These days, life is so fast-moving that we often put health on the backburner. But when it comes to contact lenses, even a minor thing such as forgetting to take them out within the allocated time or taking a nap, could open up a big can of worms.
The thing is: you really don’t have to compromise your busy lifestyle for the sake of wearing contacts. Today’s contact lenses have reached us after a century of innovation and development and their benefits are undoubtable, so with a little bit of planning, you can utilise their full potential.
Whether you’re the type that loves packing the day with plans, making it hard to stick to a lens schedule, or can find yourself surprised by impromptu work trips, making sure you have everything you need to reach for whenever you need it is key to maintaining the quality of your vision.
Preparing is caring
The first and most important thing you can do to integrate good eye hygiene into your active lifestyle is preparing. Get a travel pouch that fits everything you need: solutions, contacts, gels etc. You could do this by decanting your big bottle of solution to smaller, portable vessels or just buying travel pack solutions.
Preparing for the worst might seem daunting but not letting yourself being caught off-guard is a smart way to go about contact lenses: packing eye drops that could cater to various stimuli such as hayfever-caused itchiness, or dryness brought on by heavy air conditioning is a sensible option. Eye drop bottles are small and easy to pack, but individual tear vials are a handy way to maneuver tight spaces.
Switch to dailies?
Using weekly, two-weekly or monthly contact lenses might not make it easy to live your everyday active lifestyle, especially if packing/preparing is not really your thing. Switching to daily disposable contact lenses might be a good idea to bring up with your optician, as they hardly need any maintenance and can be simply thrown away before you go to sleep.
UV exposure: what is it good for?
Well, absolutely nothing (when it comes to your eyes that is). Overexposure to UV rays can lead to cataracts, corneal sunburn and potentially even macular degeneration, so it’s really important to take the right steps to protect your vision from their damage. Making sure you have a pair of glasses with you is just as important as having all your eyecare accessories, as they provide a really high level of UV absorbance, especially when it’s hot.
Modern contact lenses actively protect sensitive parts of the eye against UV-A and UV-B rays. Reputable brands have a variety of UV protective products, but make sure you check the level of protection each model provides. Having said that, a pair of sunglasses gives you a physical barrier that fully covers the eye, giving you the most bulletproof protection.
Off swimming with your contact lenses?
Whether you enjoy a relaxing post-work swim, or you find yourself on a seaside weekend away, your contact lenses can complicate things a little. This is mainly due to the bacterial infections that could find their way behind your lenses: water is difficult to control, especially as you’re concentrating on swimming.
The most effective way to combat water damage is by not wearing your lenses and getting prescription goggles, correcting your vision and protecting you against all harmful bacteria while they’re at it. If that’s not the easy solution you had in mind, you could leave your lenses on and wear regular goggles over them – make sure you find a pair that fits well and doesn’t allow any water through.
