Clean Hands, Clean Contacts
It’s been a long day and longer night and all you want to do now is hit the sack. You can almost feel the soft, cool pillow and inviting sheets. Too bad. If you wear contacts, that kind of immediate bedtime ritual is mere fantasy. As a contact wearer you are charged with the responsibility of keeping those little contact lenses clean as a whistle. At one in the morning, that kind of responsibility is the last thing on your mind.
The price of avoiding being called “four eyes” is eternal vigilance. You must always stop yourself from falling into a deep sleep with your contacts on. It only takes one slip to feel the burning nightmare of an eye infection. Peeling off a pair of protein-encrusted contacts is not for the faint of heart. Save yourself these unpleasant occasions and take out your contacts.
If bothering to take out your contacts wasn’t enough of a hassle, washing your hands before you begin will feel like purgatory. But the oils and bacteria on your hands can taint your contact case and make render the entire cleaning process null and void. It would be tantamount to making a gourmet meal and serving it on dirty dishes.
Here are the basic steps in this process: you wash your hands, then clean your contacts and go to sleep. The second step involves using a hydrating no-rub solution that you will still have to rub — there are no easy outs here. Technically, you could not rub your contacts if you are using a no-rub solution, but most optometrists recommend you rub regardless. It’s that bit of friction that really loosens and removes the protein build-up.
When you have thoroughly cleaned your contacts, gently place them in an overnight case, fill each well with solution, then seal them until the morning. If you are using a hydrating contact solution, your contacts should feel as good as new in the morning. Just be sure to wash your hands before touching your contacts. This is a cardinal rule no matter what time you clock out or clock in.
