How to get the most out of your contact lenses
Imagine having contact lenses that feel brand new every time you wear them.
The packaging might say that your lenses can last up to 2 weeks, month, or more. But regular, daily wear leaves behind a mess of dirt and irritating deposits. As a result, your contact lenses might feel dry and uncomfortable. And sometimes that means that you’re forced to toss out perfectly good contact lenses earlier than planned.
Want to get the most out of your contact lenses? It’s easy! Read on to find out how to make your contact lenses last longer.
🧼 Clean your contact lenses properly
If you want your contact lenses to last as long as possible, the most important thing to do is clean them regularly – and properly.
Since your lenses are in direct contact with your eyes, any dirt or contaminants on the surface will cause irritation and possible infection.
It’s best to avoid that discomfort by cleaning your lenses every time you put them on and take them off. Making a habit of good contact lens hygiene will not only protect your eye health. It’ll also make your lenses feel more comfortable for longer.
- Wash and dry your hands well before handling your lenses
- Always clean your lenses every time you remove them
- Never use expired solution
- Keep your contact lens case clean, too!
💦 Keep them hydrated
Another reason that your contact lenses become less comfortable over time is that they dry out. You can avoid that by storing your lenses overnight in a hydrating multipurpose solution.
Sometimes people try to save up their multipurpose solution by reusing it night after night.
But that’s like saving your shower water from yesterday for a bath tomorrow.
It’s a huge mistake that’s a health risk to your eyes and actually makes your contact lenses less comfortable.
Additionally, if you live and work in a dry or air-conditioned environment, there are hydrating eye drops available for contact lens wearers. If that sounds like something for you, be sure to ask your optometrist first. Not all eye drop brands are suitable for contact lens wearers.
- Always store your contacts in the solution your optometrist recommended
- Never reuse old solution
- Consider a hydrating eye drop solution – but always ask your optometrist first
🚱 Avoid water at all costs!
This might seem counter to the previous tip, but it’s important to know that your contact lenses need to be kept away from water at all times.
Water won’t lubricate and hydrate your lenses the way that a multipurpose solution does. In fact, exposing your lenses to water can make them feel even drier!
Plus, tap water and even bottled water can carry germs that cling onto your lenses and irritate your eyes. Worse still, those germs can even cause an infection or permanent blindness.
- Always dry your hands thoroughly before handling your lenses
- Never store your contact lenses in tap water (or anything other than what your eye doctor recommends)
- Always remove your lenses before taking a shower or going for a swim
☣️ Trouble with deposits?
Your eyes naturally cover themselves all day, every day with a protective layer of tears called the “tear film.”
The tear film is a combination of amino acids and lipids that keep your eyes from drying out and protect you from bacterial infection.
Usually you just blink the tear film away. But when you wear contact lenses, the tear film can build up on the surface of your lenses. Over time, that leads to irritating protein and fat deposits that can make your lenses feel dry, obstruct your vision, and even trigger an immune response.
That’s why it’s a good idea to remove those protein and lipid deposits from your contact lenses regularly. You can usually remove protein deposits with the traditional ‘Rub & Rinse’ method. But stubborn lipid deposits require either enzymatic cleaning chemicals or equivalent cleaning methods – like the Visonic Dome ultrasonic contact lens cleaner.
- Remove protein and lipid deposits regularly
- Rub your lenses to clean them thoroughly and remove proteins
- Enzyme solutions help remove stubborn lipid deposits
- Visonic Dome contact lens cleaner automatically removes all deposits with the push of a button
💅🏽 Watch out for makeup
Eye makeup, lotions, and even hairspray can all spoil your lenses if they come into contact with each other.
Just like the tear film deposits mentioned above, makeup and lotion fills up the pores in your lenses. That makes it harder for your eyes to stay hydrated and makes your lenses feel dry, itchy, and irritated.
Since makeup is notoriously difficult to remove from contact lenses, it’s best to try to prevent all contact between your lenses as best you can. You can do that by keeping your hands clean every time you handle your contacts and by putting on your contacts before you apply makeup.
That’ll help prevent your lenses from coming into contact with your mascara as you put them on and keep your hands lotion-free.
If your lenses do get contaminated by lotion or makeup, be sure to clean them thoroughly before wearing them again.
- Always put your contact lenses on before your eye makeup or sunscreen
- Also remove your lenses before you remove your eye makeup to prevent contamination
- Never apply hairspray when your contact lenses are already on
🧿 Try a different contact lens type
If your lenses aren’t lasting through your entire replacement schedule before they become uncomfortable, it might be worth trying a totally different contact lens type.
Everyone’s different. A contact lens brand that feels great for some might not fit as well for you. Luckily, there are so many options available that something is bound to work better.
It’s also possible that the fit of your lenses is incorrect. An optometrist can measure your eyes and help you pick new lenses that fit better.
Similarly, you might benefit from a different lens material with more or less water content.
- Don’t be afraid to try a different replacement schedule, brand, or contact lens material
- Ask your optometrist to double check the size and fit of your lenses
- Some people prefer higher or lower water-content in their lenses
📅 What about daily disposables?
The cost of replacing daily disposable lenses every day leads some contact lens wearers to try to get more bang for their buck.
Unfortunately, that means wearing their lenses beyond the schedule they’re designed for.
Contact lenses are designed to last for a set amount of time. Wearing them beyond that time-frame invites the risk of damaging the lenses and potentially hurting your eyes.
If you find that you’re wearing your lenses for longer than intended often, ask your doctor about trying weekly or monthly lenses made for that purpose.
- Never wear your lenses beyond their planned replacement schedule
- Ask your eye doctor about trying a longer term lens if that’s what you prefer
👩🏿⚕️ Talk to your eye doctor
Contact lenses are designed to last for a specific length of time. If your lenses feel dry or irritating before the end of your replacement schedule, that’s a sign that something isn’t right.
There are a ton of reasons why that might happen. And the list above is a good first step towards getting contact lenses that last as long as they should.
To recap:
- Keep your contact lenses clean
- Always store them in a dedicated disinfecting solution
- Avoid contaminating your lenses with makeup, sunscreen, or hairspray
- Remove protein and lipid deposits regularly to keep your lenses from feeling dry and irritating
- Consider switching to a new contact lens material or replacement schedule
But remember, nothing can substitute for the one-on-one expert help of your eye doctor. So if your contacts are giving you problems, see your optometrist as soon as possible.
