7 Mistakes You Are Probably Making With Your Eye Contacts

Contact lenses are an excellent solution for correcting your poor eyesight. They are invisible, convenient for use even when playing sports, and with proper care, you will never have any issues with them. However, if misused, contact lenses can cause more harm than good, so unless you are going to use them the right way, better stick to glasses. Here are seven things you need to avoid.

You are wearing them while you sleep

The first and the most prominent mistake many people make is wearing contacts while sleeping. That is something that is not recommended and can lead to severe eye conditions such as corneal scarring and neovascularization. It is hard enough for your eyes to get enough oxygen through the contacts even with eyes open, let alone while shut. Also, any microorganisms or debris that are trapped between your eye and the lens will cause trouble. That is why you wake up with red, hurting eyes if you forget to take off your contact lenses. Instead of sleeping with contacts on, keep a pair of glasses next to your bed, for those late night bathroom trips.

You are wearing them past the expiration date

Whether you use daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly contact lenses, you need to make sure you are using them as prescribed, and not past the expiration date. Old lenses become less efficient, and your vision will suffer. Also, the longer you wear them past the expiration date, the more buildup will collect on the surface, further irritating your eyes, increasing the infection risks. So don’t be lazy, replace your contacts once they expire. One more tip: for people who are prone to forgetting, daily replaceable contacts are the best option. Since you throw them away instead of reusing them, you do not have to worry about expiration dates.

Improper hand care

Before handling contact lenses, you need to make sure your hands are ultra clean. Quick wash is not enough, always use soap, and wash your hands thoroughly. However, washing your hands is just the first step; before touching lenses, make sure your hands are completely dry. This is not only because of the microorganisms but also for easier handling the lenses. Wipe your hands after washing with a clean, dry towel. Having completely clean and dry hands before touching the contacts will significantly reduce any infection risks.

Improper lens care

You want your hands clean, but you also need to make sure your lenses are clean too. You must use a disinfecting solution and nothing else, especially not tap water – it is good enough for drinking, but that does not make it suitable for your eyes. Our gut can handle plenty of those microorganisms living in tap water, but our eyes are much more delicate, and they cannot. By using tap water, you are risking severe infections that can even impact your vision loss. You should change the case from time to time; disinfection can only get you so far. If you do not want to bother with cleaning solutions and maintenance, get daily disposable lenses – once the day is over, you just throw them away and use a new pair the next morning.

You are wearing your contacts when swimming or showering

Never wear contacts in swimming pools – you have heard this one a million times before, but that only means it is a good advice. There are several reasons why: pools contain chlorine, the main reason why your eyes get red after swimming and especially diving. That chlorine will get trapped between your eyes and lenses, prolonging the irritation hours after you leave the pool. But the redness is not your only worry, it’s microorganisms. Pools are super dirty, and the same way chlorine sticks to your lens, microorganisms will too. The nastiest of them all is amebae, which cause Acanthamoeba keratitis, a serious cornea disease that can even lead to blindness.

As for showering – we have already mentioned how tap water if farm from ideal for cleaning your contact lenses, and it goes the same for showering. Soap and water will get under your contacts, first causing irritation, and later even putting you at risk of infections.

You are not changing the cleaning solution

Never reuse the contacts cleaning solution – do that, and it is almost like you did not clean the lenses at all. After putting the contacts on, empty the case, and rinse it out with a fresh solution. After you have done that, dry it out with a clean towel, and leave it upside down until the next use. That way it will be fully cleaned and dry every time you put contacts in it. So make sure you always have a spare bottle of cleaning solution as a backup. Also, check with your eye doctor which solution you should use for your contact lens type, they are not all the same.

You buy from suspicious sources

People often do stupid things in order to save few bucks, and one of undoubtedly most insane is buying contact lenses from suspicious websites. We are talking about something as fragile as eyesight – do you really want to put some shady contacts on your only two eyes? Do not get us wrong, buying online is completely fine, as long as you do proper research, and find a reputable vendor. WebEyeCare is a perfect place for you to get eye contacts, without worrying that you bought something suspicious and unsafe.

Bottom Line

Those were some common mistakes frequently made by people who wear contact lenses. They might seem unimportant at first glance, but they can lead to serious health concerns and even vision loss. You do not want to gamble with that, so make sure you avoid making them. Also, visit your eye doctor regularly, even when everything is alright, to check things up, just to make sure. Prevention is the best medicine – it is best to stop the problems from happening than to fix them when they do.