Lindy Eye Care
Drs. Mario Craig and Paul Cosenza
(631)-226-2020
SOFT CONTACT LENS CARE
Contact lenses have improved dramatically in safety, comfort and vision correction. Most people opt for soft lenses due to their excellent immediate comfort. To maintain this comfort (and safety), you need to properly care for the lenses … and for your eyes!
Lens wear time:
We typically recommend taking lenses out when sleeping, even for lenses that are approved for overnight. The safety of giving your eyes a “break” from the lenses every day outweighs the convenience of leaving them in your eyes, especially as insertion and removal of the lenses becomes easier. Ask the doctor if you desire or need to leave the contact lenses in your eyes; many lenses are approved for overnight use, even though we prefer to have them taken out. If longer overnight wear is needed, specialty contacts may have to be prescribed for you.
Lens replacement:
Most contacts are replaced with fresh, clean lenses on a planned replacement schedule. It is not recommended to wait for lenses to become uncomfortable, or eyes red. Please ask the doctor or a CL technician if you have any questions about how long you should wait to replace your lenses. The replacement schedule is based on the type of contacts you wear and the amount of time and number of days that you wear them.
Insertion and removal of CLs:
Please take your time with our technicians to ensure that you are comfortable with taking the CLs in and out of your eyes. Here are some tips:
- dry the CL and your finger to prevent the CL from sticking to your finger
- gently bend the lens between your thumb and index finger, noting the very edge of the CL … if it gently slopes in (convex), it is oriented the right way. If the edge of the lens has a sharp outline, or slopes out (concave), it is inside-out
- when placing the CL in one eye, keep the other eye open, as that will relieve the tension on both eyes, and enable the lens to stick to the eye without blinking it out
- if you feel any discomfort after insertion, decenter the lens and reposition it onto the central portion of your eye, which will help remove debris from under the CL
- change the solution in your case every day, allowing the case to air dry!
- always feel free to call us with any questions, or email us:
Lindy Eye Care
Drs. Mario Craig and Paul Cosenza
(631)-226-2020
Lens care solutions:
Lens care has become extremely simple, with improved solutions and more frequent replacement of the CLs. Care must be taken, though, to keep using the lenses recommended for your contacts, unless you have received approval by us to change the prescribed regimen. The two categories of soft lens care solutions are:
1) Multipurpose (MP) solutions: these solutions perform all disinfection and rinsing functions, and are the simplest ones to use. When lenses are removed, they are rinsed with the MP solution and stored in that same solution (minimum of 6 hours). In the morning, you can use that MP solution to rinse the CLs before putting them into your eyes. Because of frequent replacement of most lenses, daily soap cleaning of CLs is typically not needed.
We recommend:
- OptiFree solution (available in most pharmacies and supermarkets).
2) Peroxide solutions: these solutions are the best at disinfection and cleaning, but require the disinfecting solution to be neutralized, by sitting in the case with the platinum disc for a minimum of 6 hours before the lenses can be inserted in the eyes. You cannot use a peroxide solution directly in your eyes! Nobody makes this mistake twice, as peroxide in the eyes causes great discomfort, although it will not cause permanent damage. Peroxide solutions are sold with a case and neutralization disk, which changes the peroxide into water and salt, allowing you to comfortably use neutralized peroxide (water) in your eyes. Never rinse a CL with peroxide before putting it into your eyes!
We recommend:
- Clear Care (available in most pharmacies and supermarkets). Also sold as AOSept, which is basically the same solution, but is designed for a separate rinse with saline solution (not MP solution).
Please do not randomly switch solutions, as that has created problems for many patients over the years. If you do decide to switch to a specific lower-priced solution, please contact us, so we can verify the method of lens care and so we can update your record.
As always, please feel free to call us if you ever have questions or problems. Thanks!