Eye Health

Introduction to
Contact Lenses

Introduction to Contact Lenses

You just got fitted for your first pair of contact lenses and now what do you do? Here’s a guide on how to put in your new contacts lenses and care for them.

Hygiene

The best contact lenses are dailies as you are wearing a sterilized lens every time. If dailies are not an option, here’s how to maintain proper hygiene with bi-weekly or monthly disposables:

1. Always wash your hands before inserting and removing contact lenses.

2. Avoid using oil-based lotions or soaps before handling your contact lenses.

3. Always ensure you are using fresh contact lens solution to store your lenses. Do not top off solution when you refill your bottle; completely empty it first and then refill it with new solution.

4. Never use water or saliva to disinfect your contact lenses.

5. Replace your contact lens case and solution every three months.

After thoroughly cleaning and drying your hands, it’s time to prepare your contact lenses. First up is retrieving one from the case and using the tip of a finger from whichever hand is less adept. Always remember, be gentle when dealing with them; mishandling them may damage them.

What you want to do is thoroughly rinse your contact lenses using contact lens cleaning solution. It’s important NOT to use water as microscopic organisms in tap water can be detrimental to our eye health and cause infections.

How to put in contact lenses

Step 1: Position the Lens
To appropriately position your contact lens, use your non-dominant hand to place the lens on the tip of either your middle or index finger of your dominant hand. Check that the edges form a bowl shape before moving ahead; otherwise, it may be flipped outwards. If it’s inside out, turn it gently before application. Correct placement of the contacts guarantees comfort while minimizing irritation.

Step 2: Inserting the Lens
Keep a mirror handy for this step. Hold your upper and lower lids out of the way while your finger guides the lens towards the eye. If the lens is having trouble staying on the eye, you can wiggle it to get it to settle in better. This tends to work better than slight pressure on the eye (especially if you’re squeamish.)

Step 3: Settling the Lens
The process of inserting a contact lens begins with gently closing one's eye around the lens before adjusting for comfort by opening and closing the eyelid. Slow and steady wins this race. A few deep eye blinks will help center the lens.

Step 4: Repeat for the Other Eye

Lastly, it is important to mention that you should repeat the identical steps for your other eye as well. It is important to understand that every eye is distinct and has its specific needs—one eye is always easier than the other. Thus, it is crucial that you follow this complete process separately for each eye.

Remember these Don’ts

Contact lenses should be handled with care. After all, they go directly into your eyes. Regardless of which type of lenses you wear, here are 10 things you should never do as a contact lens wearer:

1. Sleep with your contact lenses.

2. Rub your eyes while wearing contact lenses.

3. Use dirty hands to handle your contact lenses.

4. Leave specs of makeup on your contact lenses.

5. Shower or swim with your contact lenses in (we’re also including bathing or relaxing in a hot tub with them too). Water can carry bacteria that cling to your contact lenses and cause infections, which is also why you should never store your lenses in tap water. (Use the contact lens solution instead.)

6. Get close to heat sources, such as fire, which can dry out contact lenses.

7. Reuse contact lens solution.

8. Forget to clean your contact lenses and case if you don’t use dailies.

9. Wear them when your eyes are irritated.

10. Overwear them – your eyes need time to rest. Contact lenses shouldn’t be worn for more than 10-16 hours per day.