I have been wearing contacts for some 3 1/2 decades now. (OK. I just stopped. Somehow my eyes have become so much better that I no longer need correction for distance OR for reading. Who knew?) And, over that time, I have become distressed as to how the FDA “protected me” from the purported stupidity of others.

When I first started wearing contacts, I was able to use “permanent” soft lenses. Except in my case, they really weren’t permanent. They fell apart before a year. Which was fine by me- and my ophthalmologist- since it meant they were always going to be the newest prescription and relatively clean.

I also made my own saline solution, after the first week or so of wearing contacts. Because the saline solution they sold in stores was laden with thimerazine. While that made it possible for companies to sell their saline solution over the counter for years at a clip, it meant my eyes would be inflamed, due to my allergies.

So, I bought the salt tablets, mixed them in 100 ml of purified water (remember, I DID have a complete chem lab and production facility at the time), and sterilized the solution myself. And, that solution lasted me about 10 days or so.

But, it wasn’t just saline solution.  I cleaned my contacts every single night with cleansing solution (Bausch & Lomb made the stuff back then). I also used an enzymatic protein cleaner every week (Bausch & Lomb also made these the enzymatic tablets). So, my contacts were clean for each of my daily insertions.

I also boiled my contacts in the plastic case for 30 minutes or so about every two weeks. To insure that recalcitrant protein deposits were excised- and that microbial contamination of the lenses was minimal. (I know what it’s like to lose one’s sight. I wasn’t going to let that happen again due to my stupidity or laziness.) Yes, my ophthalmologist cringed at this last  practice. But, I was willing to buy new contacts if I screwed up the disinfection (boiling) process.

That series of behaviors continued for about two decades. Until the FDA decided that too many folks were unable to mix the salt tablets in water- or maybe they just used tap water. In any event, the FDA must have thought this would stop my practices. It didn’t. I just measured out my own USP sodium chloride and continued to make the sterile saline solution.

But, then about 3 years ago, the FDA decided that “permanent” lenses were too dangerous. Because folks weren’t cleaning them properly. So, everyone had to start using disposable lenses. (Or, the hard plastic ones, which were not compatible with my eyes.) Like this was a real improvement.

Oh, sure, these new contacts were thin. They let oxygen reach your eyes, in so doing you could wear the lenses longer and still have your eyes in relatively good shape. (I solved that problem with the permanent lenses by not wearing my contacts one day a week, giving my eyes a rest and plenty of “air”.)

But, these new types of lenses meant that folks could put their contacts in on Sunday and leave them in for a week. Or, (in my opinion) worse yet- leave them in for a month. And, NEVER clean them. Because no one sells cleansing solution for soft contacts any more.  Yet, I continued to put my (now disposable) contacts in each morning and take them out each night. And, I continued to rinse (no longer able to clean them) every night with sterile saline solution. And, again every morning before I put the contact back on my eyes.

Until this past September, when I realized I could see better before I put my contacts in. And, after my eye exam demonstrated out my vision was now normal, with just a touch of astigmatism. (And, these new disposable contacts don’t correct for astigmatism.)

But, for those of you who do or still wear contacts- please take care of your eyes and follow these practices:

• If you wear your contacts overnight, you set yourself up for  20 to 30X the occurrence of ketatitis. (That’s the microbial infection of your cornea that always scared the bejesus out of me.) So take those contacts out!  At least once a week and wear your glasses instead.
• And, buy a new contact lens case every month- or at least every quarter. It’s not an expensive proposition.   These plastic cases cost less than $ 5 apiece- and you can get 3 in one ‘package’ for less than $ 10.    This also means you need to clean your contact lens case about once a week. (I used to fill mine with hydrogen peroxide [OTC versions only have 2 or 3%], leaving about 4 mm of air space- and then boiling it for less than 5 minutes.) Oh, and NEVER reuse the saline solution after you had your contacts in the case for more than 30 minutes. You can splurge and use new saline solution. It’s only $ 5 to $ 10 for a two month supply.
• Wash your hands with soap and water (please don’t use those wipes. Check out my blog as to why not). Then, once your hands are clean, you can insert your contact lenses in your eye. Or, take them out at night.
• Don’t wear your contacts in the swimming pool. (Especially if you are like me and keep your eyes open underwater- they will come right off your eye and leave you blind.) Because there’s plenty of microbes in that water. (It’s probably a good idea to remove them before showering, too. But I lack the data to make that proclamation.)

I want y’all to be able to read my blog every day!

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