts are designed to be on your eyes, and most people will eventually adapt to them.
When you first get your lenses, your optician or optometrist will put you on a wearing schedule. Be sure to stick to the wearing times, even if the
lenses feel great. Sometimes a problem may exist that you can't feel until the lens is removed.
An average wearing schedule for adapting to soft lenses and rigid gas permeables is as follows: four to five hours on the first day, five to six hours on the second day, and so on, adding progressively more hours every day until you can wear your lenses for the duration of all your waking hours by the seventh day.
Some of the sensations you may notice with rigid gas permeable lenses include an increased sensitivity to the sun and wind, awareness of the lenses, frequent blinking, fluctuating tear flow, and transient blurred vision.
If any of these symptoms persist for more than seven days, tell your doctor when you return for your follow-up exam, which is usually in one week. Soft lens adaptation is much more subtle. The lens sensation usually disappears within the first thirty to ninety minutes of wearing
time. Although soft lenses are very comfortable, your vision may occasionally blur, and you may experience some drying of the lenses and of your eyes.
Maintenance of your contact lenses
Rigid gas permeable and soft contacts require slightly different kinds of care. We can apply some of the same rules for maintaining their effectiveness, but then there are specialized instructions as well.
Preparing to insert your contact lenses for the first time
There are some very important steps to take as you go through the process of inserting your contact lenses. First, wash your hands with a non-creamy, non-oily soap before handling your lenses. Most pump soaps contain creams.
Also, keep your fingernails manicured and short. This allows for easier hygiene and reduces the chance that you will scratch your eye in the process of inserting a lens. Plus, short, manicured nails allow you to manoeuvre the lens more effectively as you are placing it in your eye.
Never insert lenses if your eyes are red or irritated. Wait a few hours to see if the redness or irritation pass. If the symptoms persist, call your doctor. Of course, if there is any severe pain, call the doctor immediately.
Close the drain when you insert or remove your lenses over a sink, so as to make sure you don’t lose your contact lenses if you drop them.
Finally, check your lenses often for nicks and other damage. It is easy to do this just prior to inserting them as you already have them in your hand and they are clean. If a lens has a defect, you can still wear it if it's comfortable, but be especially careful about how you handle it and Order a replacement lens as soon as possible.
Moistening your contact lenses
Contact lenses can become dry due to environmental conditions or simply your eyes' natural tendencies. Never use saliva to wet your contact lenses. Saliva is full of bacteria. It's not the same as tears, which are free of bacteria unless you have an eye infection. You can cause a very serious infection by inserting saliva-coated lenses into your eyes. When moistening soft lenses, use only a designated wetting solution and soft-lens wearers should always have a wetting solution on hand to use in an emergency.
Conducting your cosmetic routine when using contact lenses
Many of your morning habits involving sprays and makeups might have to be adjusted now that you are concerned with maintaining the integrity of your contact lenses. First, do not insert your contact lenses until after you have used hair spray. The spray can quickly ruin a lens.
However, you should put your lenses in before doing your makeup. There's more to say on the subject of cosmetics. The accumulation of makeup oils and face creams can cause a film to build up on the lenses. The use of cream, instead of powdered, eye shadow and water-soluble makeup re- duces the chances that your lenses will become compromised. You can also find makeup products that are specifically designed for contact lense wearers. They tend to wash away more easily and be less irritating to the eyes.
Removing and cleaning your contact lenses
It is smart to establish a routine of always removing the lens from the same eye first, to avoid accidentally interchanging your lenses. In other words, you might want to start habitually with your right eye, removing the lens, cleaning it and placing it in the proper case chamber, before moving on to the left lens.
Clean your lenses, rinse them thoroughly, and disinfect them daily as directed. And don't be afraid of rubbing a soft lens they are very sturdy (despite their soft feel) and should be rubbed firmly in a straight back-and-forth motion to clean them completely. The only caution involves your fingernails; be sure they do not cut the edge of the lens. In addition, change the storing solution daily.
How well you clean your contact lenses has a profound effect on how long your lenses will last. Moreover, clean your lens case periodically by boiling a pot of water, removing it from the heat, and soaking your empty case for at least twenty minutes. A dirty case can contaminate clean lenses.
Taking extra precautions with contact lenses
There are some general precautions to take if you wear contacts. First, do not rub your eyes intensely while the lenses are in place. You could tear the lens, irritate your eye, or even cause the lens to get stuck temporarily above your eyelid.
Also, avoid anything that may cause dry eyes, such as smoke, wind, and dust. When outdoors, wear sunglasses to help reduce any light sensitivity caused by your lenses.
Remove a lens immediately if a foreign body becomes lodged in your eye. Rinse your eye and the lens thoroughly before reinserting your contact lenses. Do not wear the lens if the discomfort continues. Do not wear lenses when using eye medications or when you have an eye infection.
If your eyes are red but you have contacts in, don't use eye-whitening drops. Do not sleep with your lenses without your doctor's approval. In addition, keep a backup a pair of glasses on hand, even if you wear your lenses all the time.
There may be a time when you are unable to wear your contacts because of either an infection or a lost lens. Lastly, have your ocular health, visual acuity, and lens performance regularly.
Swimming with contact lenses
In general, do not swim with your contact lenses inserted unless you wear goggles. Wait at least one hour after swimming in chlorinated water to reinsert the lenses. If you are a soft-lens wearer and like water activities, there are some additional questions you might have regarding the safety and effectiveness of using soft contact lenses for these activities.
When engaging in water sports, you basically have three options. First, you can avoid swimming with contacts. Second, you can remove and dispose of the lenses should they be accidentally exposed to water. And third, you can wear watertight goggles. These options are likely not to please you but they are thou the safest ways to maintain eye health and the full lifespan of your contacts.
Properly maintained swimming pools are treated with chlorine and other chemicals. Soft lenses may absorb these chemicals, which can irritate the cornea, conjunctiva, and eyelids.
Swimming in the ocean is different. While there are no chemicals to consider, the high concentration of salt in the water will cause the lenses to tighten on the eye. While this is handy to keep the lenses from floating away, it can also cause fitting problems. To resolve this problem, use plenty of lubrication after swimming with the lenses on. And, of course, never swim or surf in polluted water as it can contain microorganisms, which can create infectious conditions for the eye.
If you like to swim in lakes or rivers, again be cautious because they can harbour more microorganisms than the ocean. Wearing disposable lenses is the best option here just to make sure that you can replace any possibly contaminated lens immediately. Of course, it is worth repeating that you should not go underwater when wearing contact lenses unless you have goggles in place.
If you are a diver or like to snorkel, a good mask or pair of goggles is essential. There might be some swelling of the cornea during ascension from a dive; thus, your vision may be hazy or cloudy. Wearing the right type of lens, one with high oxygen transmission will help, but also using lubricating solution immediately after surfacing will help reduce this effect. In addition, it is advisable to wait five minutes before attempting to remove your lenses, just in case they are stuck on your eyes.
For gas permeable lens wearers, the main problem is that the lenses can float off the eye while you are underwater. But a rigid gas permeable or silicone hydrogel lens is the best type for diving, so just be sure to wear a mask and have it properly sealed.