Keeping your soft contacts clean is essential to maintaining comfy lenses and excellent eye health. But with so many different cleaning solutions available, how do we know what to use?
We caught up with in-house optometrist, Roshni Patel, to find out what’s what.
Meet Roshni…
Roshni is a registered Optometrist and the Professional Services Manager at Lenstore. She and her team lead the Lenstore community through clinical training and education programs, and have played a huge role in shaping the exceptional customer experience that we’re known for.
Describe yourself in 3 words. Only 3? Perfectionist. Ambitious. Entertaining. Some might even say bossy…
What’s your side hustle? I’m an Assessor for the College of Optometrists. I assess trainee optometrists during their placement year. This is an all important year that decides if they qualify.
Got any good optometrist stories? I once had a lady come in with a parrot on her shoulder. I had the most interesting time navigating myself around the parrot whilst doing the eye exam. He was ever so friendly, talkative and even potty trained! Luckily, it was my last patient of the day — as I had to spend a good 30 minutes disinfecting my room.
Back to solutions. Why are there so many types?
The world of solutions may seem overwhelming, but it’s more straightforward than it looks. In a nutshell, there are two main types: saline and contact lens solution, and they each serve a different purpose in your lens care routine.
While it’s important to understand the role of these solutions, only your optometrist or contact lens optician can determine the contact lens and solution combination that’s right for your eyes.
So, what’s a contact lens solution?
Contact lens solution is the primary product used to clean, disinfect and store your lenses. And it comes in a couple of different forms:
Multi-purpose (all-in-one) Solution
Multi-purpose solutions are simple to use; only one product is needed to clean, disinfect, rinse and store your lenses. Convenient and cost-efficient, they are a popular choice for anyone with a busy lifestyle.
After a full day of wear, simply “rub and rinse” your lenses before storing them in the case with fresh solution. Due to ease of use, it also gives you flexibility to remove your lenses and rest your eyes for a few hours during the day.
Hydrogen Peroxide Solution
In my opinion, hydrogen peroxide is the best solution for disinfecting your lenses. It requires a little more care, but provides a deeper clean than other solutions. It’s also preservative-free, making it ideal for anyone who’s susceptible to allergies.
It’s important to remember that hydrogen peroxide needs to be neutralised before it comes into contact with your eyes. Each bottle comes with a special lens case fitted with a platinum ring that neutralises the peroxide after about eight hours.
Hydrogen peroxide can burn the eye, but this can be easily avoided if you follow the instructions. Just remember to always use the special lens case and never put the solution (or a lens that’s been cleaned directly with the solution), straight into your eye.
If you get peroxide in the eye, remove the lens, flush your eye with sterile saline and visit your Optician right away to ensure that no damage is caused to your eye.
So if lens solution is for cleaning contacts, what’s saline for?
Many people mistakenly believe that saline serves the same purpose as a lens solution. However, that’s not the case.
Saline isn’t suitable for cleaning, disinfecting or storing your lenses. It’s simply there to rinse your contacts after cleaning with one of the lens solutions mentioned above. It’s gentle, saltwater formula makes it a popular choice for anyone with sensitive eyes.
If using a saline solution, be sure to purchase a commercially produced product. “Made at home” versions aren’t safe and can cause serious eye infections.
Any other tips?
Keeping your contacts clean and your eyes healthy is easy when you follow the lens care routine recommended by your optician. Here are a few more fundamentals that apply to all reusable lenses:
- Always follow the lens care advice recommended by your optician
- Use fresh solution every time — never re-use or “top up” old solution
- Keep your lens case clean (rinse with solution and air dry)
- Replace your lens case every month.