3 Non-Hygienic Habits Most Contact Lens Users Develop

Posted by: Eye Health Northwest in Eye Exams, General Eye Health on June 8, 2016

Chance are, if you are one of 35+ million contact lens users in America, you were taught all the basics of proper contact lens hygiene when you first received your prescription. There are probably even better odds that you currently aren’t following those contact lens hygiene basics you were taught every single day.

Millions of contact lens users deal with eye complications every year because they wear their contacts in the pool, don’t take them out when they sleep or just don’t take them out ever. It is easy to assume that you’ll be fine, but this really isn’t the case.

Here are three non-hygienic things that you most likely have done at some point as a contact lens user:

Let tap water come in contact with your contacts
This can pose a serious issue for your eyes health, the reason is tap water is not salty like your eyes natural tears, so your contact lenses end up absorbing more of it and swelling. You might be thinking “Well, what does that matter?” It matters because tap water—while safe enough to drink—isn’t sterile and therefore can contain a lot of microorganisms. This creates a double whammy effect because as your lens swells it pulls on your cornea and can cause microscopic openings that allow those microorganisms to get into your eye and cause possible infection. This is why you should absolutely NOT shower or swim with your contact lenses in.

Don’t have contact lens solution, so you use your own saliva in emergency situations
Well, if you thought exposing your contact lenses to tap water was bad, you are in for a real treat with this one. The saliva in your mouth is absolutely ridden with bacteria that can be quite damaging in any place outside of your mouth. You might be better off rubbing your contact lenses into a petri dish at a science lab—which is an absolutely terrible idea.

If your contact lenses are bothering and there isn’t contact lens solution readily available, then you should just take them out of your eyes. If you want to prepare for these emergencies, then you should have a small travel bottle of contact lens solution on your person at all times.

Trying to cut corners on costs, so you re-use contact lens solution.
The purpose of contact lens solution is to clean bacteria and debris off of your contact lenses. These bacteria and debris don’t go away, so if you choose to re-use that dirty contact lens solution you are essentially marinating your contact lenses in filth. 

Here is an analogy for you, as your car runs the oil gets dirtier and dirtier and dirtier until you need to do an oil change. Re-using contact lens solution is like taking that old dirty oil you just took out of your car and deciding to put it back into the car with some new oil mixed in.


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Happy Valley, OR 97086
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Our Locations

Aloha
18345 SW Alexander St,
Suite A
Aloha, OR 97003
(503) 642-2505 see more
Glisan
6701 NE Glisan Street
Portland, OR 97213
(503) 255-2291 see more
Gresham
24601 SE Stark St.
Troutdale, OR 97060
(503) 255-2291 see more
Hillsboro
6111 NE Cornell Rd
Hillsboro, OR 97124
(503) 846-9400 see more
Lake Oswego
9 Monroe Parkway, Suite 160
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
(503) 636-2551 see more
Milwaukie
11086 SE Oak St
Milwaukie, OR 97222
(503) 656-4221 see more
Mt. Tabor
5935 SE Division St.
Portland, OR 97206
503 777-5546 see more
Newberg
2318 Portland Rd, Suite 300
Newberg, OR 97132
(503) 538-1341 see more
Northwest Portland
1955 NW Northrup St
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 227-2020 see more
Oregon City
1306 Division St
Oregon City, OR 97045
(503) 656-4221 see more
Peterkort
9555 SW Barnes Rd.
#100 (1rst floor)
Portland, OR 97225
(503) 227-2020 see more
Providence Portland
5050 NE Hoyt St., Suite 445
Portland, OR 97213
(503) 231-0166 see more
Providence St. Vincent
9135 SW Barnes Rd., Suite 961
Portland, OR 97225
(503) 292-0848 see more
Southeast Portland
10819 SE Stark St,
Portland, OR 97216
(503) 255-2291 see more
Sunnyside
12050 SE Stevens Rd, Suite 100
Happy Valley, OR 97086
(503) 783-3300 see more
Tigard
15298 SW Royalty Parkway
Tigard OR 97224
(503) 227-2020 see more
Wilsonville
29250 SW Town Center Loop W
Wilsonville, OR 97070
(503) 582-0000 see more
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Westside Surgery Center

13240 SW Pacific Hwy
Portland, OR 97223
(503) 639-6571 see more

EyeHealth Eastside Surgery and Laser Center

12050 SE Stevens Rd.
Happy Valley, OR 97086
(971) 206-6100 see more