If you have contact lenses or planning to get contact lenses, you need to understand how to properly care for them. If you are not properly caring for your lenses, you could experience eye pain and possible infection. Contacts are a great way to improve your vision without surgery or glasses, but caring for them can be a learning curve. Here is what you need to know:

Wash Your Hands

Before you touch your eyes or contact lenses, always make sure your hands are clean. If your hands are dirty, you can risk putting damaging oils and dirt on your lenses. You then will introduce bacteria into your eyes. Wash your hands with soap and water before you do anything involving your eyes.

Clean Your Contact Case Everyday

When you take your contacts out each day, rinse out your contact case and exchange the contact lens solution. You do not want to place your freshly washed contacts into a dirty contact case each night. This can contaminate your lenses and cause eye infections.

Thoroughly Clean the Lenses

When you both take contacts out and put them in your eyes, you need to clean them. To properly clean contact lenses, you should place a lens in the palm of your hand and pour some contact solution on the lens. Gently rub the lenses with your finger in small circles. Do not just splash them with the solution. The rubbing action helps to remove any impurities from the lenses that you may have introduced into your eyes. Cleaning before you put them in your eyes helps to clean them and moistens them for easier placement into your eyes.

Try to Avoid Sleeping in Your Contacts

Although your brand of contact lenses may be the type you can sleep in, it is healthiest for your eyes to take the contacts out each day. Your eyes need fresh air and hydration to remain healthy. During the day, regular blinking lubricates your eyes, and the air circulates through the eyes while you are awake. Wearing contact lenses can decrease the amount of oxygen your eyes receive throughout the day. When you sleep, your eyes are closed and decreases their oxygen intake even further. When you wear contacts overnight, your eyes will dry out and you may even notice your contacts stick to your eyes if you sleep in them. This can be painful, damage your eyes, and possibly tear your contact lenses.

For more information about contact lenses, contact an eye doctor in your area.