cleaning your soft contact lenses is key to your success not only does it significantly reduce
your chances of getting an infection but also makes wearing the contacts more comfortable
so in this video i'm going to show you exactly how to clean your soft contact lenses properly
using the best two and most common methods plus at the end of the video i'll show you how to clean
your contact lens case let's focus in hey howdy everybody this is dr Neal Guymon, Dr. EyeGuy,
with the channel that keeps your eyes healthy and your vision clear now this video is actually part
of a series of videos all about contact lenses so if you're new to contact lenses i'll put that link
to that playlist in the description below so you can check that out but let's get to cleaning your
contacts on the top of the list is actually to use a disinfectant multi-purpose solution
now i did a video about some of the best multi-purpose solutions out there so you can check
that out after this video but for this video we're going to use the bio true solution as the example
right off the bat the first tip that i can give you is no matter what solution that you're using
make sure that you read their instructions on the box or on the bottle each multi-purpose solution
has their own set of instructions some might be different of how long you need to store it how
long you need to rub it how long you need to rinse it so make sure that you read the instructions
depending on what solution that you're using also before you handle any contact lenses make sure
that you wash your hands now this first step might be the most important and a lot of people i think
forget to do this step there was a while or a period of time there where contact lens
solution came out and they said no rob no rub on the solution you could just use the multi-purpose
disinfectant solution and not rub the contact lenses well turns out that's not the case
rubbing the contact lenses is definitely best to dislodge and remove any debris or protein buildup
on the surface of the contact lenses so step one put the contact lens in the palm of your hand
place three drops of the solution on each side of the contact lens and gently rub for 20 seconds
now the key word here is gentle if you go too hard or rub too vigorously you can actually rip
the contact lens step two also a lot of people forget this step and that's to rinse each side
of the contact lens for five seconds that's a steady stream with the multi-purpose solution
for five seconds on each side step three you can now place the contact lens in a clean contact
lens case and fill that contact lens case all the way up so the contact lens is fully submerged in
the contact lens solution a little tip that i tell people here is to put a little bit of contact lens
solution in there first and then put the contact lens in this will help the contact lens get in
the case and float a little bit and then you can fill the rest up with contact lens solution and
this will help the contact lens be fully submerged in the contact lens solution now according to the
bio true solution you need to let it sit in the contact lens solution for four hours now this can
differ from different solutions so again make sure you read the instructions now most people won't
have a problem with this because they're taking their contact lens out before they go to bed and
so they're gonna sleep through that four or six hours depending on the solution you're using but
in the morning now you can take the contact lens out rinse it again with the contact lens solution
and then you can put it right in your eye now make sure that you dump out that use contact lens
solution you want to start fresh every time if you use the same contact lens solution over and over
it can reduce its effectiveness to properly disinfect the soft contact lens so start fresh
every time it'd be kind of like if you use the same old bath water the next time you took a bath
now after the contact lenses have soaked and you put the contact lenses in your eye and dump out
the old solution you want to let the case air dry so you actually leave the lids off i usually put
it on a paper towel and i put the case face down with the lids off this will allow the solution
to drain out and air dry now a lot of people say that you can also place a face up which is okay
for some reason i was always afraid that something was going to fall into the the base of the contact
lens like hair spray was in get in there or something i don't know just leaving it open
out in the open face up kind of worried me for some reason so i always put it face down now
before we move on to the next method if you have any questions about cleaning your contact lenses
or any questions at all make sure you leave it in the comments below i try my best to answer any
questions that i see the next most common method is actually to use a type of hydrogen peroxide
disinfecting and cleaning solution now this contact lens solution comes with a big
warning you want to make sure that you follow the instructions with this solution if you notice the
solution bottle comes with a red tip red means stop that means don't put it directly in your
eye don't rinse your eye with it don't put it on the contact lens and then directly into your eye
