Fitting your contact lenses - insertion and removal

New users may find fitting, insertion and removal of contact lenses a little daunting.

After a little practice however, these skills become second nature.

There are several different techniques and you'll undoubtedly get the best lens-specific advice from your eye-care professional.

Having said that each method has the same starting point; washing your hands. Contact lenses will ‘stick' to whichever surface is wetter, so it's important to partially dry your hands (if they are too dry you run the risk of damaging the lens). Choose a clean, well-lit area with a mirror.

Insertion (using right handed people as an example)

• With your head upright and looking straight ahead, pull your upper eyelid back with the index-finger of your left hand.
• Place contact lens on the index-finger of your right hand.
• Pull down your bottom eyelid with the middle-finger of the right hand.
• Carefully place the lens either on the pupil or the lower white of your eye.
• Close the eye to centre the lens and gently massage the closed eyelid to remove any trapped bubbles.

Removal

• With some lenses the first step in removal is to apply a drop or two of lubricating agent to the eye (to moisten the lenses and facilitate removal).
• Look up at the ceiling, and use the index-finger of your left hand to pull your upper eyelid back.
• Pull down your lower eyelid with the middle-finger of your right hand.
• Use your right hand index-finger to slide the contact lens down to the lower white part of the eye (the lens doesn't fit as well here and consequently it's easier to remove, it's also a less sensitive part of the eye).
• Lightly squeeze or pinch the lens between the index-finger and thumb to carefully remove it.

See also Care of your Contact Lense Case - a badly maintained case can lead to infection of the eye

© The Pink Fridge Online Magazine 2008 - Fitting Contact Lenses

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