Contact Lens Maintenance

When you think about it, wearing contact lenses isn't natural.

What you're actually doing is willingly placing foreign objects into your eyes which are some of the most sensitive parts of the body.

You wouldn't normally allow something unsanitary into your body, yet people place dirty contact lenses into their eyes all the time!

If that's what you do, you need to stop immediately.

Then you need to either change your contact lens prescription to disposable lenses which require little or no maintenance, or you need to have your eye doctor remind you of the steps involved in proper contact lens maintenance.

Following the eye doctor's recommendations is the key to success because contact lenses and cleaning products are not created equally.

More often than not, contact lens maintenance involves using one of the commercially-available multi-purpose solutions that take care of cleaning, disinfecting, rinsing and storage.

After removing a contact lens, with hands that have first been washed using non-moisturizing soap, shoot the lens with a steady stream of the multi-purpose solution for a minimum of 20-seconds (or as directed), making sure that both sides of the lens are sprayed.

Some solutions require that the contacts be rubbed in the palm of the hand using a clean fingertip to help loosen dirt, protein, cosmetics and other debris.

Be sure to rinse each lens as directed as this is an important step in helping rid the lens of foreign matter.

Then, fill a clean storage unit with that same solution and place the cleaned lens into the appropriately labeled storage container.

While the lenses are being stored, the solution will disinfect them. Repeat these steps for the other lens.

The maintenance steps generally are the same regardless of whether you wear soft contacts or Gas Permeable Contact Lenses.

Because the maintenance steps were so frequently being skipped, it was important to devise ways to make cleaning as quick and as simple as possible.

Again, your eye doctor is the person who should advise you on a suitable maintenance routine and to whom you should turn when questions arise.

Those wearing daily contact lenses that aren't disposable usually need to add an extra step to their maintenance routines, especially if they wear soft lenses or older styles of gas permeable lenses that are more prone to protein build-up.

As an extra precaution, using an enzyme cleaner weekly (or as directed) is highly recommended.

Everything that may come into contact with your contact lenses must be kept clean.

That includes fingers, hands, tips of solution bottles and storage containers.

Never use water for cleaning. It may contain contaminants and it's too harsh for some lenses.

Develop a cleaning routine and stick with it.

Never change without first checking with your eye doctor or specialist.

If maintenance isn't happening on a regular basis, switch to disposable lenses. You're the type of person for whom these lenses were invented!

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Contact Lens Maintenance to Contact Lenses