Using contact lenses safely comes down to four things: clean hands, proper insertion and removal technique, consistent cleaning habits, and knowing when something is wrong. If you’re new to contacts or just want to make sure you’re doing everything right, here’s what matters most.
Start With Clean Hands Every Time
Wash your hands before you touch your lenses, every single time. Almost any soap works, as long as you rinse it off completely. Some guides recommend avoiding moisturizing soaps because of the residue they leave on your fingers, but thorough rinsing takes care of that. Dry your hands with a lint-free towel or a fresh paper towel. Regular bath towels shed tiny fibers that can stick to a lens and irritate your eye.
How to Insert a Contact Lens
Place the lens on the tip of your index finger on your dominant hand. Before it goes anywhere near your eye, check that it’s not inside out. A correctly oriented lens looks like a smooth bowl with edges that curve inward. An inside-out lens has edges that flare outward slightly, almost like a rimmed plate. Some lenses have a tiny laser marking (often “123”) that reads correctly when the lens is right-side out.
With the index or middle finger of your other hand, gently pull your upper eyelid up toward your eyebrow so your lashes stay out of the way. Use the middle finger of your dominant hand (the one holding the lens on its index finger) to pull your lower eyelid down. Look straight ahead or up toward the ceiling, then slowly bring the lens to your eye and place it directly on the center of your iris. Look down and blink a few times. The lens will settle into position on its own.
If that two-handed technique feels awkward, there’s a simpler option: pull only your lower eyelid down with your middle finger, look up, and gently set the lens on the lower white part of your eye. Then look down and blink. Many people find this easier once they’re comfortable handling lenses.
How to Remove a Contact Lens
Look up toward the ceiling. With the middle finger of your dominant hand, pull your lower eyelid down. Use your index finger to touch the lower edge of the lens and slowly slide it down onto the white of your eye. Once the lens is off your iris, gently pinch it between your thumb and index finger to lift it out. Avoid pinching the lens while it’s still centered on your eye, which can scratch the surface of the cornea.
If the lens feels stuck, don’t force it. Add a few rewetting drops, blink several times, and try again. A well-hydrated lens slides much more easily.
Cleaning and Storing Your Lenses
Every time you take your lenses out, rub and rinse each lens with fresh solution, then place them in a clean case filled with fresh solution. Never top off old solution with new. The leftover liquid loses its disinfecting strength and can harbor bacteria.
You’ll encounter two main types of care systems. Multipurpose solution is the most common: it cleans, rinses, disinfects, and stores lenses all in one step. Hydrogen peroxide-based systems also clean and disinfect, and they’re a good alternative if your eyes react to multipurpose solution. Peroxide systems require a special case with a neutralizing disc, and you need to wait 4 to 6 hours before wearing the lenses again. Putting a non-neutralized peroxide lens in your eye causes immediate, intense stinging.
Saline solution does not disinfect. It’s only for rinsing lenses after they’ve already been cleaned and disinfected with another product. Using saline alone leaves bacteria, fungi, and other organisms on the lens surface.
Keep Your Lens Case Clean
Your lens case needs its own routine. After inserting your lenses each morning, dump out the old solution, rinse the case with fresh solution (not water), and leave it open to air dry face-down on a clean tissue. Replace the entire case every three months. Even with daily cleaning, a biofilm of microorganisms builds up on the plastic over time, and a fresh case eliminates that risk.
Never Let Water Touch Your Lenses
Tap water, pool water, lake water, shower water: none of it is safe for contact lenses. Water contains a single-celled organism called Acanthamoeba that can cause a severe corneal infection. The organism attaches to tiny defects on the surface of your cornea, then secretes enzymes that destroy the tissue layer by layer. This infection is extremely painful and difficult to treat, sometimes leading to permanent vision loss.
In the United Kingdom, research found that over 90% of contact lens wearers who completely avoided water exposure and used proper disinfecting solutions avoided Acanthamoeba infection. Swimming, diving, showering, and even splashing your face while wearing lenses have all been linked to cases. If you swim with contacts, use watertight goggles and disinfect the lenses immediately afterward, or better yet, wear daily disposables and throw them away after your swim.
Makeup and Contact Lenses
Put your lenses in before you apply any makeup. This keeps foundation, eyeshadow particles, and mascara fibers off the lens surface. Apply face products first, but keep creams and primers away from your lash line. When it’s time to take everything off at night, reverse the order: remove your lenses first, then take off your makeup with an oil-free remover. Oil-based removers can leave a film on lenses that’s difficult to clean away and blurs your vision.
Warning Signs to Take Seriously
Contact lenses sit directly on living tissue, and problems can escalate quickly. Remove your lenses right away if you notice any of the following: redness that doesn’t clear within a few minutes, unusual sensitivity to light, blurred vision that wasn’t there before, pain or a persistent gritty feeling, excess tearing, discharge, itching, burning, or swelling around the eye.
These symptoms can signal a corneal ulcer or an active infection. The FDA recommends keeping the lenses rather than throwing them away. Store them in their case and bring them to your eye care provider, who may test the lenses to identify what’s causing the problem. What feels like minor irritation can, in rare cases, progress to a serious infection that threatens your sight.
Daily Habits That Prevent Most Problems
The majority of contact lens complications come from shortcuts: sleeping in lenses that aren’t designed for overnight wear, rinsing with tap water, reusing old solution, or wearing lenses past their replacement schedule. Sticking to a few non-negotiable habits keeps your risk low.
- Replace lenses on schedule. Daily disposables get thrown away each night. Biweekly and monthly lenses have firm expiration points regardless of how often you wore them.
- Don’t sleep in your lenses unless your eye care provider has specifically prescribed extended-wear lenses. Sleeping in standard lenses starves your cornea of oxygen and dramatically raises infection risk.
- Carry backup glasses. If your eyes feel off, you should be able to take your lenses out without being stranded.
- Replace your solution bottle regularly. Don’t let opened bottles sit for months. Check the label for the recommended discard date after opening, and never use solution past its printed expiration date.