Today was your very first day wearing contact lenses and now it’s time to remove them. But the task seems daunting and you feel a little intimidated. “Removing contact lenses isn’t hard,” you say to “psych” yourself up.
Remember the technician at the optometrist’s office showing you how to remove them? She even made you practice putting them in and taking them out – twice! But that was at the office with someone walking you through it, step by step. Now you’re all alone. You remember it involves “touching” your eyeball at some point.
Wait a minute. The doctor sent you home with an abundance of reading material. There must be something about removing contact lenses. You shuffle through the paperwork and there it is. A laminated card that clearly explains how to remove your contact lenses, step by step.
The first step is only common sense, but you had forgotten all about it. “Wash your hands before handling your contacts”, it says. In fact, this morning you had even remembered to switch out your customary perfumed, moisturizing soap with something more basic. The optometrist told you those types of soap leave residue on your fingers that will smudge your contacts and get into your eye.
You also remember that this morning you almost dropped a contact in the sink. So tonight you will cover the sink with a clean, lint-free towel or paper towel or maybe even use another mirror away from the drain.
After you thoroughly wash and dry your hands, you are ready for step two. “Have your contact case fully prepared and ready for storage.” This morning, after you put in your contacts, you emptied and rinsed your contact case and both caps and stored them upside down on a clean paper towel to dry. Now, it is ready to be filled with the recommended storage or cleaning solution. You realize it is so much easier to fill the contact case before you take out your first contact. It is very difficult to prepare your storage case while simultaneously holding a contact on your fingertip.
Your hands are clean and dry, the area is prepared, and your contact lens storage case is filled with clean solution. “We must be getting close to actually removing the contact lenses,” you think to yourself. The next steps confirm your expectation.
“Hold your eye open with your non-dominant hand. While looking up or sideways, gently “pinch” the contact with your thumb and index finger.” That doesn’t seem too hard. By looking in a different direction, you don’t actually touch your eye, just the contact lens. Always start with the same eye every day when putting your contacts in or removing them. It may not seem so at first, but this task will eventually become such a mundane routine that you may unwittingly switch them.
Do the same with the other eye and it’s as easy as that. You have removed your contact lenses properly and safely. Let them soak overnight or at least the minimum amount of time recommended by the cleaning and disinfecting solution. Next time you are ready to wear your contact lenses they will be sparkling clean and as good as new.