Proper Care and Handling of Colour Contact Lenses

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If you’re considering getting (or recently got) colour contact lenses, make sure you know how to care for your lenses. Proper care of your colour contact lenses is a simple process, but it is a process. Familiarizing yourself with the steps to care for your colour contact lenses properly will help you avoid eye irritation or infection.
Though there is a wide variety of types and brands of colour contact lensese, caring for them will be the same across the board. You will need some supplies for proper care and cleaning of your colour contacts. The following supplies can be purchased from your eye care clinic or directly from your local pharmacy:
- Good quality contact lens solution
- Contact lens case (having an extra one on hand is a good idea)
- Soft (gentle) plastic tweezers
That’s it! The only other thing you’ll need is a few minutes every single day to dedicate to the proper care of your coloured lenses.
The Best Solution
Long gone are the days when two separate solutions were needed; that is saline solution for storing your lenses and a cleaner for cleaning them. Multi-purpose solutions perform both duties with just one step. The best, lowest-maintenance solution to care for your colour contact lenses will be a no-rub, multipurpose solution. A good multi-purpose solution will not only disinfect your contacts, but also remove protein build-ups. Make sure to note that solutions for rigid lenses have a different formulation than that for soft lenses. You’ll need to buy solution for soft lenses for your colour contacts.
Clean Those Coloured Contacts
Cleaning your colour contact lenses is really no different than cleaning clear lenses. The trick is to do it properly so that the lenses are disinfected, and to do it every single day. To properly clean your colour contact lenses, follow the steps below daily.
1. Wash and dry hands thoroughly before starting the process.
2. Take each colour lens out and rinse with multi-purpose solution by squirting the solution directly on each side of the lens.
3. Fill your lens case with fresh solution, put the lenses in the case, and screw the case closed. Let the colour contact lenses soak for at least 6 hours (ideally, overnight).
4. Before you put your colour contacts back in your eyes, rinse each side with fresh solution again.
Further Protein Removal
Multipurpose solution is all you need if you wear disposable colour contacts, as most people do. If, however, your colour contact lenses are of the more expensive, hand-painted variety that are designed to last about a year, you should consider also using protein-removing tablets as well. Using these tablets is especially recommended for people that use their colour contact lenses every day. The tablets you’ll need to look for in this case are called enzymatic cleaner, or simply ‘enzyme.’ You can extend the life of your hand-painted colour contact lenses by soaking them in enzymatic cleaner once a month.
Lens Storage
A contact lens case is the most common place to store contacts. A contact lens case with screw-down lids will prevent any solution from leaking out. You can label your cases or get cases of different colours to keep your lenses organized in the event that you have more than one set of couloured lenses. Keep each lens case clean by washing it with soap and boiling it once a week. Make sure to wait until the lens case dries thoroughly before using it again.
Caring for colour contact lenses is easy once you get into a routine.

Guidelines for Safe Handling of Soft Contact Lenses

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Soft contact lenses are thin, dome shaped discs made of complex plastic material positioned on the cornea to focus images on the retina. Contact lenses are a safe, convenient, comfortable and affordable alternative to spectacles. There are basically two types of lenses, rigid gas permeable lenses (RGP) and soft lenses.

RGP lenses are semi- rigid lenses made from a plastic that allows oxygen through the eye and are the best, clinically. They are also easy to take care of, durable and give a clear vision. They are useful to all types of vision correction like astigmation, bifocals, and post surgery and cosmetic for all groups of age.

Soft lenses: Soft lenses made from water absorbing plastics, are flexible and membrane like for maximum comfort. Since they do not displace easily from the eyes, they are ideal for sports.

Silicon based soft lenses allow maximum oxygen to the cornea and therefore they can be safely worn for a month continuously. Soft lenses can correct all types of refractive errors. They are available for Toric (to correct astigmation), bifocal, weekly disposable, extended wear and cosmetic purposes.

Toric lenses: Toric lenses are made from the same material as regular contact lenses, the difference being in the design of the lenses. Toric lenses have two powers of curvatures at different angles, one for astigmation and the other for myopia or hyperopia. Toric contact lenses have a mechanism to keep the lens stable on the eyes even while blinking. The cost of the Toric lenses is more than the spherical lenses and fitting expenses are also more.

Disposable lenses are replaced every two weeks or sooner and are designed to be worn and then replaced with a new pair of lenses. Disposable contact lenses are favored because of their health and convenience benefits.

Daily disposables or one-day disposables are contact lenses that are discarded every night and replaced in the morning with a new pair. This option is the best because there is no lens cleaning and since there are no lens deposit build up there are no eye problems.

Extended wear lenses are approved to be worn without removal up to seven days .A “super permeable” lens material