4 Habits for Healthy Contact Lenses

While contact lenses are an excellent way to improve vision without the hassle of eyeglasses, it’s important to form good habits to achieve optimal eye health. By practicing good hygiene and following your eye care professional’s recommendations, you can reduce the risk of eye irritation and infection.

Four habits to ensure healthy contact lenses include:

Wash Your Hands

This habit should be a no-brainer for contact lens users. Before handling your contact lenses, be sure to wash your hands with soap and warm water. This reduces the risk of bacterial infection in your eye and keeps your contacts clean.

Remove Contacts Before Sleeping

Your eye’s corneas need to recharge when you’re sleeping, and contact lenses can limit the amount of oxygen reaching your cornea. Unless your eye care professional instructs you to do so, never sleep in your contact lenses.

Use Fresh Contact Lens Solution for Storage

Before you store your contact lenses, be sure to wash the storage container and replenish it with fresh solution. Don’t merely top-off the solution that’s been sitting in the storage case all day. This will keep bacteria and other harmful microbes from thriving in your contact lenses.

Replace Contact Lenses When Recommended

Contact lenses have a shelf life. Wearing contact lenses past the recommended time frame could result in a damaged contact lens, eye irritation, and infections. Replace your contact lenses as prescribed by your eye care professional.