Is Your Child Ready for Contact Lenses?
If you’re considering whether your child is ready for contact lenses, you will want to talk with your optometrist or ophthalmologist. You should also consider: Is your child mature enough to safely wear contact lenses? He or she should be able to follow these safety tips.
- Always wash hands before cleaning or inserting lenses, and carefully dry hands with a clean, lint-free cloth.
- Rub, rinse, clean and disinfect contact lenses as directed and only with products recommended by your doctor.
- Never expose contact lenses to water or saliva.
- Don’t wear lenses for longer than the prescribed wearing schedule. Don’t sleep in lenses that were not prescribed to be worn this way.
- Never wear someone else’s lenses.
- Always have a prescription for any lenses you wear.
- When playing sports, wear safety goggles or glasses over your lenses.
- In general, always have a pair of back-up glasses handy.
- Never put a contact lens into an eye that is red.
- Don’t ignore eye itching, burning, irritation or redness that could signal potentially dangerous infection. Remove the lenses and contact your doctor.
- Apply cosmetics after inserting lenses and remove your lenses before removing makeup.
Not taking the necessary safety precautions can result in ulcers (sores) of the cornea – the front of the eye that shields is from germs, dust and other harmful material – and even blindness.
Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Recent Comments