The first time you book a contact lens fitting at your local optometrist is both exciting and nerve-wracking. After all, you’re about to have someone stick a piece of plastic in your eye to everyone will stop calling you four eyes you can see.
Before taking the plunge and buying contact lenses, I had a lot of questions running through my head. What if I can’t get them out? Are contact lenses safe for my eyes? Getting your first pair is quite daunting.
As I have now learned after being a proud wearer for 10 years, there is minimal risk associated with contact lenses. But this fearsome beast of anxiety (we’ll call him Bert) has probably whispered too many untruths in your mind.
So we’re going to debunk the worst contact lens myths you’ve probably heard from your friends with help from eye care experts at Australia and Eye Concepts Optometrists.
Myth #1: Contact lenses are the worst plastic waste
According to Menicon Australia, “Although the contact lenses themselves are plastic, they represent a very insignificant amount of daily waste.” However, Menicon also warns that you shouldn’t dispose of your contact lenses down the drain. Won’t somebody you think of the poor turtles?!
It turns out that plastic blister packs actually make up a bigger chunk of plastic waste than the lenses themselves. If you want to reduce the amount of plastic waste you contribute to the environment, it’s a good idea to find out if any lens suppliers offer environmentally friendly packaging.
Menicon’s Miru flat pack 1 day is an option to consider since, according to Menicon, its plastic packaging has been reduced by 80% compared to the standard blister you will receive at most optometrists. Each contact lens is contained in a lightweight 1mm case, suggesting that it is easy to store or carry.
Myth #2: You can permanently damage your eyesight by wearing contact lenses
I’m not going to lie, when I first booked to get contact lenses it was one of my very first thoughts. What if I scratch my eyeball? And if I became even After blind?
According Kevin LaEye Concepts Optometrist, the truth is there is an “eextremely low risk of this happening as long as you follow the instructions given by your optometrist and wear contact lenses hygienically. In other words, don’t be mean. In fact, that brings us to our next myth.
Myth #3: Contact lenses are hard to clean
I heard horrible stories of contact lens wearers who ended up with infected eyeballs because they were a bit lazy on the cleaning front. This generally applies to those with reusable contact lenses, rather than single-use options.
Menicon Australia explains that the idea that contact lenses are difficult to clean “couldn’t be further from the truth”. Just wash your hands with soapy water, wet your contacts with a few drops of fresh lens solution and rub them between your thumb and forefinger for about 20 seconds.
You’ll then want to rinse the little guys out with a little more solution before putting them back in their protective case with a fresh dollop of – you guessed it – more solution. Just be sure to soak them for up to four hours (although overnight is ideal) and they’ll be nice and clean for your onlookers in the morning.
If that all seems a bit too much for a lazy person like you, invest in some daily wear contact lenses instead. A game changer, really.
Myth #4: Sleeping with contacts is very bad and will damage your eyesight
On my very first appointment, my optometrist looked me straight in the eye and said sternly: already fall asleep with your contact lenses on.
It’s safe to say that my anxiety demon was listening that day and has literally been repeating that phrase to me ever since. Every time I started to fall asleep on the train or after a night out, the devil made me keep going until I could pinch the little suckers out of my eyes.
Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I accidentally fell asleep with them?
La explains that “MMost soft contact lenses are not meant to be worn while sleeping because the material used does not allow sufficient oxygen transfer with one eye closed. So if you wear your contact lenses to sleep when you’re not supposed to, you risk depriving the front surface of the eye of oxygen and causing problems that way.
Ultimately, this will expose your eyes to a risk called CLARE, which is basically red eye. This will increase your chances of developing bacterial infections which could cause pain and redness. So even though you can sleep with them on (they won’t melt into your iris), you should not.
That said, he does note that there are certain types of contact lenses you can wear to sleep. but you will want to consult your optometrist since this is a brand new rodeo.
Myth #5: My contact lens could get lost behind my eye
In short, optometrist Daniel Juhn said, “They can’t. The inside of your eyelid and the white of your eye are actually connected all the way around (conjunctival fornix), not so far from the eyelid opening. Ill-fitting lenses can drift there, but we can always remove them without anything drastic.
All I can say is – phew.
Myth #6: Contact lenses are uncomfortable to wear
I will never understand the types of people who can poke and poke their own eyes without flinching. We all knew that kid in elementary school who could flip his eyelids upside down. (Maybe you were that kid!?) I even knew a horrible kid who could press his own eyeball with his finger (please don’t try this at home kids) .
On that note, the idea of putting something over my eye feels as comfortable as lying on a bed of LEGO. But La reassures me again that it’s not a problem. “Soft contact lenses are mostly very comfortable to wear – especially with the new technology available on the market these days.”
“If they’re uncomfortable, you probably would have been fitted with a contact lens that just isn’t right for you,” La suggests. Either way, for most people there is a suitable contact lens option, you just need to discuss it with your optometrist to find the right one for your eyes.
Myth #7: I will never be able to remove my contact lenses, especially with long fingernails
Oh listen, another thing for my personal anxiety demon to intimidate me after a riddle I encountered a while ago. When I got nail extensions for a wedding (so my hands looked less like Thing of The Addams Family), I had no drama putting my lenses in. But the drama definitely started when I needed to take them out before going to sleep.
Luckily, it’s not about to turn into a horror story where I gouged out my eye and had to go to the ER. While my fellow optometrist Eye Concepts, Thomas Huinh agrees that “ILong fingernails are not the best for contact lenses,” he notes, “we have seen people with very long fingernails being able to wear contact lenses comfortably.”
He goes on to add that “the technique for inserting and removing contact lenses is a bit different, but not impossible. There are also contact lenses designed with Smart Touch technology to ensure the lenses always show the correct side up. Not only does this mean easier handling, but it means less risk of microbial contamination.
And he’s right. While most optometrists will teach you the “pinch technique”, I can personally guarantee that there is a way to safely remove your lenses if you have long fingernails.
Myth #8: Contact lenses are too expensive
When I decided to buy contacts without mom’s money as a big girl, I was afraid to see that big number on the receipt. If my glasses were already costing hundreds of dollars just for the lenses, could a 30-day contact pack put me out of business?
Hunyh insists that “there are different contact lenses available at different prices that will suit the budget of different people. For example, some products with a lower price tag cost as little as $200 for a 90-day supply, which equates to just over $2 per day.
Two bucks? Why, it’s less than my daily mocha! Who would have thought?
Myth #9: Your contact lenses can come out of your eyes
Please tell me am I not the only one who is afraid of his contact lenses falling out of his eyes? It just doesn’t make sense to me that a thin piece of plastic could cling to my peepers.
There have been a few strong gusts of wind that have certainly worried me in the past. But La assures me that “a a properly fitted contact lens will fit the front surface of your eye like a glove to your hand. It should be very difficult to move away from the position it is sitting in unless there is a strong force pulling it out.
So perhaps could the wind steal my contact lenses? I guess I could always close my eyes.
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