How To Take Out Contact Lenses With Nails
This article was medically reviewed by Shaune Wallace, OD. Dr. Wallace is an Optometrist in Nevada with over 14 years of optometry experience. He received his OD from the Southern California College of Optometry in 2006 and is a member of the American Optometric Association. This article has been viewed 173,193 times.
Removing contact lenses can be tricky if you’re new to wearing them, but especially so if you have long nails. Following certain protocol when removing lenses can help minimize the risk of damage and infection.
Can I Remove Contact Lenses With Cotton Buds
The simple answer is NO.The chance of introducing bacteria and foreign bodies in to the eye increases by using implements such as cotton buds, the fibres can easily come loose and remain in the eye, causing irritation, add to that that you lose sensation when using a cotton bud so it every easy to apply too much pressure and cause your eye to become red and inflamed.
It has been known for contact lens wearers to use Q-tip to remove contact lenses but this is not a practice we can condone, your fingertips really are your best way of removing contact lenses
How To Take Out Contact Lenses
Removing contact lenses is a simple process once you are familiar with it. Don’t Panic a simple four step process will get your contacts out.
1. Clean your hands.
2. Pull down your lower eyelid.
3. Pinch the contact lens gently.
4. Look up and slide the lens downwards
Assuming that you have managed to insert your contact lenses! Now, um, how do you get them out?
Dont worry read on to find out all out tips and tricks on removing your contacts in this handy guide. As long as you learn the proper technique from the get-go, you shouldnt have too many issues removing your contact lenses every night. In fact, many contacts-wearers say removing lenses comes more naturally than placing lenses in their eyes.
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Reasons For Choosing Contact Lenses
Each wearer has a different reason for using contact lenses. However, in our experience the major reasons why our customers want the option of contact lenses in addition to glasses are:
Tips For Comfortable Wearing
Have a look through some of our top tips for wearing your contact lenses comfortably.
- Wash and dry your hands before handling your lenses or touching your eye
- Stop wearing your lenses if your eyes become red or sore contact us for advice
- Clean your lens case regularly and allow it to air dry
- Check that the prescription on the lens packaging is correct
- Check your contact lens solution instructions before use
- Insert your lenses before applying eye make-up Return for all the aftercare visits recommended by your optician
- Contact us if you have any concerns or queries, however trivial they may seem
- Stop wearing your lenses if your eyes become red or sore contact us for advice
- Throw away your lenses after the recommended period
- Clean your lens case regularly and allow it to air dry
- Replace your lens case regularly Replace the tops of solution bottles after use
- Use fresh solution to store your lenses
- Dispose of solution bottles after the recommended period
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Use A Contact Lens Remover For Hard Contact Lenses
Although this is not the preferred method of contact lens removal, a contact lens remover, called a plunger can be used when youre not comfortable using your fingers to remove a hard contact lens. Here are instructions for this removal method.
CDC that will help you take care of your lenses properly.
- Keep your contact lens prescription up-to-date, and make sure that you arent using lenses that are expired.
- Dont reuse disposable lenses or use lenses longer than prescribed, as this can cause an increased risk of infection.
- Keep your contact lens cases clean to prevent dirt and bacteria from mingling with your clean lenses. Replace your case every 3 months.
- Dont swim or shower in contact lenses, as the water can damage the integrity of your lenses.
- Dont sleep in your contact lenses, as this can potentially lead to an increased risk of eye infections or other complications, according to a 2018 case report .
If you have any other major questions or concerns about contact lens insertion, removal, or safety, you can reach out to your eye doctor for help.
Using Only One Finger
This is similar to one of the ways to put lenses on. Choose one finger and simply remove the lens.
It will naturally stick to your finger and will separate from your eye.
Wash your hands thoroughly beforehand as the contact with your skin is direct.
Whichever method you opt for, be careful not to accidentally hurt your eye with your long nail!
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Inspect Your Lenses First
Always inspect your contact lenses before putting them in your eyes. Give them a once over to check for rips, chips or jagged edges. If you see any issues, throw the lens away and start over with a new one. Its good to have a backup supply on hand in case something like this happens.
Its a smart idea to contact the manufacturer if most of your new lenses have damage. You can also try and switch up the contacts brand. Talking to your doctor can point you in the right direction.
