Ensure your Eye Health by Knowing — and Doing — all the Right Steps
Contact lenses are a “medical device,” regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)— and dispensed only by a trained and licensed eyecare professional.
While contact lenses are proven to be a highly safe and effective means of vision correction, it’s important that you follow your eyecare professional’s instructions to maintain good eye health. Contact lens wearers must do their part in properly caring for their lenses.
The key factor here…is YOU! How you care for your contact lenses can greatly minimize risk of eye irritation or infection and ensure the continued good health of your eyes.
Here are simple but vital steps in proper contact lens care, based on recommendations from the FDA, associations of eyecare professionals, and manufacturers of contact lenses and lens care products.
Follow your schedules on lens removal and replacement
Follow your schedules on lens removal and replacement Your eyecare professional will outline two schedules: one for lens removal and another for lens replacement. It’s vital that you follow both. Some contact lenses are designed for daily wear; they need to be removed each night or your eyes will not receive the oxygen they need to maintain their health. Other contact lenses can be worn overnight or for extended periods of time. In addition, replace your contact lenses with a fresh, new pair on the schedule your eyecare professional recommends. Some wearers are heavy depositors, some lighter depositors. All wearers have natural oils and fats in tear film that build up on a lens over time and can impact eye health and compromise clear vision. A fresh, new pair of lenses, applied once a month, once a week, every two weeks or even each day can help you feel and see your best.
Clean your case always…and replace it regularly
It’s important to clean out your lens case — with multipurpose solution, not tap water-each time it’s not in use. After inserting your lenses, rinse out your lens case with multipurpose solution, and let it air dry to starve any bacteria that could otherwise grow in a dark, moist environment. Replace your lens case on a regular basis, at least several times a year, to ensure eye health.
Shortcuts can short-circuit eye health!
Medical researchers conjecture that one of the ways contact lens wearers can incur harmful infections is by “topping off” lens care solutions. Avoid this foolish shortcut, which saves only an insignificant amount of money. Each time you care for your lenses, empty your lens case and use only fresh, new solutions to clean, rinse and disinfect your lenses. Be sure that your lens care solutions are not outdated. Never take shortcuts — they can only cut short your eye health.
Read directions to be sure
Effective disinfection time varies from solution to solution. Check the label to be sure — and call your eyecare professional’s office if you are not certain of the required disinfection time. Overnight soaking in a multipurpose solution is sure to cover all bases, time-wise.
