Where can I learn more about safe use of contact lenses?
The American Optometric Association
243 N. Lindbergh Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63141
(800) 365-2219

Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists
2025 Woodlane Drive
St. Paul, MN 55125
(877) 501-3937
(651) 731-0410 fax

Contact Lens Society of America
441 Carlisle Drive
Herndon, VA 20170
(800) 296-9776
(703) 437-5100
(703) 437-0727 fax

The Vision Council of America
1700 Diagonal Road, Suite 500
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 548-4560
(703) 548-4580 fax


U.S. Food and Drug Administration
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/contactlenses/index.html

Reasons To Consider Contact Lenses
* Contact lenses move with your eye, allow a natural field of view, have no frames to obstruct your vision and greatly reduce distortions.
* They do not fog up, like glasses, nor do they get splattered by mud or rain.
* Contact lenses do not get in the way of your activities.
* Many people feel they look better in contact lenses.
* Contact lenses, compared to eyeglasses, generally offer better sight.
* Some Things To Remember About Contact Lenses
* Contact lenses, when compared with glasses, require a longer initial examination and more follow-up visits to maintain eye health; and more time for lens care.
* If you are going to wear your lenses successfully, you will have to clean and store them properly; adhere to lens wearing schedules; and make appointments for follow-up care.
* If you are wearing disposable or planned replacement lenses, you will have to carefully follow the schedule for throwing away used lenses.
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Do's and Don'ts
Get started off right with your contact lenses by going to a doctor who provides full-service care. Full-service care may include the following items: a thorough eye examination, an evaluation of your suitability for contact lens wear, the lenses, necessary lens care kits, individual instructions for wear and care, and follow-up visits over a specified time. The initial visit and examination can take an hour or longer. Here is a list of other specific do's and don'ts to lead you to successful wear.

Do:
* Always wash your hands before handling contact lenses.
* Carefully and regularly clean contact lenses, as directed by your optometrist. If recommended, rub the contact lenses with fingers and rinse thoroughly before soaking lenses overnight in sufficient multi-purpose solution to completely cover the lens.
* Store lenses in the proper lens storage case and replace the case at a minimum of every three months. Clean the case after each use, and keep it open and dry between cleanings.
* Only fresh solution should be used to clean and store contact lenses. Never Re-use old solution. Contact lens solution must be changed according to the manufacturer's recommendations, even if the lenses are not used daily.
* Always follow the recommended contact lens replacement schedule prescribed by your optometrist.
* Remove contact lenses before swimming or entering a hot tub.
* Avoid tap water to wash or store contact lenses or lens cases.
* See your optometrist for your regularly scheduled contact lens and eye examination.

Don't:
* Use cream soaps. They can leave a film on your hands that can transfer to the lenses.
* Use homemade saline solutions. Improper use of homemade saline solutions has been linked with a potentially blinding condition among soft lens wearers.
* Put contact lenses in your mouth or moisten them with saliva, which is full of bacteria and a potential source of infection.
* Use tap water to wash or store contact lenses or lens cases.
* Share lenses with others.

· Use products not recommended by your optometrist to clean and disinfect your lenses. Saline solution and rewetting drops are not designed to disinfect lenses.

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Content Provided by: Mycontactlenses.org

How do I get contact lenses?
Contact lenses are prescribed by an eye care professional. This includes either an ophthalmologist (an M.D.), an optometrist (an O.D.), or a dispensing optician with special training in contact lens prescribing. Often, these professionals work together under one roof. Before prescribing contact lenses for you, your eye care professional will conduct a thorough examination. This exam will evaluate your eye health and assess your vision correction needs — and then determine a host of factors: the type of lens, size and lens material, and the wear and replacement schedules that are best for you.
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How long do I wear contact lenses?
When you are prescribed contact lenses, your eye care professional will indicate two schedules — one for how long you wear your lenses before removing them (wearing schedule), and another for how frequently you replace them (replacement schedule).

Wearing schedules:
* Daily wear contact lenses are removed each night.
* Extended wear contact lenses are worn for up to a week before removal.
* Continuous wear contact lenses are worn for up to 30 days before removal

