The Do’s and Don’ts of Eye Care
I’m one of those lucky people that has been wearing contacts for way more than half of my life (since 7th grade). Admittedly, I’ve done some pretty stupid things with them in the past and thankfully, haven’t had any issues. One time, I thought it would be fun to get a trial pair of colored lenses (yet, oddly, I went with green lenses. For my green eyes. Go figure!)
Everybody thought they were super cool. Me? I hated them. I could see the slightest tint of color in all of my vision. And honestly, despite getting them from my eye doctor, I don’t think they were the right fit.
I wrote this post while participating in an Influencer campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. and received a promotional item from Mom Central to thank me for participating.
If you’ve ever worn contacts that don’t fit, you totally get it. But, as somebody looking to dress up their costume this Halloween, you might not. Did you know that in addition to contacts coming in different strengths, they also come in different shapes and sizes. You can’t just grab a pair of crazy contacts from a costume store and think that they will work for everybody! If you decide to “borrow” contacts from a friend (yes, I actually watched students share contact lenses…it makes my eyes burn to this day) or get them over-the-counter, there is potential for serious damage.
It’s important to practice year-round eye care hygiene. One way is to make sure that you replace your lenses as advised by your eye care professional. You can use the ACUMINDER® Tool, a free service, to send you an an automatic reminder via email and/or text message when it is time to replace contact lenses, order new lenses and when to schedule an eye exam.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Eye Care Safety:
Follow these tips to make sure that you are wearing and caring for your contact lenses safely and effectively.
DO:
• Wash and rinse your hands thoroughly with a mild soap and dry with a lint-free towel before handling your lenses
• Put in your contacts before you put on your makeup or any costume paint.
• Remove lenses immediately if you experience eye discomfort, excessive tearing, vision changes, and redness of the eye or other problems and promptly contact your eye care professional
• Always remove, clean and disinfect your lenses according to the schedule recommended by your eye doctor
DON’T:
• Wear another person’s lenses
• Wear lenses longer than the time frame recommended by your eye doctor
• Rinse your lenses in water from the tap or expose them to any water—such as swimming or showering—while wearing them
• Use anything aside from recommended solution by your eye doctor, such as saliva, to lubricate your lenses
What do you do to keep your eyes healthy when wearing contact lenses?
I unfortunately wore my friends lenses once (they were unused). Why she gave them to me, I have no clue. But they were stronger then I needed and caused headaches, but I kept wearing them and believe they made my eyes worst faster than they would have. If that made sense.
In a pinch, I wore the hubby’s. They were the same size, etc, just stronger. But, I won’t do it again, because yeah, headache!
I used to wear colored contacts… lol
imagine a red head with brown eyes… it was creepy the way they sort of matched. ha ha ha
N has brown eyes:) And I think B’s will turn brown, too! Genetics are funny!
I also wear contacts and have for years and may or may not have ever done any of the above ‘don’ts’ 🙂 but now I have disposable lenses – good reminders!
My first boyfriend wore contacts and i remember how much effort he put into caring for them!
Just like I’ve been wearing contact lenses since high school until now and you are right many stupid things happen. Thank you for these tips, they are helpful especially to those who are new in wearing contact lenses.
These are great tips to follow if you wear lenses. I think the best advice here is to no wear anyone’s contacts. This is vital because every person has contacts to fit them personally so what works for someone else more than likely will not work for you.
It is good to know that it would be smart to really wash my hands well before handling my contacts. That is great to know because I will be getting contacts next month. I also like that you pointed out that I should put my contacts in before I put my makeup on.
I really appreciate your tip to remove your contacts immediately if you have any tearing up or discomfort. My wife told me that she wants to try and get contacts for work since she doesn’t like looking at a computer monitor through glasses. I will be sure to tell her that she should try and get contacts but be ready to take them out if there is any discomfort!
Thanks for pointing out that we should only get our eye care products adviced by professionals. I think that is true since it will ensure that we will be using the right product for the type or condition of our eye. I will follow your advice now that I will be needing contact lenses. This is because I might not be comfortable with glasses especially that I run and hike a lot.