From The Straits Times    |

1. Not rubbing your contact lenses when cleaning them.
When you’re tired or pressed for time, the last thing you feel like doing is rubbing your contact lenses clean with lens solution. But if you want to maintain the health of your eyes and prevent infections, it’s essential to rub before rinsing.

“Just rinsing isn’t enough to clean your lenses,” says Dr Alicia How, consultant ophthalmologist and medical director at The Eye Surgery Partners. “Rubbing helps to remove any protein deposits stuck on the surface. It’s like soaking your clothes in soapy water instead of scrubbing them. Manual rubbing is a must if you want to remove infection-causing dirt  and deposits from the lenses.”

2. Decanting lens solution into smaller bottles. 
You might not think anything of this, especially when packing for a trip. But transferring a sterile solution from its original container to another increases the risk of contamination. Also, the empty bottles may have been used before and may be contaminated with biofilm – a thin, slimy film of bacteria that adheres to a surface.

If you’re travelling, buy travel-size bottles of lens solution, or switch to daily disposable lenses so you don’t have to lug bottles of solution around, says Dr Por Yong Ming, consultant eye surgeon at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital. Daily disposable lenses are also less likely to cause problems like infections or allergies.

3. Using old or dirty contact lens storage cases.
Old or dirty lens cases can cause eye infections. “Immediately after removing your lenses from the case, discard the used storage solution,” says Dr Por. “Rub the case with clean fingers for about five seconds, then rinse it with contact lens disinfection solution before wiping it dry with a clean cloth.”

Avoid rinsing the case with tap water. Dr Por says doing so has been linked with an increased risk of acanthamoeba keratitis, a rare but serious condition where amoeba attack the cornea, causing permanent vision loss or even blindness. “After wiping the case dry, store it in a clean, dry spot with the case face-down and the caps off,” he recommends.

You should also change your lens case every three months, says Dr Por, as using a case for too long can raise your risk of developing a corneal ulcer, an open sore on the cornea caused by an infection.

4. Touching the tip of the lens solution bottle.
When using lens solution, hold the bottle and avoid touching the tip, no matter what, says Dr How. Your finger tips may carry harmful microorganisms, and if these find their way into the bottle, you risk contaminating all of the solution.

Also avoid letting the exposed tip touch surfaces such as the counter top, as this may contaminate the solution with bacteria or fungi.

5. Rinsing or storing your lenses with tap water. 
This is especially dangerous for soft contact lenses, to which many different kinds of materials and germs can stick. Tap water contains many microorganisms like bacteria, fungi and acanthamoeba parasites, and – unlike contact lens storage solutions – it cannot kill these germs. Rinsing lenses with tap water therefore does more harm than good.

Dr Por says that if you store your lenses in tap water, the germs could multiply and form biofilm on the lens. If these germs then get onto your eye from the contact lens, a bad corneal ulcer may result, leading to scarring and blurred vision.

“You should always rinse your lenses with the recommended solution and rub the lens while doing so, to remove the sticky debris,” Dr Por adds. “If you’re using a three-in-one solution, you should then soak your lenses in the same solution overnight.”

6. Showering or swimming with your contact lenses on.
It is a good idea to remove your contact lenses before showering or going for a swim, says Dr How. This will help reduce the risk of water-borne organisms like acanthamoeba and pseudomonas attaching to your lenses and causing a lens-related infection.

7. Applying makeup before putting on contact lenses.
Makeup is a source of contamination for contact lenses. This is why you should always put on your lenses before applying your makeup, says Dr How. Doing it the other way around can cause makeup particles to transfer onto the lens and enter your eyes, leading to eye infections.

8. Using wet fingers to put on contact lenses.
Our hands are never perfectly sterile. So before putting on your contact lenses, wash your hands with soap and water to get them reasonably clean. Some bacteria can still be transferred when you put on your contact lenses, and the risk is somewhat higher if your hands are wet.

“Dry your hands before wearing your lenses,” Dr Por says. “Also, if your hands are wet, the lenses have a tendency to stick to your fingers and it may be more difficult to put them on.”

This article was originally published in Simply Her October 2015.