Coloured Contact Lenses

If you are new to contact lenses, there are 2 things that you will need to overcome – putting your contacts in and taking them out.  Even though you may have got in some practice with your doctor during your fitting exam, you'll find things to be totally different once you step in front of your mirror at home and try to do it by yourself.

The first thing you'll notice is that it can be tricky to put your contacts in.  If you are putting them in for the first time, it can be a little tricky getting them in your eye.  With a few days or a few weeks to practice, you’ll be more than comfortable with your lenses.  Always keep in mind that no one is perfect, it takes all of us time to get good at it.  Below, are a few tips that will help you with inserting and removing your contacts.

Putting your contacts in
Before you put your hands on your contact lens, you should make sure that you clean your hands thoroughly, and that you dry them off.Once your hands are clean, sit the contact lens on your index finger.  Next, place a drop of solution in the center of the lens.Now, use your other hand and pull down your lower eye lid with your thumb then look up with the eye you will be inserting the contact lens into.

Take your index finger with the contact on it and place it into your eye.  Don’t close your eye immediately, rather leave it open a few seconds to let the contact settle.  After a few seconds, close your eye and your contact lens should be perfectly in place.  If it feels uncomfortable, take it out and try again.  It may take you a few tries, although the more you put them in the better you’ll get at it.

Switching from glasses to contact lenses is easier than you may think.  Contact lenses are the preferred alternative to vision correction these days, offering you the vision enhancement you need at a price you can afford.  There are a lot of things you’ll to need to know about your contacts, although they are far superior to the traditional correction of glasses.

The first thing you’ll need to do when getting contact lenses is to visit your optician and be fitted for the lenses.  Your optician will give you a prescription for your contacts, examine the health of your eyes, and tell you which type of contacts will work the best for you.He or she can also tell you which contacts are best for your budget as well.

These days, there are several contact lens to choose from.  You have many different manufacturers as well, offering many different types, colors, and styles.  Not all are suitable for you though, as no 2 eyes are the same.  When you get fitted for your contact lenses, your optician will be able to help you make that decision.

When you first start wearing your contacts, you should never wear them for extended periods of time.  Contacts will need some time to adjust to your eyes, and your eyes will need some time to rest.  If you wear them too long when you start wearing them, they can harm your eyes.  Your optician will tell you what he recommends, which is normally a few hours during the day then take them out.With each passing day, you can wear them for longer periods until your eyes gradually adjust.

Another aspect that will take some getting used to, that you don’t face with glasses, is knowing how to handle your contact lens.  You’ll need to make sure that your hands are clean before you handle your contacts, to avoid scratching or damaging the lenses.  When you take your contacts out or put them in your eyes, you'll need to handle them - which requires your hands to be clean.

Something you may experience with your new contacts is dry eyes.  Dryness in the eyes when wearing contacts is very common, and should be expected.  When wearing glasses, this is one problem you won’t have.  If your eyes start to dry out when wearing your contacts, you should put a few drops of re-wetting or saline solution in your eyes.These drops will help to moisten your eyes and give you some relief from the irritation that dryness causes.

No matter what type of contact lens you have, you’ll need to clean them on a regular basis.  Normally, you should clean them at night when you take them out.  If you have night and day contact lenses, you'll need to take them out on a regular basis and clean them.  There are a few products you can use to clean your contacts, which we will look at below.

1.  Saline
Saline is a common product for rinsing contacts, most used for storing and rinsing your lenses.When you take your contacts out at night, you'll normally put them in saline solution.Even though it is perfect for storing and rinsing your contacts, it should never be used to clean or disinfect them.

2.  Daily cleaner solution
Daily cleaner is used to clean your contacts.  Simply place a few drops of the cleaner in the center of your hand and then rub the lens gently in the solution.  You should rub the contact around for about 30 seconds, ensuring that you clean both sides.  When you need to rinse and disinfect them, simply use other products that are designed for that purpose.

3.  Multipurpose solution
This is about the best type of solution you can get for your contacts, as it cleans, rinses, disinfects, and stores your lenses.  You can do everything with this type of solution, including soaking your contact lenses at night.  Once you have finished cleaning your contacts, simply rinse them with this same solution and they will be ready to wear.  With multipurpose solution, you won’t need any other products.

