Q1: Is it still safe to wear contact lenses?
There is a lot of misinformation around contact lenses and coronavirus and we would like to reassure you that wearing contact lenses is safe. However, before putting your lenses in, before taking your lenses out, it is very important that you wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water and ideally you would dry them with a clean paper towel.
Q2: Should I switch from monthly contacts to dailies?
Irrespective of whether you are wearing monthly or daily disposable contact lenses, you are normally still putting them in and out once a day. So, in terms of how often you’re touching your face, there isn’t really any difference. We think what’s important is that before you handle any contact lens, you wash your hands thoroughly first of all. If you are wearing monthly lenses which are required to be stored overnight, just make sure you’re doing exactly what your optician told you to do in terms of storing and disinfecting those lenses.
Q3: Is it okay to use hand sanitizer when putting my lenses in?
We would always advice you to wash your hands using soap and water. However, if that option is not available then on those rare occasions, you could use a sanitizer. The concerns with hand sanitizer are that most of them contain alcohol and if you get that alcohol onto your contact lens and put it into your eye it’s going to cause irritation. So, you need to make sure either that all of the hand sanitizer is rubbed thoroughly or you might even need to clean your finger with a clean, dry cloth before putting the lens in.
Q4: Should I wear surgical gloves when touching my lenses? Face
As long as you’re washing your hands thoroughly with soap and water, there’s no need to wear surgical gloves when you are putting in your contact lenses. If anything, putting in a pair of contact lenses with surgical gloves on could be quite tricky.
Q5: Will I need to change my contact lens cleaning case more because of coronavirus?
We advise that you replace your contact lens case at least every month. In the morning when you put your lenses in, what you should do is first of all discard all the solution in the case. Make sure it’s completely empty, rinse it out with some fresh solution. Then just turn it over and leave it upside down to dry, to air dry on a piece of clean tissue paper.
Q6: Should I stop using my comfort/rewetting drops?
If you have been advised to use comfort/rewetting drops, either because you suffer from dry eyes or just to make your lenses more comfortable, then the advice would be that you should continue to use them. If you stopped using them, chances are your eyes are going to feel less comfortable and you are probably going to rub/touch them more than you would have done anyway. However, before you put those comfort/rewetting drops in, it is important that you do wash your hands thoroughly just to reduce the risk of any infection.
