Soft Contact Lenses Care
Contact Lenses are thin, transparent treatment aid used to correct refractive errors like:
- Myopia (Nearsightedness)
- Hypermetropia (Farsightedness)
- Astigmatism (Blurry & distorted vision)
Types of Contact Lenses: The two most common types of contact lenses are Hard and Soft.
Hard contact lenses: Most commonly used hard contact lens is a rigid gas-permeable (RGP) lens. These lenses are made of silicone containing compounds. They hold their shape firmly thus allow oxygen to pass through the lens material to the eye.
Soft contact lenses: Most commonly uses contact lenses as they are thin, flexible thus provides more comfort while wearing.
Types:
Daily wear contacts. It can be worn over a period of 10-12 hrs a day. Some of them are to be changed annually while others are can be changed on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, which are called Disposable lenses.
Hydrogel contact lens contains more percentage of water thereby allowing more oxygen to pass through it to the cornea thus providing greater amount of nourishment to the cornea. The average water content is around 50-52% for which it can be used for a longer period of time.
Silicone Hydrogel lenses are widely used now a days which contains more percentage of water, around 58% which makes the lenses comfortable. Furthermore the silicone material allows more amount of oxygen to pass through it thereby adding more comfort to the user for prolonged use as well as for patients having Dry Eye Syndrome.
Extended wear contacts. Special type of lenses which can be worn overnight. They need to be removed for cleaning at least once a week.
Toric Contacts. These lenses corrects astigmatism.Toric lenses can be for daily or extended wear.
Colored (tinted) contacts. These vision correcting lenses are provided with colours. These contact lenses can be used for cosmetic purposes.
Multifocal or Presbyopia correcting Lenses: These lenses are specially designed to correct both distance & near vision of the people over 40yrs of age, when it becomes harder to see the close objects clearly.
They can be bifocal or multifocal contact lenses.
Monovision correction can also be done for these patients where one eye is corrected near vision lens and the other eye with distance vision lens.
Bandage lenses. These contacts do not have a prescription built into them. They are used to cover the surface of your cornea for comfort after an injury or surgery.
Simple Guide to Caring for Soft Contact Lenses
Proper caring of soft contact lenses is extremely important. Maintaining proper hyegine & following some methods for the contact lens will keep our eyes healthy and problem-free.
5 Steps to Caring for Your Contacts:
There are five steps to caring for your soft contact lenses.
- Wash your hands
- Clean your contact lens case
- Clean one contact lens at a time
- Rinse the lens, and
- Store your lenses in their case.
The first step of caring for contact lenses is one of personal hygiene.
Wash your hands completely with soap and water.However,make sure that the soap does not contain lotion, oil or perfume. These can leave a residue on your hands that will transfer to your soft contact lenses and then irritate your eyes.
- Lather your hands (the back of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails) by rubbing them together with soap.
- Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds.
- Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.
Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.
- Clean your lens case each time you use it. The best way to clean the case is to rinse it with sterile contact lens cleaning solution.
- Do not dry the case because most cloth as it may contain small amount of lint(fibre).This lint will stick to your lenses and create irritation.
- The case should replaced after every three months. This helps to reduce the chance of bacterial contamination.
After the removal of the contact lens from the eye we should and clean it with the appropriate contact solution as recommended.
To clean your contact lenses, do the following:
- Put the contact in our palm.
- Add a couple of drops of recommended cleaning solution.
- Gently rub the lenses with the index finger to remove the deposits and dirt.
We should not use tap water or distilled water on the contact lenses as both of them may contain bacteria that cause infections.
We need to rinse the lens with more cleaning solution in order to eliminate all the debris. Lingering debris can cause irritation and infections. Then we need to store the cleaned lens in the lens case and then fill the case with the appropriate solution.
Step 5: Store Your Lenses in Their Case
- We need to store the cleaned lens in the lens case with appropriate solution. The same procedure is to be repeated with the other eye.
- We should not try to clean both the lenses at the same time as it will dried up quickly when exposed to the air.
- The contact lenses will become hard, gets deformed in shape and thus finally gets damaged.
DO
- We should wash, rinse and dry our hands thoroughly before touching the lenses
- We need to use the contact lenses for the recommended time
- We should always have a pair of glasses up to date with the last power prescription,which can used when we are not wearing lenses.
- Regular Contact Lens check-up of 6 months is required,even if everything seems to be OK.
- We should get an advice from Eye care Professionals.
- When we are having any problems releated with the contact lenses, such as soreness, redness or pain.
- We should discontinue lenses and do not use it until & unless it is recommended by the Eye care Professionals.
DON'T
- We should not wear any contact lenses of improper fit.
- We should not put water or saliva over the lenses while wearing them.
- We should not wear lenses straight back into our eye without cleaning it thoroughly
- We should not wear damaged lenses.
- We should not use lenses while swimming or playing water sports
- We should not wear lenses while having shower.
- We should not wear someone else's contact lenses or share our lenses with others.
- We should not reuse a daily disposable lens.
- We should not rub our eyes while wearing lenses.
We should not give direct splash of water in our eyes with contact lenses.
Frequently asked questions about contact lenses
- Is it safe to wear Contact Lenses?
Yes,it is absolutely safe to wear lenses. Advancement of technology and with the improvement of products in recent years Contact Lenses can be easily prescribed. - Are contact lenses difficult to care for?