When To Get In Touch With Your Optician
You should get in touch with your Optician if you are:
- Close to the expiry date of your prescription / due for a contact lens examination
- In need of a copy of your contact lens prescription
- Experiencing a deterioration in the standard of your vision with contact lenses
- Considering changing to a contact lens solution which was not recommended by the person who fitted your contact lenses
If you experience any of the following symptoms / irritations in your eyes please firstly take your contact lenses out of your eyes and secondly get in touch with your Optician as soon as possible:
- Feeling of discomfort
- Excessive watering
- Visual disturbance
If your Optician is not available immediately and the problem is causing your severe disturbance you should consult you GP or go to Accident and Emergency at your local hospital. You can, of course, also call Lenstore.co.uk during our office hours and we will advise you on the best of course of action. We will do our very best to help you.
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Where Does It All Go
Your contacts and packaging are turned into a variety of post-consumer products, such as recycled picnic tables and garden beds, Amy Butler, vice president of global environment, health, safety and sustainability at Bausch Health, said in 2018.
That could make it a win-win-win, for just a little bit of extra work on your part.
IS YOUR CONTACT SUPPLY RUNNING LOW? Find an eye doctor near you to schedule a contact lens exam and fitting.
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If your kids glasses are getting in the way of their soccer game or if theyve lost or broken too many frames to count, you might consider contact lenses. But is it a good idea to give contact lenses to kids? We asked optometrists what parents need to know before making the switch.
Unable To Remove Contacts With Long Nails
Ive now had contacts for over 15 years and have gotten mostly used to touching my eyes on the daily. But there is one thing I was never able to solve how to remove contact lenses when you have long nails.
To be honest I didnt worry about this for a long while. The square and squoval shapes that were popular during my high school years never had any appeal to me.
Fast forward to the present day however and I am in love with the ballerina/coffin nails.
And so I have been facing a dilemma for the past couple of yearshow to get my coveted nails without ripping my cornea off every night?
I practiced with press on nails but always had to end up either cutting them or removing them completely at bedtime. I tried lots of different finger holds but just couldnt get a good grip.
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Prepare Your Nails And Eyes Beforehand
We understand that sometimes you just want to skip ahead and start rocking those long coffin or stiletto nails, with the mindset of Ill figure it out when I get there.
When you first get those long and stylish gel or acrylic nails done at the salon, theres no better feeling! You want to get out there and show the world. Who has time to think about something so trivial as contact lenses when you have brand new nails?
Yes, its true. Some people dont even think ahead to the fact that taking their contacts out will be a challenge, so its a bit of a rude awakening! But weve got you covered.
Youre going to have to make some adjustments to your entire contact-removal routine.
The first thing you want to do is wash your hands more than you usually would.
Its gross to think about, but a lot of gunk can build up underneath those long nails during the day, and you want to give them a complete rinse and with soap and warm water before you bring them anywhere near your face.
Were not talking about a five-second rinse here – you need to wash your hands and nails longer than you probably think is necessary.
Get in between those fingers and do a little bit of preliminary scraping under the nails to get bits of debris out, letting the water from the sink run directly under each nail.
A step-by-step guide from WikiHow recommends that you also do a bit of extra digging and brushing under your long nails to ensure that no additional bits and pieces of dirt are stuck up in there.
How Does The One By One Program Work
Once youve collected your old contacts, blister packs and foil, you can pick one of two recycling paths:
Take the waste to a local eye doctors office. Find a vision practice near you participating in the contact lens recycling program. At this time, drop-off locations arent available in Alaska and Hawaii.
Ship it to TerraCycle. If you go the shipping route, youll place the waste in a sealed cardboard box and then drop off the box at a UPS location or schedule a pickup from your home. Free shipping labels are available.
You dont need to wash the contact-lens waste before you recycle it, but you should be sure the blister packs are free of liquid.
Once received, the contact lenses and blister packs are separated and cleaned, Bausch + Lomb says.
The metal layers of the blister packs are recycled separately, while the contact lenses and plastic blister pack components are melted into plastic that can be remolded to make recycled products.
Fortunately, the program accepts used contact lenses and other contact-lens recyclables from any manufacturer, not just Bausch + Lomb.
For every qualifying shipment weighing at least 2 pounds, Bausch + Lomb will donate $1 per pound to Optometry Giving Sight, a global fundraising initiative that seeks to prevent blindness and impaired vision.
Think of recycling your contact lenses as a win-win with little effort on your part. Your contact lenses and their packaging are recycled, and youre helping programs to prevent blindness.
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Contact Lenses And Long Fingernails
by Dr. Michael Garin | Apr 30, 2021 | Contact Lenses
Long-nail lovers deal with a lot of daily inconveniences that other people just dont get. We need to be extra careful opening boxes, eating with our hands, getting into cars, and even going to the bathroom. It takes a while to get used to having these talons! Its sort of like other fashion sacrifices we make, including high heels and hair extensions. We learn to live with them and its worth it. But one aspect of long nails living often goes undiscussed, and that is the dilemma of dealing with contact lenses.