Replacement schedules:
* Daily disposables are replaced each day.
* Daily wear, extended wear and continuous wear lenses are replaced once a week, every two weeks or every month, as indicated by your eye care professional.
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How do I care for contact lenses?
Your eye care professional and their staff will advise you how best to care for your lenses. Soft contact lenses require cleaning, rinsing and disinfecting with every removal. Today’s multipurpose solutions achieve all of those steps with one solution. Some multipurpose solutions are “no rub” solutions; soaking lenses in the solution cleans and disinfects at the same time. Other solutions require manually rubbing and rinsing to clean the lenses. In addition, comfort drops can increase eye comfort while lenses are being worn.
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Is care different for oxygen permeable contact lenses?
Oxygen permeable contact lenses also require cleaning, rinsing and disinfecting with every removal. These lenses require different care solutions from soft lenses, and conditioning solutions can be used to enhance comfort.
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Why is lens care so important?
Good lens care compliance is vital! Your eyes, as well as your contact lenses and case, can be hospitable environments for bacteria and fungus to thrive in. For this reason, you must be a responsible contact lens wearer and develop good and safe care habits — and never stray from the procedures that your eye care professional and their trained staff demonstrate for you. Never take shortcuts — always be compliant!
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How do I learn how to insert, remove and care for my contact lenses?
Your eye care professional and their staff will supply you with thorough instructions in wear and care so that you will be confident when you leave their office with your new contact lenses. As part of your comprehensive eye exam and fitting, you will receive a demonstration of lens insertion and removal and complete lens care. You also will likely receive a starter kit that includes a lens case and all the solutions and instructions you will need. A follow-up office visit — just to be sure that you are doing well — is advisable.
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Can I use makeup with contact lenses?
Yes, you may use makeup like eyeliner and eye shadow with contact lenses — provided you are careful not to get the cosmetics in your eye, under your eyelids or on your contact lenses. It’s a good idea to insert your contact lenses before you put on makeup so that your fingers don’t transfer oils and fats from cosmetics to the lens surface. Cosmetics often harbor bacteria, which can then be introduced into the contact lens and eye. Remember: Never share makeup and never swap contact lenses!
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Contact Lenses and Cosmetics (aoa.org)
Here are some tips to help you wear your contacts and your cosmetics safely and comfortably together:
* Put on soft contact lenses before applying makeup.
* Put on rigid gas-permeable (RGP) lenses after makeup is applied.
* Avoid lash-extending mascara, which has fibers that can irritate the eyes, and waterproof mascara, which cannot be easily removed with water and may stain soft contact lenses.
* Remove lenses before removing makeup.
* Choose an oil-free moisturizer.
* Don’t use hand creams or lotions before handling contacts. They can leave a film on your lenses.
* Use hairspray before putting on your contacts. If you use hairspray while you are wearing your contacts, close your eyes during spraying and for a few seconds afterwards.
* Blink your eyes frequently while under a hair drier or blower to keep your eyes from getting too dry.
* Keep false eyelash cement, nail polish and remover, perfume and cologne away from the lenses. They can damage the plastic.
* Choose water-based, hypo-allergenic liquid foundations. Cream makeup may leave a film on your lenses.
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What if my eyes become red or irritated?
Any eye redness or irritation should be taken seriously — and should be checked out by your eye care professional. The first step is to remove your contact lenses and clean, rinse and disinfect them. Put them in their case and put on eyeglasses. Every contact lens wearer should keep a backup pair of eyeglasses so you’re not “pushing” your wear time when your eyes hurt. Again, see your eye care professional: They can readily address an infection or irritation.
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Why is proper care of contact lenses so vital?
There are risks associated with contact lens wear. The precious cornea or front of the eye is a unique tissue in the human body. In order for us to see clearly through the cornea, it is free from veins. Without nutrient-supplying veins, the cornea derives needed oxygen from air and from the tear film on the eye. At the same time, this tear film, in combination with the thin plastic covering of a contact lens, creates a fertile environment for potentially harmful bacteria and infection. Proper cleaning, rinsing and disinfection each time your lens is removed (according to instructions given by your eye care professional and their staff) must be followed without exception! And never, ever, swap lenses with a friend. That’s an invitation to harmful infections.
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Why wear contact lenses while young?
There are many excellent reasons for young people to wear contact lenses to see clearly. First, contact lenses offer excellent acuity and vastly improved peripheral vision over eyeglasses-a key edge in sports. Further, your appearance and sense of confidence can be greatly improved by trading in eyeglasses for contact lenses. Finally, today’s contact lenses are better optically, more affordable, and easier to care for than ever before. Parents might benefit from an update on these points.
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Can very young people wear contact lenses?
You may be surprised to learn that contact lenses are prescribed even for infants. Contact lenses can provide clear eyesight in rare cases of pediatric cataracts, and they can aid early vision development in cases of extreme light sensitivity.

In very small children, aged 2 or 3, contact lenses can help to address developmental issues. Pediatric eye care professionals have developed ways of testing early childhood eyesight and identifying eye conditions. For example, in small children where refractive errors vary vastly from one eye to the other, contact lenses can equalize the size of the image that each eye provides to the brain. This may help to rescue a child from developing a serious learning deficiency.

Also, some small children are at risk of developing wandering or lazy eyes, and they won’t tolerate eyeglasses or they cheat and peer overtop them. Here, contact lenses are an effective alternative.
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What is the expense of contact lens wear?
With disposable formats, contact lenses are a very affordable option for vision correction. You may, in fact, want to wear contact lenses in regular combination with eyeglasses. Many kids put on a pair of disposables just for playing soccer or for dance class or a party-at the cost of only about a dollar.
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What are the risks of contact lens wear?
While there are risks with placing a contact lens on your eye, modern contact lenses have been a safe and effective method of seeing clearly for more than a half century. Again, proper lens wear and care is essential to minimizing any risk to your eye health or vision.
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Can contact lenses improve sight?
Eye care professionals won’t promise that contact lenses can improve your eyesight, but they can influence visual changes. Teenagers commonly experience “myopia creep:” At each annual eye exam, they are slightly more nearsighted. About a half-century ago, eye care professionals began to notice that teenagers who wore contact lenses tended to experience this creep more slowly if at all. The rigid nature of the hard contact lenses of the day kept the cornea from becoming more distended, which results in nearsightedness as the focused image falls short of the retina. Today, some eye care professionals prescribe rigid contact lenses to keep teens from becoming more nearsighted.
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Can contact lenses reshape my eyes?
Yes, new “reverse curve” designs can do just that, in a process called “corneal reshaping.” This involves wearing rigid contact lenses at night to reduce the nearsightedness or farsightedness that already has developed. Many nearsighted or farsighted people who take part in corneal reshaping find that, after just a few weeks, they can live their daylight hours normally, without any contact lens or eyeglasses. They must, however, continue to wear rigid lenses each night to enjoy this benefit.
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What if there is no need for vision correction?
Many people, and young people in particular, enjoy wearing colored “plano” contact lenses that contain no corrective power. These lenses can enhance or change the color of your eyes. There also are novelty contact lenses that can make you look like a cat or a vampire on Halloween. Remember: These lenses require the same care in cleaning, rinsing and disinfecting with each removal. And never swap these lenses with a friend!
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