Wake up, take a shower, pick an outfit, put in your contacts, eat your breakfast, brush your teeth, and head out the door. The morning routine is fairly simple. You probably know exactly how much time it takes to get from your bed to school or work. When you are accustomed to a routine, you run the risk of forgetting important details. Contacts are medical devices and require specific, consistent care. The way you handle your contacts impacts not only the lifespan of the contacts, but the overall health of your eyes. Improper care of contacts can lead to infections, cuts, abrasions, ulcers and more.
Dirty Hands Can you honestly say that you wash and dry your hands every time you put in your contacts? Think of how many germs your hands come into contact with every day. If you don't wash your hands before you put in your contacts, you are giving bacteria an open invitation to take up residency between your contact and eye , which may start attacking your cornea. Sleeping in Your Contacts Contacts are a piece of plastic that covers your eye. While wearing your contacts, your eyes do not always get the oxygen and hydration they need. That is why it is so important to give them a break at night. Additionally, a break allows solution to disinfect your contacts and rehydrate them as well. Use Water Instead of Solution It happens to everyone. You run out of solution and you don't want to make a late-night run to the store. However, water, even tap water, contains bacteria. Water will not hydrate your contacts properly, it will not disinfect your contacts properly, and you even run the risk of bacterial infection when you choose water instead of contact solution. Reuse Solution So if you can't use water, you can just reuse solution, right? Wrong! Don't top off the case with new solution either. After you have already washed your contacts in solution once, your case becomes a petri dish of bacteria if not properly cleaned. Every day, wash your case with solution, not water, and remember to dry it thoroughly. Leave the lids off of your case during the day. Use new solution in a clean case every day. Your contacts collect all sorts of bacteria and debris throughout the day. From hairspray to dust, your contacts need to be thoroughly washed. Use Your Mouth Crazy things happen. Maybe you were on a roller coaster that went fast enough to blow your contact off of your eye. You're sort of stuck at that point, right? Your contact is dry, you probably don't have your solution with you, and you are on a tight schedule to get on the next ride. So maybe you're tempted to wet the contact in your mouth. Don't do it. Your mouth is essentially a breeding ground for bacteria. If you wet your contact with your mouth and stick it into your eye, you are sealing bacteria between your contacts and eyes. Ignoring Time Limits Contacts can be a pricey expense. We all want to stretch a dollar, but is saving a little money worth risking your eye health? Your contacts are designed to last for a specific time limit. Beyond that, they can start to dry out and possibly scratch your eyes. A tiny scratch does more than irritate your eye—it can create an opening for bacteria and other infections to flood your eye and cause some serious damage. Sharing Contacts Coloured contacts are popular around Halloween. It can be fun to see how you look with different styles of eyes. Many people, especially teenagers, will swap non-prescription contacts between friends to try out different looks. This can rapidly spread pink eye and other diseases. Swimming with Contacts If you have a high prescription, it can be off-putting to walk around without contacts, so you might be tempted to wear your contacts while swimming. However, as mentioned before, bacteria is everywhere. Some forms of amoebas and bacteria are not harmful when you touch them or even inhale them. However, if these amoebas and bacteria get stuck between your contact lens and your eye for an extended period of time, they can cause infection or even blindness. You are not alone. Contact wearers across the globe unite in some of these bad habits. If any of these habits sound a little too familiar to you, change your ways and commit to eye health today. Call The Eyewear Place for any other questions or concerns.