Lake Nona Eye Care is proud to join with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Optometric Association to promote Contact Lens Health Week August 22-26, 2017. To bring awareness of the importance of proper contact lens practices and to reduce the risk of infection and complications.

We want to encourage adults and teens who wear contact lenses to develop healthy habits. Which includes proper storage, care and use of contact lenses. Visiting a professional eye care provider is also key.

“Considering the many steps involved to be fully compliant with lens care, it doesn’t surprise me that 99 percent of lens wearers engaged in one or more forms of risky behavior,” says Optometry Times Editorial Advisory Board member Joseph P. Shovlin, OD, FAAO, and who is a member of the CDC Contact Lens Workgroup. “Unfortunately, there’s an astounding cost to contact lens-related complications not to mention the morbidity potential for a tragic sight-threatening event.”

A Few Healthy Contact Lens Habits

Before touching your contact lenses, make sure your hands are clean. Any debris or residue can easily make their way onto the lens and into your eyes and cause an infection.

Though it may be tempting, only wear your contact lenses for the prescribed amount of time. Serious consequences can occur, such as sore, red eyes and blurred vision, it can even lead to vision loss.

Unless you have specific extended wear lenses, don’t sleep with them in your eyes. If you accidentally fell asleep with them, moisten them with an eye drop solution, safe for contact lenses, before taking them out.

At least once a month, clean the contact lens case with a sterile solution or hot water and let air dry to prevent bacteria from growing.

Prevent your contact lenses from contaminates by washing them daily with solution. Remember washing with just water cannot remove microorganisms.

Not all contact lens solutions are the same, each is formulated to provide different benefits, rinsing, disinfecting, cleaning, and storage.

To prevent infection, don’t let the tip of the solution bottle touch your fingers or anything else.

Before you apply make up, put your contact lenses in your eyes. This prevents germs and bacteria found in make up from getting on your lenses. Also, remove your contact lenses prior to removing make up.

If you feel your eye is becoming infected, stop wearing your contact lenses and call Lake Nona Eye Care.

Routine eye exams are an important step for healthy eye, especially if you wear contact lenses on a regular basis. Contact Lake Nona Eye Care for an appointment.