Today’s guest blog comes from our friends at Bausch + Lomb: Dr. Michael Pier, Director of Professional Relations.
After years as a practicing optometrist, I thought I had heard everything when it came to patients and the wacky things they would do with their contact lenses. However, even I was surprised to hear about the results of a recent study conducted by the company I work for, Bausch+Lomb, which found that one in five people confessed to using “strange solutions,” such as beer, baby oil, Coke, butter, water and saliva to rinse and store their contacts.
From the study results, it seems some contact lens wearers are using saliva and tap water as a substitute for a multi-purpose solution. While many may think saliva and tap water are harmless, the truth is that these liquids should never come near your eyes! The average adult mouth contains 500 to 650 different types of bacteria, and both tap and distilled water may contain micro-organisms which can cause irreversible damage to the eye.
For those who wear contact lenses, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to take proper care of your contact lenses. Listen to the advice your eyecare professional shares about which multi-purpose solution you should be using to clean, disinfect, and store your lenses. Today, multi-purpose solutions come in convenient, two-ounce sample sizes that easily fit in a purse, gym bag, or office drawer so you can always have proper care at your fingertips, reducing the need to resort to unhealthy options. To my fellow eyecare professionals, make sure to discuss lens care (including multi-purpose solutions) with your patients, and encourage them to keep a sample size of solution nearby so they don’t have to turn to strange solutions.
For more about this study, please visit www.bausch.com. In the meantime, please take care of your eyes!
