Do you rely on contact lenses to keep your vision sharp? While they remove the embarrassment of wearing glasses, they also come with more hassle when it comes to care and hygiene.
Poor contact lens hygiene leads to eye irritation and possible infection. Ensure you’re not making any of these common mistakes with your contact lens hygiene.
- Over-extended use between changes.
- Sleeping with your contacts in.
- Using your contacts in water.
- Cleaning the contact lenses using tap water.
- Using contact lenses past the expiry date.
- Handling your contact lenses with washing your hands.
- Not drying your hands properly before handling your contact lenses.
- Using your contacts when your eyes hurt.
- Failing to maintain the hygiene protocol for your lens case.
- Using expired contact lens solution.
- Mixing contact lens solution.
- Avoiding eye checkups.
- Not replacing your lens case.
If you’re making any of these mistakes, change your behavior immediately. Of all the problems with contact lenses, sleeping with them is probably on top of the list.
While you might feel tired when going to bed, you’ll need to remove your lenses, even if you feel lazy. Leaving the lenses in can increase infection risk up to eight-fold.
If you find yourself falling asleep often with your lenses still in, consult with your ophthalmologist. They’ll prescribe you specialist contacts that you can keep in while you sleep.
The second biggest error is in cleaning the lenses and the case. Many people make the error of using tap water to clean the case and their lenses, especially when they are in a pinch.
However, tap water contains billions of microbes that can cause infection. Make sure you only use the correct solution for cleaning the lenses and the case.
Remember to replace the solution in the case daily and get a new lens case every three months.