Contact Lens Care: What We Should All Know

Tips for safe contact lens (CL) use to ensure happy and healthy eyes:

1. Do not sleep in CL.
• Even a brief nap in CL could be a bad idea.  The CL and your eyelid act as a double barrier, potentially trapping bacteria on the CL directly on your eye.  While the CL is fairly porous and oxygen can reach the cornea (the surface layer of the eye), it still acts as a barrier. When a person sleeps in a pair of CL, their eyelid acts as a second barrier.  When you have the plastic CL over the eye, you are not only depriving the eye of oxygen but also increasing the risk of germs attacking the cornea.
2. Do not shower or swim in CL.  
• Avoid water when wearing CL.  Water from the tap is not clean enough to rinse CL or cases. The parasite Acanthamoeba can be found in tap water and can cause severe eye infections resulting in vision loss.  Even more bacteria can be found in swimming pools and lakes/rivers/ocean.
3. Replace CL on time.  
• CL can become worn and more susceptible to germs if they are used beyond the recommended time. 
4. Use clean CL cleaning solution each time (discard used disinfectant solution completely from the case and do not top up), clean case daily, and lens cases should be discarded after three months.

If you have the following symptoms while or after wearing CL, please seek immediate medical attention (as it could be a very serious infection: corneal ulcer):

• redness
• sensitivity to light
• pain
• blurry vision