Contact Lens Health Week 2021

This year contact lens health week was August 22-26. We offer contact lenses here at St. Hope Foundation, so I thought it might be helpful to go over the care of contact lenses, and to ensure good health of the eye for contact lens wearers.

Contacts have come a long way since I graduated from UHCO in 1996. At the time the two-week lenses controlled the market. Nowadays it’s either the monthly lenses or the daily disposable lenses! With the monthly lenses, some people take them out and soak them every night, while others sleep in them up to a week...and some even the whole 30 days! With the daily disposables, people should throw them away after each use!

Regardless of what your correction is, and your age, there may be some contact lenses you can wear...as long as you are physically able, and take care of them and your eyes. Good hygiene practices include washing your hands with soap, and drying your hands thoroughly with a towel/cloth each time before handling the lens(es), avoid sleeping in contacts unless prescribed by your doctor, keep water away from your contact lenses, and take out the lenses before showering, hot tubbing or swimming.

A few other good habits, besides those recommended by the CDC above, are to rub and rinse your contacts with only contact lens disinfecting solution and never water each time you remove them, replacing your contact lens case at least every 3 months, not mixing old and new contact solution to store contact lenses...only use new solution each time, and rinse out your case each time you take out your lenses and let it air dry turned upside down without the lids on. Do not ever use saliva to clean lenses, or rub/dry your hands on your pants before handling contact lenses!

Over the years I have seen some nasty infections due to overwear of contacts, sleeping in them without caring for them properly, or not practicing proper hygiene when handling lenses. Some of them have caused permanent damage including scars and vision loss. Take those extra few minutes to care for your lenses, and your eyes, properly! It’s worth it!

If you would like to be fit for contact lenses in our clinic we would love to see you! Our staff is very knowledgeable and capable. Call us today!

Until next time...