4 Contact Lens Tips for Busy Students

As a busy student, you may feel overwhelmed with school work, social obligations, and after-school activities. You may not have a lot of time left to focus on your contact lens wear and eye health. But if you don't take good care of your eyes, you may end up dealing with bigger problems — like infections and scratched corneas. Follow these four contact lens tips for busy students, and keep your eyes safe.

1. Carry your contact case and glasses with you.

If you are out and about and you get something in your eye, it's important to remove your contact lenses so the piece of debris does not scratch your eye. If you do not have a contact case with you, then you might be tempted to leave the debris in your eye for a longer period of time. Always keep a contact case and a pair of glasses with you to school and to other destinations, so you can remove your lenses as needed.

2. Take your contacts out before bed.

When you get home at the end of the day and feel completely exhausted, you may not feel like taking the contacts out of your eyes. But this is not a task to skip! Sleeping in your lenses reduces airflow to your eyes, which can increase your risk of infection. Set an alarm in your phone to remind you to remove your lenses. Keep a contact lens case right next to your bed so you remove your lenses without even getting up. You'll be less tempted to sleep in them if removing them doesn't require you to get up and walk to the bathroom.

3. Don't wear other people's contacts.

If you're running low on lenses and don't have time to get to the eye doctor to buy more, you may consider borrowing a pair from a friend. But this could be dangerous. There are different sizes of contacts, and wearing ones that are too small or too large can cause permanent damage to your eyes. If you run out of contacts, just wear your glasses until you can get more. Order a few extra pairs of contacts so you don't run out.

4. Keep your hands clean.

From desks to doorknobs, you touch a lot of dirty things as a student. You don't want to introduce bacteria from these surfaces to your eyes. Wash your hands well before handing your eyes, even if you just have to itch! Never touch your contacts or lens case without first washing your hands. To learn more about how to maintain your glasses, you can contact optometrists by clicking here.