When to Clean Contact Lenses
1st Nov 2018
Maintenance of your contact lenses is just as important as choosing the correct one – it should be done following the instructions of your eye doctor and manufacturer’s guide. Appropriate cleaning of your contact lenses is the most important when it comes to taking care of them. It is a common question to hear as to when to clean the contact lenses, often asked by first-time users. There isn’t a definitive answer because it depends on the type of contacts you are wearing at the time. For instance, if you are wearing daily contact lenses, you don’t need to clean them given the fact that they must be disposed of after a day of use. Many people prefer daily contact lenses just for the fact that they don’t need to be cleaned.
Cleaning periods differ on different contact lenses
Some contact lenses are designed and made for wearing of longer periods. An example would be a pair of rigid Gas Permeable contact lenses that can be worn 30 days. It might not be a requirement to clean these contact lenses, however, you won’t be doing any harm by still cleaning them once a week.Bear in mind that using improvised methods to clean your contacts is never a good idea, you will have to purchase special contact lens solutions. These are solutions that have been made by scientists who spent countless hours to get the best product and it cannot be replaced by something you mixed at home. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before each contact with the lenses. Remove and fold the lenses in the container only need plastic tweezers, which comes with lenses.
- Rub the lenses with your finger together with a few drops of lens solution and then rinse with plenty of lens solution.
- Fill the lens container with two thirds of lens fluid and allow the lenses to be stored for at least four hours.
- Do not use lens solution that passed expiration date.
If the contact lenses are properly cleaned and rinsed, 90 percent of the bacteria on it are destroyed. If contact lenses are not used every day, change the solution in the lens according to the instructions on the label. Never use the cleaning solution that is no longer available for use.
Another very popular type of contact lenses is re-usable ones. These lenses are also very comfortable to wear and highly favoured by contact lens users. This type of contact lenses require cleaning all the time. Before going to bed, they should be taken off and put in their special solution over the night.
Protein Cleaning in Contact Lenses
You can buy protein tablets to remove protein deposits from your contact lenses.
Contact lenses are very diverse. Solutions and disinfectants should be suitable to the contact lenses you are using to get the best result. Do not forget to learn the necessary information from your doctor so that your contact lenses will not become unusable in a short time. As well as daily cleaning, soft lenses may require enzyme cleaning, rinsing and storage solutions that require disinfection such as hydrogen peroxide.
In the use of hydrogen peroxide-containing contact lens solutions, hydrogen percutosis must wait for up to 6 hours in the special lens cleaning container to naturalize. If the contact lens is removed without waiting for 6 hours, the hydrogen peroxide might have irritant properties.
Gas permeable contact lenses require special cleaning with moisturizing and wetting solutions. The most important point to note here is; contact lens and used solution should suit each other.
Some contact lens solutions produced in recent years contain enzymes that can cleanse the protein. When using multi-purpose solution for protein cleaning, wash your hands first. After that, drop a few drops of the solution onto the lens surface.
It is very important to clean proteins through contact lenses. It should be done once a week. Protein cleansing is important for comfortable lens use and clear vision. If protein cleansing is not performed regularly, there may be complications related to the lens. Therefore, patients should be trained in contact lens care system.