Here’s How You Can Wear Contact Lenses

Contact lenses are “the trend”. A lot of people are switching from their glasses to air Optix color contact lenses. Glasses have become highly inconvenient and during the pandemic, the mask mandate made it foggy and difficult to wear these glasses.

This is where the contact lenses entered the chat. They are more comfortable and hassle-free. They come for different periods for which they can be used. Wearing contact lenses is easy but is it as easy as it seems on the internet? Following the steps on the prescription are frustrating but once you have learned the trick, you can conquer the world with your eyes.

Here are some things that you should keep in mind while putting on the contact lenses –

1. Firstly, start with cleaning your hands. Hands are the most common source of germs and so washing them before putting on your lenses is very important. Wash your hands with soap and water. Avoid soaps that contain extra oils or fragrances and lotions as they may stick to the lenses. Dry your hands with tissues or a lint-free cloth so that the extra particles don’t float into your eyes.
2. Remember to clean your lens case. Bad hygiene practices have a higher risk of contamination of the contact lens case. It was found that people who don’t clean and dry their lens cases have a higher count of microorganisms in their cases.

It was suggested that to clean your case, you must pour the contact lens solution out of the case, rub it with a finger and then rinse it with fresh solution.

3. Whenever storing your lens, always use a fresh contact lens solution. Practices like adding new solutions to the old or cleaning lenses with water have been linked to cases of Acanthamoeba keratitis, an infection that is rare but painful and hard to treat.

4. Many people think that a particular lens is attractive – colored or cosmetic – and has no power so it is okay to use it without a prescription but the eye surface of every individual has unique properties and so it needs to be assessed by the eye doctor before any use.

5. Now on to the most crucial part, remove the lenses from their case. Place them onto the tip of your index or middle finger of your dominant hand. Rinse your lens with the contact lens solution. If by chance, you drop the lens, rinse it with the solution again to remove any impurities before putting it in your eyes.

6. Check for any damage on the lens and make sure the right side is up. The lens should form a bowl-like shape and the edges should be up. If the lens looks like a lid and the edges are turned out, then you need to reverse the lens.

7. Hold your upper eyelid wide open with your non-dominant hand and pull down your lower eyelid with the middle or ring finger of your dominant hand while looking in the mirror.

8. Put the contact lenses in your eye and either look in front or up towards the ceiling while doing this. Slowly shut your eyes and roll them to adjust the lens in the eyes. Open your eyes and gently blink your eyes a few times. Check in the mirror to see whether the lens shows up in the center of your eye.

9. You will start feeling comfortable once the lens gets inserted and settled in your eyes correctly. Your vision will be clear. If you feel any discomfort or your vision is blurry, then the lens is not inserted in the right way and you need to take it out and reinsert it in the right way.

Now that you have learned how to put in a lens, removing it is also a big and important task and so here is how you can do it –

1. Washing hands is necessary before putting on the lenses and removing the lenses. This will help in avoiding any kind of eye infection.
2. Flip the lens case and remove the leftover contact lens solution. Dry the case with a dryer and clean it with a fresh and clean cloth.
3. Stand in front of the mirror. Tilt your head slightly and pull down your lower eyelid with the middle finger of the dominant hand. Try to remove a particular side’s lens first (right or left eye) to avoid any kind of confusion.
4. Carefully slide the lens from the eyeballs to the white area of the eye with the index finger of your dominant hand.
5. Pinch the lens with your index finger and thumb to remove the lens easily from your eye.
6. Replicate the above-mentioned process to remove the lens from the other eye.
7. If you have lenses that are not daily disposable, then you need to clean your lenses every time you remove them. Follow the instructions provided by the eye care professional or the manufacturer of the lens. Use solutions that are recommended and not homemade solutions.
8. Put these contacts in the case and cover them with a fresh contact lens solution. If you have disposable contact lenses, then dispose of them carefully.

Some things to keep in mind while using lenses –

1. Keep replacing the lenses. Some lenses need to be disposed of daily whereas some can be used for weeks, months, and even a year.
2. Do not bathe with contact lenses in your eyes, especially in hot water. Water contains organisms that can enter the eyes and cause infections.
3. Sleeping with contact lenses in your eyes increases the risk of infections in your eyes by 10 times and so sleeping with them even for a short period is not recommended.
4. Do consult your doctor in case you feel any discomfort in putting on the lenses.

Wrapping Up

There are multiple brands of lenses available in the market. The air Optix color lenses are currently dominating the market with their affordable price. Make sure to consult your eye doctor before jumping onto any new lens.