Lindy Eye Care
Drs. Mario Craig and Paul Cosenza
(631)-226-2020
lindyeyecare@aol.com
SOFT CONTACT LENS CARE
Contact lenses have improved dramatically in safety, comfort and vision correction.
Most people opt for soft lenses due to their excellent immediate comfort. To maintain
this comfort (and safety), you need to properly care for the lenses … and for your eyes!
Lens wear time:
We typically recommend taking lenses out when sleeping, even for lenses that are
approved for overnight. The safety of giving your eyes a “break” from the lenses every
day outweighs the convenience of leaving them in your eyes, especially as insertion and
removal of the lenses becomes easier. Ask the doctor if you desire or need to leave the
contact lenses in your eyes; many lenses are approved for overnight use, even though we
prefer to have them taken out. If longer overnight wear is needed, specialty contacts may
have to be prescribed for you.
Lens replacement:
Most contacts are replaced with fresh, clean lenses on a planned replacement schedule. It
is not recommended to wait for lenses to become uncomfortable, or eyes red. Please ask
the doctor or a CL technician if you have any questions about how long you should wait
to replace your lenses. The replacement schedule is based on the type of contacts you
wear and the amount of time and number of days that you wear them.
Insertion and removal of CLs:
Please take your time with our technicians to ensure that you are comfortable with taking
the CLs in and out of your eyes. Here are some tips:
- dry the CL and your finger to prevent the CL from sticking to your finger
- gently bend the lens between your thumb and index finger, noting the very edge
of the CL … if it gently slopes in (convex), it is oriented the right way. If the
edge of the lens has a sharp outline, or slopes out (concave), it is inside-out
- when placing the CL in one eye, keep the other eye open, as that will relieve the
tension on both eyes, and enable the lens to stick to the eye without blinking it out
- if you feel any discomfort after insertion, decenter the lens and reposition it onto
the central portion of your eye, which will help remove debris from under the CL
- change the solution in your case every day, allowing the case to air dry!
- always feel free to call us with any questions, or email us: lindyeyecare@aol.com
Lindy Eye Care
Drs. Mario Craig and Paul Cosenza
(631)-226-2020
lindyeyecare@aol.com
Lens care solutions:
Lens care has become extremely simple, with improved solutions and more frequent
replacement of the CLs. Care must be taken, though, to keep using the lenses
recommended for your contacts, unless you have received approval by us to change the
prescribed regimen. The two categories of soft lens care solutions are:
1) Multipurpose (MP) solutions: these solutions perform all disinfection and rinsing
functions, and are the simplest ones to use. When lenses are removed, they are
rinsed with the MP solution and stored in that same solution (minimum of 6
hours). In the morning, you can use that MP solution to rinse the CLs before
putting them into your eyes. Because of frequent replacement of most lenses,
daily soap cleaning of CLs is typically not needed.
We recommend:
- OptiFree solution (available in most pharmacies and supermarkets).
2) Peroxide solutions: these solutions are the best at disinfection and cleaning, but
require the disinfecting solution to be neutralized, by sitting in the case with the
platinum disc for a minimum of 6 hours before the lenses can be inserted in the
eyes. You cannot use a peroxide solution directly in your eyes! Nobody makes
this mistake twice, as peroxide in the eyes causes great discomfort, although it
will not cause permanent damage. Peroxide solutions are sold with a case and
neutralization disk, which changes the peroxide into water and salt, allowing you
to comfortably use neutralized peroxide (water) in your eyes. Never rinse a CL
with peroxide before putting it into your eyes!
We recommend:
- Clear Care (available in most pharmacies and supermarkets). Also sold as
AOSept, which is basically the same solution, but is designed for a separate rinse
with saline solution (not MP solution).
Please do not randomly switch solutions, as that has created problems for many patients
over the years. If you do decide to switch to a specific lower-priced solution, please
contact us, so we can verify the method of lens care and so we can update your record.
As always, please feel free to call us if you ever have questions or problems. Thanks!