My husband has had to wear glasses most of his life. He now wears contacts most of the time, so I’ve learned more about contacts than I knew in the past. Did you know that today, there are nearly 41 million adults in the U.S. (more than one in ten people) and 125 million people worldwide wear contact lenses? And it’s not just adults that wear contacts. There are more and more children that benefit from using contact lenses as young as 10 years old. Proper care of contact lenses is very important for healthy eyes and must be practiced regularly for good eye health. Contact lens wearers should also have comprehensive eye exams annually and stay in close contact with their eye doctor to ensure appropriate and up-to-date clinical guidance based on individual eye health needs for the best possible care.
When patients do not use lenses as directed by an eye doctor, the consequences can be dangerous and can even damage the eyes, potentially causing long-term problems with vision and eye health. So, it’s very important to have clean and safe handling of contacts is very important to protect vision. Here’s 7 Contact Lens Tips to practice to keep eyes healthy!
1. Wash and dry hands before handling contact lenses
2. Carefully and regularly use cleaning solution to rub the lenses with fingers and rinse thoroughly before soaking lenses overnight in a sufficient multi-purpose disinfectant solution
3. Store lenses in the proper lens storage case and replace your case every three months; in addition cases should be rubbed with clean fingers, rinsed with solution, dried with a tissue, and stored upside down every night.
4. Use fresh solution to clean and store contact lenses—never re-use old solution.
5. Use products recommended by your eye doctor to clean and disinfect your lenses
6. Removing contact lenses before exposing them to water.
7. Always follow the recommended contact lens replacement schedule by your doctor.
By creating good habits for your contact lens eye care, you’ll be setting yourself up for healthy eyes and vision for the future! Visit an Optometrist regularly, they are able to provide a lifetime of vision care and play a key role in a patient’s total quality of life. Proper vision can affect how well a person functions and succeeds in life. Poor vision has been linked to developmental problems. So, make sure to get your yearly eye exams because they are so important for eye and vision health.
Note: The American Optometric Association represents approximately 39,000 doctors of optometry, optometry students and paraoptometric assistants and technicians. Optometrists serve patients in nearly 6,500 communities across the country, and in 3,500 of those communities, they are the only eye doctors. Doctors of optometry provide two-thirds of all primary eye care in the United States.
John
I didn’t know 1 in 10 people wore contacts. That’s pretty popular. I’ve been wanting to try contacts so that I don’t have to worry about bringing my glasses everywhere.
Schiro Ackermann
I really liked your first and foremost advice of washing the hands thoroughly before handling the contact lenses to prevent contamination. This got to me because I usually do the chores around the house, and my hands always end up being dirty. I need to take this tip to heart as I intend to get contact lenses soon. It’s vital that I don’t forget since my eyes are already sensitive as they are.
Ridley Fitzgerald
Thanks for the great tips for healthy eyes with contacts. I’ve thinking of getting rid of my glasses and solely wearing contacts. If I do, I’ll be sure to only by solution that’s recommended by a doctor, instead of some bargain brand.
Ivy Baker
I am terrible at remembering when I started using a new pair of contacts. So, I like that you stressed the importance of sticking to the normal schedule for contact use. I should probably write down the date I put them in on my calendar.
Brooke McAvoy
I appreciate all of your detailed tips. My son has always worn glasses, but he is getting to the point where he would rather try out contacts. I have never used these and neither has my husband. These tips will be very helpful to me as I try to teach him how to take care of these properly. When you say removing contact lenses before exposing them to water, do you mean before showering or swimming? Thank you!
Meagan
I have really wanted to get contacts but I have been told that there is a lot of work associated with them. This article tells me otherwise. As long as you do everything properly, there really isn’t much work involved. I think I may be making the switch.
Veronica Marks
I definitely am guilty of wearing my contact lenses longer than I’m supposed to! I also forget to replace my case every three months. I do always have a prescription and I do see my eye doctor regularly, so at least I’m not totally wrong in my eye health practices!
Jenn
I’ve been wearing contact lenses for years. Even with the breathable contacts, my optometrist is saying my eyes aren’t getting enough oxygen. You can see the veins in my eyes have moved closer to the surface to try and get more oxygen. I’m probably going to need lasik within the next year. Ah!