- Do you wear your contacts too long? Some people wear their contact lenses until they begin to feel uncomfortable, but this is a mistake. Follow your doctor’s instructions, because wearing contacts that have outstayed their expiration date can be bad for your eyes, and may keep you from being able to see well.
- Stick with the program. Keeping your contact lenses clean is of utmost importance, yet some people don’t follow instructions about how to do this. Use contact lens solution every time- not, saliva, water, or any other liquid.
- Don’t neglect to wash your hands. Part of keeping your lenses clean is not introducing them to more germs. If you touch lenses with dirty hands, you’re contaminating them. This can cause eye infections which sometimes cause permanent damage to the eyes.
- Washing isn’t enough- you’ve also go to dry them! You’ve washed your hands, but did you dry them? Many people don’t think about it, but water on your hands can conduct harmful microorganisms onto the lenses and then right into your eyes.
- Cheaper isn’t always better. The desire to be frugal is admirable, but choosing a cheap, generic contact lens solution will cost you in the long run. It’s a much better idea to choose the care system made specifically for your lenses, so that you can properly care for them and, by extension, your eyes.
- Dirty cases mean dirty lenses. Clean hands- check! Clean lenses- check! But if you put them away in a dirty case, you’re undoing all the good work you just did, when you took so much care to get them clean. Empty out the old solution, wash the case with new solution and allow it to dry. Every now and then, clean it with boiling water. Even if you keep it perfectly clean, though, the case should still be replaced every three months.
- You snooze, you lose. While there are some lenses approved by the FDA for overnight use, it’s best not to sleep in your lenses. That’s because sleeping in your lenses can decrease the amount of oxygen your eyes take in, and can also cause little abrasions on the surface of your eyes. This damage to the eyes can have a negative effect on your vision, but it can also make it impossible to even wear lenses at all. It’s a better idea to take the extra few seconds and remove your lenses before you doze.
Ultimately, it comes down to this: choose a good eye doctor, and then follow your doctor’s instructions when it comes to caring for your eyes. One of the leading eye centers in Illinois, the Gerstein Eye Institute in Chicago has been helping patients take care of their eyes since 1968. Our certified professional staff has decades of ophthalmologic experience, and has worked together to perform over 20,000 procedures. Dr. Gerstein, well-versed in the most advanced technologies, is committed to helping patients find the treatment that’s right for you. For more information call (773) 596-1245 or visit our website today.