Anyone with Contacts???!
Question: So I just got my first pair of contacts today. Everything is good and I am enjoying them. There are a few things I forgot to ask about when I was getting my fitting. Like what happens if you fall asleep in them, for example when you are on road trips and fall asleep in the car with them in? Can you wear them in the shower if you don't open your eyes underwater and can you wear them to the beach if you are not a eye underwater person.? So basically I am looking for all the dos and don'ts you have figured out with contacts. Any info is appreciated!!!
Answers: So I just got my first pair of contacts today. Everything is good and I am enjoying them. There are a few things I forgot to ask about when I was getting my fitting. Like what happens if you fall asleep in them, for example when you are on road trips and fall asleep in the car with them in? Can you wear them in the shower if you don't open your eyes underwater and can you wear them to the beach if you are not a eye underwater person.? So basically I am looking for all the dos and don'ts you have figured out with contacts. Any info is appreciated!!!
Welcome to contacts! I've worn them for over ten years.
Contacts are easy to adjust to since the main things you want to avoid are common sense- like not getting irritating contaminants in your eyes, cleaning regularly and avoiding dry eys.
First I'll go over some DOS:
DO CLEAN YOUR LENSES and hands regularly. Besides avoiding infections, you also remove allergens from your lenses when you clean them- and your eyes will always feel better when you put in fresh, clean ones versus protein and contaminant-laced dirty ones. Always rinse or wash your hands before cleaning or putting in your conacts lenses.
DO wear them for regular activities, including exercising, beach-going and showering- so long as you use common sense like avoiding shampoo and moisturizers in the eyes, blotting sweat before it gets into your eyes and reducing underwater play in a river or ocean (salt-water can be irritating and you could lose a lense in any form of water, so just use common sense as to whether it's smart to wear them or not for the activities you plan to engage in.)
DO take your contact out if it is bothering you- so often an easily removed speck of dust or an eyelash are to blame for discomfort. Another common one- a torn lense. If your contact tears, replace it immediatley.
If you get dry eyes and want to use eye drops instead of removing your contacts, DO read the labels before purchasing eye drops- most aren't made to be used while your contacts are in.
Now for the big DON'TS:
DO NOT SLEEP IN CONTACTS unless they are specifically made for continuous wear. The consequences could be painfully dry or gummy eyes- the worst case being that YOU CAN'T OPEN YOUR EYES, best case being the contacts will be temporarily stuck to your corneas and/or turn your eyes red from discomfort. A twenty minute nap in the car probably won't do much- a couple of hours could make you miserable. If you're planning on sleeping on long trips, I would invest in continuous-wear contacts for your trip- like Focus Night & Day, or just wear your glasses. Also, avoid wearing regular contacts for more than 12 hours or so- your eyes need to rest and breathe.
DO NOT wear your contacts in chlorinated swimming pools - you know how much your eyes can get irritated in chlorinated water? Double that if you're wearing contacts. Also, if you are going to be diving, splashing around or underwater swimming, you could very easily lose a lense.
DO NOT touch your eyes with hands that have recently been lotioned or moisturized- skin moisturizers can really irritate your eyes.
Those are the basics- really it's up to you to decide what risks you want to take wearing your lenses, but I hope these guidelines helped!
It'll be fine if you fall asleep with them in but when you wake up you eyes will feel dry and irritated so it's always good to take them out before you sleep. I also wear mine in the shower and don't need to keep my eyes closed. Always properly clean your hands when you put them in and take them out, this is VERY important because your eyes are very delicate. When your contacts feel dry just take them out pour a little solution and pop them back in if you dont have eye drops.