Today, more people are wearing contact lenses to avoid the inconvenience and trouble of glasses and also have good vision. Nearly 135 million people wear contact lenses around the world. Contact lenses are very safe for the eyes and comfortable to wear if your eyes have been fitted correctly by an eye doctor. However, it is essential to take good care of them and put them into your routine daily to make sure your eyes stay healthy.
Soft contact lenses come in three types: single use, daily wear and extended wear. Single use lenses are individually packaged and used for only one day. You put them in the morning and discard them before bed at night. Daily wear lenses are made to be reused from one to four weeks. These are also inserted in the morning and taken out at night. Extended wear lenses are made to be worn for seven days straight, even while sleeping.
The basic care for soft contact lens can be done in five easy steps:
1. Wash your hands completely and dry with a lint-free towel.
2. Remove and clean one contact with contact solution. This will remove buildup, makeup and dirt. It is recommended that you rub the contact lens in your palm with a couple of drops of solution.
3. Rinse the contact to get rid of all debris. Make sure it is rinsed thoroughly.
4. Put this contact lens in the case and fill with solution.
5. Repeat the above steps with the second contact lens.
The care for contact lenses will include cleaning, disinfecting, soaking, rinsing and storing. If they are not cleaned properly, it can affect your vision and cause them to wear out quickly. It is always very important to have clean hands when you are handling or cleaning your contact lenses. Moisturizing hand lotion is in a lot of hand soaps, but is not good for your soft contact lenses. Use a basic hand soap and wash and rinse your hands completely before touching your lenses.
It is important to find the right kind of solution or brand of products for you and your contact lenses. The choices available differ greatly for all users. There are some saline solutions that are for cleaning the contact lenses only and then there are others that do a whole lot more. Most the time, soft contact lenses can be cleaned, stored and disinfected with just one solution. There is a ‘no rub’ solution that makes the entire care easier that a lot of people are using.
Storing soft contact lenses properly can make them last much longer. Once the lenses have been cleaned and ready to store, fill the case with solution and place the lenses in. Soft contacts need to soak in the solution for at least four hours.
Do not let water touch your soft contact lenses or any of the accessories for them. Water can carry organizes that will cause eye infections. The disinfecting of the contacts on a regular basis is what kills these microorganisms.
Soft contact lenses must always be wet and hydrated. They need to either be in your eye or in a proper solution and soaking. If you drop a contact lenses and it dries out, there is the potential that it can be ruined. If it is too dried out, it can become weak and break.
The advantages of soft contact lenses over other types are that they are more flexible and comfortable, have many options available for wearing, stay in place better and have a shorter period of adjustment.