the hydrogen peroxide if it's not properly neutralized it can give you a chemical corneal
burn it will hurt and usually people only make this mistake one time and never do it again
so make sure you're going to follow these instructions i'm going to show you exactly how to
use it so if this solution is so risky why even use it what's the benefit of using the solution
one thing is that it's preservative free so some people are sensitive to the preservatives
in the multi-purpose solution also this does an amazing job at cleaning and removing deposits
some people might have a lot of protein deposits or lipid deposits or they just need to clean their
contact lenses a little bit better this will do the job so a lot of people might need to move
up to this next level or this next step and use this type of solution now really quick i
do want to mention the contact lens case it does come with a different looking and different type
of contact lens case and it plays a big role in actually neutralizing the hydrogen peroxide
now if you open it up you'll notice that there are two contact lens cages that's actually where
you're going to put the contact lenses but at the bottom you'll notice a neutralizing platinum disc
and that's actually what's going to neutralize the hydrogen peroxide solution when you put the
solution in there you'll notice that it's going to bubble that's completely normal the bubbling is
actually good it's neutralizing the solution and cleaning the contact lenses first wash your hands
step number one remove your contact lenses and place them in the contact lens cages now they
will be marked l and r left eye right eye so you can open the cage put the contact lens in
shut the cage now you're actually going to take your contact lens solution and rinse each contact
lens with a steady stream for five seconds so now you're going to fill the lens cup up to the fill
line you'll notice that there's an indication mark on the cup you do not want to overfill or under
fill you want to do a proper lead so the contact lenses are submerged so they get disinfected
properly now you put the lens holder into the cup screw on tightly do not shake and just set
it aside now for this solution you need to let the contacts sit in there for six hours it needs
to be in there for six hours in order to properly neutralize the solution if you take it out before
that and then put the contact lenses in your eyes you could still get that chemical burn after the
six hours say the next morning you can take the contact lenses out and put them right in your eyes
they'll be completely safe by then the solution will be completely neutralized to a sterile water
by then now that you know how to clean your soft contact lenses let's go over cleaning the cases
with the clear care case it's a little easy you pretty much just replace it every time you get a
new box or bottle of solution now this is actually really important that you start with a new case
because that little platinum disc the neutralizing platinum disc in there does wear out a little bit
and so it doesn't neutralize the solution as well so if you keep reusing the case it's going
to get to a point where it doesn't neutralize the solution or disinfect your contact lenses
so make sure every time you get a new bottle a new bottle usually comes with a new case and so
then you can just start fresh just chuck your old one now for the multi-purpose contact lens cases
there's a few things that we want to go over now with these types of cases you do want to clean
them every once in a while you can get dust and debris and gunk that builds up on them and i've
seen some nasty nasty cases and sometimes that might be responsible for getting eye infections
so this is recommended to do this once a week you just take some multi-purpose contact lens solution
put it in the case and actually take your clean finger and actually rub and kind of
get rid of that debris that might be built up on the inside of there you can actually
work around the edges and inside and also don't forget the inside of the lids the inside of the
lids can actually get pretty nasty as well so make sure you're really really get that off and
then you want to rinse it off with the contact lens solution actually squeeze a stream on there
rinse it off and then you're going to let it air dry the same way you air dry it before you're
going to put it face down on the paper towel with the lids or if you want to do a face up you can
for some reason that makes me nervous i do it face down also with these types of cases it is
recommended to replace them every three months at least i usually tell my patients to replace them
at the month mark especially if they're wearing monthly contact lenses it's easy to remember
to replace the contact lens case when you replace and get a new pair of contact lenses now usually
when you get a new multi-purpose solution bottle when you go out and buy a new bottle it comes with
a case and then you can just replace it then and you'll probably go through a bottle one to
two months and so you can just replace the case then so it's easy to remember now don't forget if
you're new to contact lenses definitely check out my playlist right there all about contact lenses
or one of my other videos right there I'm Dr. Neal Guymon, Dr. EyeGuy, stay focused