Soft Contact Lens Care and Handling

Insertion

1. Always wash your hands before handling your contact lenses. Avoid soaps with creams, deodorants or perfumes, as they may leave a film on you hand and cause eye irritation. Keep your fingernails trimmed and smooth to avoid damaging the lens or scratching your eye.
2. Take the right lens and rinse thoroughly with saline or rinsing solution. Check for any debris or tears in the lens before inserting. Always insert and remove the right lens first to avoid switching the lenses.
3. Determine if the lens is right side out. Hold the lens on your finger and notice the edges of the lens. If the edges appear almost straight up and appears to be bowl shaped, it is correct. If the edges of the lens are flared out, it is inside out. Your lens may have an inversion mark on it to help determine the right side. If the letter or mark can be read by looking at the lens, it is correct. If the mark is reversed, the lens in inside out.
4. Another method to tell if the lens in inside out is called the "taco test". Fold the lens gently in the palm of your hand. If it is correct, the edges will point inward. If it is inside out, the edges will roll out rather than in.
5. Hold the upper lashes to prevent blinking with the hand not holding the lens. Hold the lower eyelid with the middle finger of the hand holding the lens. Slowly bring the lens toward the eye while looking "through" the lens and finger and place it on the cornea. Slowly release the lower lid first and then the upper lid. Close your eyes gently to center the lens.
6. Use lubricating or re-wetting drops if your lenses feel dry or prior to removal if the lenses feel sticky.

Removal

1. Wash your hands. Pull down the lower lid with the middle finger of your inserting hand. Gently pull the lens downward onto the white part of your eye (sclera) as you look up. Pinch the lens between your thumb and forefinger to remove.
2. If the edges of the lens stick together after removal, place it in the palm of your hand and soak it thoroughly. Gently rub back and forth until edges get separated being careful not to rip the lens.
3. Follow lens cleaning and storage instructions given to you by the dispenser.

General Information

• When first starting out, insert and remove your lenses over a cloth or towel spread on the counter, to avoid losing or damaging the lens.
• You may want to use a mirror at first, but practice so you can do it without, in case you are somewhere without a mirror.
• Fingernails should be trimmed to avoid damaging the lens and the eye.
• Lenses must always be in a hydrated (wet) form. They must either be in your eye or in a proper soaking solution. If you drop a lens and do not find it until it has dried out, it may not be ruined. Soak the lens in solution for one hour and check to see if it returns to a soft, flexible state. If it becomes too dried out it will become brittle and break.

Checklist

• If your lenses do not feel comfortable or your vision is blurred after you have inserted your lenses, check the following:
• Check and see if your lenses have been properly cleaned and thoroughly rinsed. If not, remove the lens and clean and rinse as necessary.
• Check to see if there is a foreign particle trapped between the lens and the eye. If so, remove the lens and rinse thoroughly.
• Check to see if the lens in inside out. Refer to steps three and four in the insertion section on the previous page to determine if the lens was inserted correctly.
• Check to see if the lens is torn or ripped. Remove the lens and inspect the edges for missing pieces. Sometimes what appears to be a scratch in the center of the lens is often a tear. If you do discover a rip, do not wear the lens, as it could cause damage to the eye. Call and order a new replacement lens.