INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAS PERMEABLE CONTACT LENSES
- Always wash your hands before handling contact lenses and dry your hands with a lint-free towel. Facial Tissues contain wood fibers that can be transferred from your fingers to the lens – this can cause scratching of the lens and irritate your eyes.
- Place a towel over the sink counter and remove lenses above towel. Make sure the drain is closed. Also, place toweling in the bottom of the sink so that the lens, if dropped, can be removed without damage.
- Get into the habit of taking your carrying case and solution with you whenever you are wearing your lenses. If you should have to remove your lenses, you will have a safe place to put them. You should not allow your lenses to dry out; this can result in damage of the lens.
- Avoid rubbing your eyes since this cause the lenses to fall out or move under the upper lid. If the contact lens becomes displaced, do not use your finger to reposition it. Look towards the opposite direction and push on the eyelids with your fingers to slide the lens back towards the pupil. Do not be alarmed – there is no place for the lens to go and it cannot get lost behind your eye.
- Should your eyes become painful, and your vision blurred, or a discharge develops, discard your lenses and stay out of contact lenses until the condition subsides. If the problems persist, contact our office.
INSERTION
Your hands should be clean and dried with a lint free towel.
Pick the lens up from the well and place the lens on the index finger of the dominant hand with the concave surface towards you shaped like a bowl. You do not need to rinse off the conditioning solution from the lens. Put a drop of conditioning solution (not the cleaning solution!) into the contact lens. Now you are ready to put the lens in.
Use the middle finger of the same hand to hold the lower lid down. The other hand is used to hold the upper lid and lashes out of the way, in order to avoid blinking during insertion. The eyes should be directed at a mirror, looking straight ahead. Touch the bottom of the lens
GENTLY
to the cornea, and lean the top of the lens forward, then without pressing, remove your finger. Slowly let go of eyelids and gently blink.
WEARING TIME
It is very important that you follow the Doctor’s direction very closely regarding the wearing time. Tolerance to the contact lens must be gradually developed or permanent corneal damage may result.
1st DAY: 4 HOURS MAXIMUM. Add 2 hours per day up to 12 hours per day until the Doctor sees you again. An appointment is usually scheduled one week after you take your lenses home. WEAR YOUR LENSES INTO THE OFFICE ON THAT DAY.
Initial discomfort is common and expected, and it will take time for your eyes to adjust to hard contact lenses. As you build up your wearing time, you will find that you will become less aware of the contact lenses to the point where you will no longer feel them. A gritty discomfort is normal, but a very sharp pain is not: it may mean there is something trapped underneath or there is a chip in the lens. You should remove the lens to inspect and clean it.
PLEASE NOTE: If you are unable to wear your lenses for several days or weeks because of illness or loss of lenses, you must slowly increase your wearing time again. The cornea must again adjust. Begin at four hours the first day and increase your wearing time by two hours a day, NO MORE, until you have again reached your maximum wearing time.
REMOVAL
There are a few different ways to remove a hard contact lens:
- Pull and Blink Method
Put your finger at the outer corner of your eye and pull towards your ear. This will pull your eyelids taut and when you look downward and blink, the contact lens will be squeezed out of your eye by the eyelids. Use the other hand to catch the contact lens when it falls or lean over a table surface covered with paper towel.
- Press Lid Method
Use your right index finger to hold the upper eyelid against the eye, and your left index finger to hold the lower eyelid against the eye. Look straight ahead into a mirror. Apply gentle pressure against the eyeball and slowly press the lids together to force the eyelids underneath the edges of the contact lens. The lens should come out and rest on the tip of your lower finger or on the lower lashes.
- Suction Cup Method
Be very careful using the suction cup because you have to make sure it is positioned on the contact lens and not on the eyeball. Make sure you look directly in a mirror and keep both eyes open while you position the suction cup; if you close your eyes, they will roll upwards and you will put the suction cup onto the soft tissue of your eyeball and cause damage. DO NOT USE YOUR FINGER OR FINGERNAIL TO REPOSITION OR REMOVE A CONTACT LENS.
CARE AND CLEANING
There are two separate Boston solutions to use with your contact lenses: a cleaning solution and a conditioning solution. Do not use solutions intended for soft contact lenses.
Use Boston cleaner to clean your contact lens. Put the lens along with a few drops of cleaner into your palm, and rub each side for ten seconds to remove protein, calcium, lipid and dirt from the lens surfaces. Rinse the lens with tap water, making sure that your drain is closed to avoid losing your lens. Store the lens in conditioning solution, which continues to disinfect the lens and coats it with a proper wetting surface to enhance comfort.