4.  Hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is a solution that cleans, disinfects, stores, and rinses your contacts.  You don't need to rub your contacts in the solution, simply allow them a few minutes to soak.  Hydrogen peroxide is a no rub solution, and contains chemicals that doesn’t burn your eyes.  Before you put the contact lenses into your eyes, you should always rinse them with another produce first.

5.  Cleaning and disinfecting
As the names imply, this is for both disinfecting and cleaning your contacts.Cleaning is normally achieved by either ultrasonic waves or agitation, where the disinfecting is done by multipurpose solution or UV light.  The instructions for the brand you selected will be on the bottle, and you should always follow them to avoid damage to your eyes or your contacts.

6.  Enzymatic cleaners
These types of cleaners are ideal for removing protein on your contacts, normally on a weekly basis.  They come in the form of tablets, which you can use with either disinfecting or saline solution to clean the protein from your contacts.

In the world of contact lenses, there are many manufacturers for you to choose from.  Contact lenses are very popular these days, being a great alternative to glasses.  Contacts are easy to take care of, easy to use, and very affordable.  As more and more people find out they have bad vision and need to get glasses or contacts – they turn to contacts.

With several different brands of contacts out there, it can be very difficult when you select your pair.  Often times, your optician will recommend a brand to you, although sometimes they won’t.  Different brands are coming out all the time, which can make it very difficult for first time contact users to select the best brand for their eyes and their needs.

Among the many different brands and manufacturers on the market for contact lens, Acuvue tends be among the best.  They have dominated the market for years and years, proving that they produce some of the best contact lenses.  With the inception of Hydraclear, Acuvue has proved that contact lenses can be very comfortable for anyone who chooses to wear them.  Hydroclear is a breakthrough technology for contact lenses, helping Acuvue gain more popularity.

If you are new to contact lenses, you may want to look at what each manufacturer offers before you make a decision.By learning a bit about each manufacturer, you can decide which ones offer you the best products for the best prices.  You can research online, through your local store that sells contacts, or even ask your optician and associates what they think would be the best for you.

A few examples of some of the best manufacturers include Acuvue, Bausch and Lomb, and Progressive.  These are all great choices, offering you a variety models to choose from.  They are also among the most expensive as well.  Bausch and Lomb is just about as popular as Acuvue, offering great contact lenses at very affordable prices.

Hard, or rigid contacts are comprised of material that is known as PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate).  This material is very rigid, and doesn’t contain near as much water as soft contacts.  With that in mind, taking care of and cleaning hard lenses is very different that cleaning and maintaining soft contact lenses.

Before you purchase a pair of hard or rigid contact lenses, you should know how to take care of them and how to clean them.  Hard contacts differ from soft contacts, as the cleaning process is very different.  When you purchase your contacts you should also purchase your cleaning solution.  Your cleaner is very important, as you must have it with hard contacts.

The one thing that hard and soft contact lenses have in common, is the fact that you must wash your hands before you handle either of them.  You should always wash your hands with soap and water before you handle your hard lenses.Antibacterial soap is the best soap to use, as it will thoroughly clean your hands and it doesn't contain any type of fragrance.

The first thing to do when cleaning your hard contacts is to take the lens out of your eye and put it in the center of your hand.You should have your cleaner out, and ready to use anytime you are looking to clean your lenses.  Once you have the lens in the palm of your hand, squirt a couple of cleaning drops into the center of the lens.  Now, gently work the solution into the lens, for a minute or so.  You should always avoid using pressure, as you could end up tearing the lens.

Once you have finished cleaning your lens, you'll need to rinse it.  You can rinse hard contact lens using lukewarm water.These types of lenses are very sturdy and don't require any special liquid or solution for rinsing.When you have finished cleaning and rinsing your contacts, simply put them back in the case and fill it with the solution that you have for soaking your hard lenses in.  The soaking solution will keep your contacts fresh, and clean the protein off of them that can build up from wear.