14 Biggest Blunders to avoid while With Your Contact Lenses

There could be complications if you use eye drops that contain medicine on your eyes while you’re wearing contacts. However, not all non-medicated eye drops that you can purchase without a prescription are safe to use if you wear contact lenses.

As Verywell Health explains, there are three basic kinds of over-the-counter eye drops. The first are re-wetting ones which are sometimes recommended by medical professionals to soft contact lens wearers. And if you’re not sure what soft contacts are, they’re flexible lenses, making them more comfortable but less durable than rigid gas-permeable contact lenses (via FDA). While re-wetting drops can help keep soft contacts cleaner when in your eyes, eye drops that either help with dry eye or redness could be problematic if you wear contacts.

If you choose the wrong type of eye drops — and your eyes are extra tired, for instance, or you’re experiencing an allergic reaction or blurry vision — you should check with your doctor (via Verywell Health). Eye drops for relieving eye redness can be even worse since these drops affect the blood vessels in your eyes. If you use them while wearing contacts, the eye drops could create a buildup on your lenses and worsen your red eyes. And this can lead to a cycle where you constantly need more eye drops to soothe the redness in your eyes. (via Verywell Health).

(9) Not rubbing your contacts to clean them

This next mistake might not sound like a mistake at all. While some multipurpose contact lens solutions instruct consumers to rub their lenses to clean them, others are marketed as just the opposite (via Kennedy Eyecare). In other words, these products advertise that just storing your lenses in their solution is enough to clean them. So, does this mean these companies are giving contact lens wearers bad instructions?

The short answer is no. However, as Kennedy Eyecare points out, taking that extra step in your contact lens care routine can make a difference. Think of it this way: When you load a dishwasher, you could either put the dishes in as is or rinse and rub some of the excess food off first. The same concept applies to contact lenses. Because of this, Kennedy Eyecare recommends gently rubbing your contacts into the palm of your hand with either your second or third finger, no matter what type of multipurpose solution you use.

You want to rub your lenses if you’re using a solution that isn’t marketed as a “No Rub” multipurpose solution. Otherwise, you run the risk of developing several health issues that could damage your vision (via WebMD). These include eye infections like keratitis (which affects the cornea), as well as conjunctivitis or pink eye.

(10) Ignoring how cold weather can affect contacts