To clean your contacts, you must follow specific steps involving rubbing, rinsing, and storing them using fresh contact lens disinfecting solution.
Maintaining clean contact lenses is vital for eye health, preventing infections, and ensuring comfortable wear. Always start with clean, dry hands before handling your lenses.
Here is a general guide on how to clean most soft contact lenses, incorporating a key rubbing technique:
- Remove the First Lens: Carefully take out one contact lens from your eye.
- Prepare for Rubbing: Place the removed lens in the palm of your clean, dry hand. Slightly cup your hand to form a small bowl.
- Apply Solution: Pour a few drops of fresh contact lens disinfecting solution over the lens sitting in your palm. Do not use tap water or saline solution for cleaning.
- Rub the Lens: Gently rub the lens in circles over your palm with one finger for about 15 seconds to effectively remove protein deposits, debris, and film that accumulate during the day. This rubbing step is crucial even if you use a "no-rub" solution, as rubbing enhances the cleaning process.
- Rinse the Lens: Rinse the lens thoroughly with more fresh disinfecting solution. This removes the loosened debris and residual cleaning solution.
- Store the Lens: Place the clean, rinsed lens into the appropriate chamber of a clean contact lens storage case.
- Fill the Case: Fill the case chamber with fresh disinfecting solution, ensuring the lens is completely submerged. Never reuse old solution.
- Repeat for the Second Lens: Follow the same steps (1-7) for your other contact lens.
- Soak Lenses: Close the lens case and leave the lenses to soak in the fresh solution for the minimum time recommended by the solution manufacturer. This soaking period is necessary for disinfection.
Important Contact Lens Cleaning Tips
- Always use fresh solution: Never "top off" old solution in the case. Discard the old solution and use new solution each time you store your lenses.
- Use the correct solution: Only use the type of solution recommended by your eye care professional for your specific type of contact lenses.
- Clean your case: Rinse your contact lens case with fresh solution (never tap water) and leave it open and upside down on a clean tissue to air dry between uses.
- Replace your case regularly: Replace your contact lens case at least every three months to prevent bacterial buildup.
- Follow manufacturer instructions: Always follow the specific instructions provided with your contact lens solution and lenses.
- Never use tap water: Tap water can contain microorganisms that cause serious eye infections.
By consistently following these steps, especially the recommended rubbing technique with disinfecting solution, you can help ensure your contact lenses remain clean, comfortable, and safe for wear.
