As a contact lens wearer, you know that your lenses can dry out and make your eyes feel very uncomfortable. During summer months especially, your eyes are going to encounter a lot, wind, allergens, dryness, moisture, sunlight, and other things as well. To help you care for your eyes and your lenses, read on for helpful information to use as a guide.
Keep Eyes Hydrated
Drinking water will help keep your eyes hydrated and moist. If you have dry eyes, you should keep re-wetting drops handy in case you need it. Your eyes can dry out in the wind and in the sun, and they can dry out from staring at a screen as well, especially if you're outside staring at a screen, then you have the wind and sun in addition to the screen drying out your eyes. Hydrate your eyes by blinking often and looking away at whatever you're staring at to re-wet the eyes.
Protect Your Lenses
Protect your lenses and your eyes by wearing sunglasses when out in the sunlight. The sunglasses can protect the eyes from the sun's harmful rays and can help keep the lenses from drying out too much in the sunlight. Wear sunglasses that protect against UV-A and UV-B rays.
Clean Your Lenses Daily
Make sure you are cleaning your lenses daily to remove the debris from the day from your lenses. Use contact lens cleaner to clean your lenses daily before you put them into your eyes and after you have taken them out for the day. Remove the lenses and rub them gently with a lens solution, then put the lenses in your eye or in the case for the night. Remember that you should also clean the contact lens case as well to remove debris such as allergens that can cause itchy eyes and other problems for you.
Avoid Allergens
Avoid allergens when wearing your contact lenses, but if you aren't able to do this, you should wear eyeglasses instead of your contact lenses. Your contact lenses can trap allergens in your eye and leave your eyes itchy, red, watery, and puffy. It can make wearing your lenses difficult. On high allergy days, wear your eyeglasses instead of your contact lenses.
If you are a contact lens wearer, you should do what you can to protect your eyes and keep them from drying out or leaving your eyes itchy. Talk to an eye doctor, like Battery Park Vision Associates, about other things you can do to protect your eyes this summer as a contact lens wearer.
There are a number of medical professionals who you should be seeing on a regular basis, but one that tends to be forgotten about is the optometrist. Even if you do not have trouble seeing clearly, it's a good idea to get an eye exam every year or two, just to ensure nothing is amiss. After all, optometrists do more than prescribe glasses. They can also diagnose conditions like glaucoma and cataracts, which are easier to manage when detected early.
If you would like to learn a little more about what happens when you see the optometrist and why this is so important, read the articles on this website. They're all dedicated to optometry and eye health.