The choice of contact lens that is right for you is a decision made by the doctor after examining the health of your eyes, measuring your prescription and discussing with you the activities for which you want to use contact lenses.

Disposable Contact Lenses
Most people are fortunate to be able to use disposable contact lenses because they are healthier than conventional contacts. Conventional contacts refer to a soft lens that you keep for a year. The conventional contacts are almost exclusively used for custom designed lenses on patients with difficult prescriptions.

Disposable contact lenses are either worn for a single day, or two weeks or a month before they are thrown away. The disposable contacts allow more oxygen to transfer through the lens to your eye and they are easier to keep clean. Both these features make the disposable contacts healthier and more comfortable than conventional contacts.

Your optometrist will tell you how long you can wear your contact lenses. That length of time is determined by the contact lens material, the cleaning system and your tears. The contacts should still feel good at the time you are to dispose of them. If they feel bad, you have worn them too long and your eyelids and cornea are being irritated by the debris on the contacts. As you wear the contacts there is a film of protein and lipids from your tears that gets deposited on the lens. This film reduces the amount of oxygen that can get through the contact lens to your eye and that is why you need to throw away your lenses according to the schedule.

Contact Lens Cleaning
There are two main groups of contact lens cleaning solutions. The first group is peroxide cleaners; they have the best ability to clean contacts. All solutions that use peroxide will sterilize your lens without leaving behind a residue on the lens. It is also not possible to develop an allergy to the peroxide systems as they have no added preservatives and extra chemicals.

The second group of cleaners are called Multi-Purpose Solutions (MPS). These solutions are able to disinfect contact lenses but they contain soaps, preservatives and conditioners which gradually coat the contact lenses reducing the amount of oxygen that can pass through the lens into your eye. It is also possible to become allergic to one of the additives in the solution. This generally happens after using the solution for a few years.

To properly clean a contact lens, you remove it from your eye, place it in the palm of your hand with a few drops of solution. Gently rub the contact with one finger against the palm of your hand for approximately 10 seconds. This removes any protein and other particles that have become attached to your lens while you were wearing it. Next put the contact lens in the case and fill the well with solution. Contact lens cases are designed to hold exactly the amount of solution required to disinfect one contact over a period of 6 to 8 hours. Repeat the procedure with the second contact lens. It is best to always start with the same eye so that you can keep track of which lens is for the right eye and which is for the left eye. In the morning, remove the contact lens from the case and insert it into your eye. Empty the case and leave it to dry until needed again. Your contact lens case should be washed once a month. Simply use hot soapy water, rinse with water and then rinse with contact lens cleaner.

You may notice that some of the MPS solutions now say "No Rub". This was given FDA approval with the instructions being that instead of rubbing the contact lens, you squirt a steady stream of solution at the lens for 10 seconds on each side. You will find that it is faster, more effective at cleaning and less expensive to simply rub the contact lens.

Can I sleep in my contacts?
Most contact lenses do not let enough oxygen through them to allow you to sleep in them. This is because the eye receives less oxygen when the eye lids are closed. However, silicone contact lenses such as Pure Vision can be worn while sleeping because they allow five times more oxygen transmission compared to ordinary soft contact lenses. Pure Vision contacts are designed to be worn continuously for one month and then replaced with a new contact lens.

Can I swim in my contacts?
It is best not to wear contact lenses while swimming as your risk of an infection becomes much higher. The contact lens also absorbs chlorine and your eye will be exposed to the chlorine for many days afterwards. If you do choose to wear contacts while swimming, you should use a daily disposable contact lens which you throw away after swimming. Never wear contact lenses in a hot tub.

Do my contacts block UV rays?
Some soft contact lenses block ultraviolet rays, and others do not. You should ask your optometrist, or check on the box to see if it says that the contacts are UV blocking. When contacts do block ultraviolet rays, they do not stop the glare or brightness of the sun and so you may still choose to wear sunglasses over top of your contact lenses.