Absolutely not.There are certain steps we need to follow to ensure that our eyes stays healthy and the contacts last as long as possible. We need give some adaptation time so that it get accustomed to our eyes.The insertion & removal procedure is just a matter of practice for all of us. - At what age can my child wear contact lenses?
There is no ideal age to start wearing contact lenses. Many children begin to wear them as teenagers, and even as pre-teens. As a parent, you are in the best position to determine if your child is mature enough and responsible to take good care of his lenses. Whether for aesthetic reasons or for sport, there are many reasons your child may want to wear contact lenses. Your optometrist and optician will be able to help you choose the type of contact lens that suits them best. - Can I still wear glasses if I get lenses?
Give your eyes a break by wearing your glasses alternately with your lenses. For example, many people remove their lenses when returning from work or school, or rest their eyes during the weekend by wearing their glasses. It is also possible to buy contact lenses for occasional use, such as for sport or special events. Moreover, contact lenses are ideal for sports because they provide better peripheral vision, do not fog up and avoid the damaging your glasses while doing sports. - Will my contact lens prescription be different from my eyeglass prescription?
Yes, the adjustment method is different for glasses and contact lenses.In order to adjust well the contact lenses, it is necessary to know the measurements of the eye, which will determine the diameter and the curvature of the lenses. In addition, because the distance between the eye and the lenses of your glasses is different from the distance between your eye and your contact lens, the prescription may vary.It is therefore essential to have a contact lens fitting assessment before buying them.Proper Contact lens fitting assessment & trial procedure is required for a presbyopic or astigmatic patient. - Will contact lens get lost behind my eye?
Practically this does not happen as there is a thin membrane which covers your eye and connects to the inside of your eyelids. - Does contact lens fall out of eye?
Sometime this happens with the hard lenses but very unlikely with soft lenses, that is why curvature, fit of the lenses is to be checked properly so that we can avoid this situation sit. - Are contact lenses uncomfortable?
Initially a brief adaptation period of 3-4 days required to get adjusted with it,after that it becomes a matter of habbit & then most people don't even notice they're wearing contact lenses. - Will my contact lens reduce my power or stop the progression?
This thing happens with some type of rigid gas permeable lenses which corrects myopia(shortsightedness) but this is not the case with spectacles or soft contact lenses. - Can I sleep with contact lenses on?
Special types of lenses can be worn over-night but not all.
Two different wear schedules:
Daily wear (you remove them before sleeping), Extended wear (you can wear them overnight) It is advisable to take advice of an eye care professional before wearing a lens while sleeping. - Is it troublesome to take care of contact lenses?
Absolutely not.We need to maintain proper hyegine,care and some steps for handling them. - Do we get eye problems after wearing contact lenses ?
Maintaining proper hyegine,care & proper regimen can keep our eye as well as our lenses healthy, thereby minimizing the risk of infection. - How safe is it to wear Coloured Contact Lenses?
It is absolutely safe to wear colour contacts but we should maintain the proper regimen & duration of wearing it. - Will I be able to insert contact lens in my eyes?
It is absolutely very easy to insert a lens and remove it, its just a matter of few days of practice. - Can lenses be worn after 40?
Yes, you can wear.Newer varieties of bifocal and multifocal contact lenses can be worn and thus age is no longer a problem. It is very much recommended if there is no systemic & physical problem, taking consent from the Eye Care Practitioner.
- Do I have to use any power glasses over my contact lenses?
Generally it is not required until & unless in some special cases. Protective glasses or goggles can be used over the contact lens in order to avoid dust particles. - Is it safe to wear contact lenses during sports?
It is very much safe to wear to use contacts during sports or any contact game like karate, kick boxing etc.Even Sports vision doctors agree that contact lenses are the best vision correction option for athletes. Contact Lenses enhances visual skills like depth perception, peripheral awareness, and eye-hand/eye-foot coordination. - Can I swim with contact lens?
Yes you can but only with the protective swimming goggles and immediate after care is to be taken for the lens and the eye. Otherwise lens will washed out from the eye or the lens materials can absorb chemicals or germs from the water. - Are disposables and extended wear the same?
Disposable lenses are to be discarded either daily, two-weekly or monthly as prescribed. Extended wear are worn even during sleep for 7 days and 6 nights and replaced with a new contact lens. - Can I wear contact lenses because I have astigmatism?
Surely you can.Now a days Toric lenses are available to correct of astigmatism. - Can I use eye drops over my contact lenses?
Yes you can.Certain preservative free eye drops are there which can safely used over lenses as it leaves no precipitate over it.This can be used after the advice of the Eye Care Professional. - Can I use eye makeup over my lenses?
Wear contact lenses before applying makeup. Always wash your hands thoroughly before touching your contacts. Choose water-based rather than oil-based make up It is preferable to avoid Kajal.
- I have tried lenses earlier, they don't suit me!
You can try them as now a days Contact Lenses comes with latest technology. There are lot of advancements in the material, care products, lens designs, varieties and convenience. Get ensure through eye examination with contact lens trial.
- I have Dry Eye Sydrome,can I use lenses.
Now a days Silicone Hydrogel lenses are most commonly used which has more water content & more oxygen carrying capacity and thereby can be safely used for dry eye patients over a period of 12 hrs at a time. - Why did my doctor tell me to come back after he has already fitted me with my contacts?
- If he asked you to come back about a week later, it's because he wants to be sure that you're not having any problems, such as contact lens-related dry eye or eye irritation.
- If it's about a year later, it's to check whether your prescription has changed and to check for any eye diseases, which are best treated in their early stages before any vision loss can occur.