Wearing glasses is okay now and then, but for those of us who prefer the contact lens and long nail combo, we tend to run into problems. Lets review the best ways to take out contacts with long nails so that you can enjoy the best of both worlds without scratching yourself or going crazy.
A FEW TECHNIQUES TO TRY
Another technique, slightly more advanced, is the rolling method. Heres how it works:
CONTACTS MAY NOT LAST AS LONG
You can wear contact lenses and have long nails there are a lot of precautions to consider so you dont damage your eyes. If push comes to shove, shorten the nails on the index finger and thumb and keep the other nails long.
Risks Of Wearing Ripped Lenses
Torn contacts will not function as well as intact ones. This is because ripping prevents the lens from maintaining the specific curvature needed to match your eye. As a result, it will not have a good fit.
Ripped lenses are also less likely to stay centred on your eye. If they move away from the middle of the eye or move around too much, youll end up with blurred vision.
Most importantly, a torn contact lens is dangerous. Itll have a jagged edge that could scratch your cornea, the front surface of your eye. Not only that, but it could also get trapped beneath your eyelid. Youll likely find this irritating and very difficult to deal with. Just take it out and trash it.
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How To Remove Contact Lenses
Ready to remove your contacts? Lets go!
1. Stand in front of a well-lit mirror, especially in the beginning.
3. Take your non-dominant hand and use your index finger to raise your upper eyelid away from your eye.
4. With your dominant hand, use your middle finger pull down your lower eyelid.
5. With the pads of your index finger and thumb, gently squeeze the lens to pull it down and away from your eye. Dont fold or pinch with more force than necessary.
6. Place the lens into the palm of your other hand.
Youre done! It really is easy to do.
Meet The Contact Lens Specialists
*note gas permeable lens removal instructions are coming soon
You have your contact lenses on, maybe you have worn them a good portion of the day and now it is time to remove them.
The first step is to wash your hands. Just as when you put your lenses on, you want to use a soap that does not have excessive perfumes or moisturizers, such as aloe, in it.
You now have clean hands and are positioned in a clean area with a mirror. If you need a good mirror, you can click here for a good selection
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What Do Parents Need To Know About Giving Kids Contact Lenses
When an optometrist prescribes your child contact lenses, theyll train your child the correct technique for inserting and removing them. Kids need to remember to wash their hands before touching their lenses or their eyes in order to prevent the spread of bacteria, and remember to take their contacts out before bed and insert fresh ones in the morning. While most optometrists would only recommend daily lenses for kids so theres no bacteria from reuse and no messing around with cleaning solution, hygiene is still vitally important. Theres a risk of eye infection if you dont clean your hands properly, or if you over-wear your lenses, says Misener.
Of course, parents can help with some of these daily tasks, but ultimately, the child needs to be confident enough to do it themselves in case, for instance, a lens falls out at school and they have to put in a new one. On that note, Misener suggests, kids should always be carrying an extra pair of lenses in their backpack. Plus, she requires patients to have a pair of glasses for backup at home. Since contacts are only worn during the daytime, kids will need those glasses to get to bed, if they wake up and have to go to the bathroom, or to help them get around first thing in the morning. Its important that any child who needs vision correction have vision correction all the time, says Misener.
Makeup Tips For Contact Lens Wearers
Makeup Brushes by o5com
As a contact lens wearer, you can safely wear eye makeup to complement the beauty of your eyes. To prevent eye makeup from irritating your eyes or damaging your contact lenses, follow these safeguards:
Use cosmetics that are designed specifically for contact lens wearers.
These products are free of nylon and rayon fibers and mica articles that can flake off in your eyes and damage your contact lenses. Theyre water-soluble for easy removal and theyre hypoallergenic, so youre less likely to experience a sensitivity reaction to them.
Wash and dry your hands thoroughly before inserting your contact lenses. Avoid soaps containing oils, fragrances, dyes, and anti-bacterial or anti-fungal agents. These substances can remain on your fingers and contaminate your contact lenses.
Insert your contact lenses before you apply makeup. This prevents makeup on your hands from getting on your hands from getting on your contact lenses and it allows you to see better when applying makeup.
Apply mascara only to the tips of your eyelashes and never use mascara as eyeliner. Apply eyeliner outside your eyelashes, never to the inside rim of your eyelids. This will help prevent the mascara wand from accidentally brushing your eye or contact lens and will help prevent your eye makeup from flaking off into your eyes. Eyeliner on the inside rim of the lids can plug oil glands and lead to infection.
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