We have received numerous questions about wearing contact lenses during the COVID-19 crisis. To help, we’ve put together some advice for our contact lens patients. (All good things to remember even when there isn’t a pandemic!)

– Proper Hand Washing is Essential. Contact lens wearers should thoroughly wash and dry their hands before inserting or removing contacts. Whether using contact lenses or glasses, careful and thorough hand washing with soap and water followed by hand drying with unused paper towels will help reduce the spread of infection.

– Disinfect Contact Lenses. Contact lens wearers using monthly and two-week lenses should regularly clean and disinfect according to instructions from the manufacturer and your eye doctor. Better yet, switching to single use daily disposable contacts will greatly reduce the risk for many contact lens complications.

– Replace Contact Lenses On Time. Always follow the recommendations for lens replacement from your eye doctor. Overusing contact lenses is a leading cause of eye infections and corneal ulcers. If you’re running out of lenses call us! We can ship a supply right to your home! Don’t try to stretch that last pair!

– Discontinue Lens Wear if Sick. Temporarily stopping contact lens wear when sick is advised. This is consistent with guidance for other types of illness not just COVID-19.

– Clean and Disinfect Glasses. Some viruses such as COVID-19 can remain on hard surfaces for hours to days, which can be then transferred to your face when putting on your glasses. Wiping your glasses frame with rubbing alcohol and paper towel is a good way to disinfect the frame. Just keep that paper towel away from your lenses as it can cause scratches. Be careful as other disinfectant chemicals may damage lens coatings. Disinfecting your glasses is especially important for our older patients using reading glasses as they may be putting their glasses on and off their face multiple times a day. This age group appears to be among the more vulnerable population for developing COVID-19 complications.