How To Put Contacts In

For new contact lens wearers, this is a tricky and frustrating process and it will take time and experience to master. For veteran contact lens wearers, you could practically do this with your eyes closed! Wait.. bad example.. your eyes need to be open. Anyways, you get my point. Even if you have been wearing contacts for years, this might just be a little bit of an eye-opener (sorry, bad pun...), as bad habits can develop.

1. Before you even touch the contacts, you must wash your hands. Wash them thoroughly and rinse well. Dry your hands with a lint-free cloth or towel.
2. Take the contact lens out of its case and clean it well. Ideally, you should be rubbing the contact for at least a minute. This, of course, is the step that is forgotten almost instantly among contact lens wearers. I promise that it's important, ... ever had an eye infection? They're NOT fun, and they have the potential to be sight-threatening.
3. Once your contact lens is cleaned, it's ready to be put in your eye. You want to make sure at this point that you put the contact lens in the right way. If you put the contact into your eye inside out, you will know instantly because it will be uncomfortable. See the pictures below to help you determine which way you want the contact lenses to be. They are both a rather gross over-exaggeration of how the contacts actually look, but you get the idea. You may remember your optometrist referring to the "teacup" (wrong) and the "saucer" (right). Some contact lenses will have numbers ("123") - if you can read them right-way around, then you have the contact properly positioned.


   

4. Okay so you've got the contact lens on the tip of your index finger and you've made sure it is the right way around. If the contact lens seems somewhat dry, feel free to place a drop of solution into the contact. This will help it to adhere onto your eye.
5. Now take the middle finger of the same hand and use it to pull down your lower eyelid.
6. Look directly up at the ceiling and place the contact lens on the lower part of your eye (NOT the clear cornea).
7. Once the contact lens has been placed on your eye, take away your hand and look down at the floor. The contact lens should slide onto the clear part of your eye.
8. There you go! You're done! The lens may be uncomfortable at first, and this should subside within minutes. If it doesn't you will want to make sure that it's the right way around and that there is no debris between the contact lens and your eye. Take the contact lens out, clean it again, and put it back in your eye.

One of the most difficult things to overcome is the blink reflex. For new contact lens wearers, the blink reflex is extremely strong because you haven't trained it yet. Whenever your fingers come close to your eyes, you will begin to blink reflexively. This reflex will subside with time and practice. Below, I have included a few tips that may be useful.

Contact Lense Tips:

1. Using paper towel to dry your hands is a great way to reduce debris, as opposed to terry cloth towels and toilet paper.
2. It's a good idea to have dry fingers when you are putting the contact in your eye. This prevents the contact from folding back onto your finger.
3. Don't be discouraged if you can't get the lenses it right away. It will get easier with time. Everyone finds it difficult at first.
4. It's a good idea to keep your fingernails short. An inadvertent scratch to the cornea can be excruciatingly painful, and it also may lead to infection.