Any contact lenses wearers?

[herewegoagain432]

I’m new to wearing contact lenses, and my optician advised me to wash my hands and then dry them with a LINT-FREE towel before handling my lenses.
He really stressed the importance of not getting any tap water on the lenses from my fingers.
What lint-free towel do you use? Or do you use paper towels instead? I’d be grateful for any recommendations!! Thanks xx

I just dry my hands as normal on a towel. As long as it’s not mega fluffy I’m sure you’ll be fine. On the odd times I’ve got a bit of fluff in my eye, you’ll know about it!! Just rinse it off with solution and start again.
I personally wouldn’t faff with buying paper towels for at home.

I’ve never had this advice and have been wearing contact lenses for many many years. Firstly hard, now soft. No fussing and no mention of tap water on my fingers.
i just dry my hands on a normal towel, no problems.

I've used contact lenses for years but have always just used standard hand towels for drying my hands before handling the lenses. I've never experienced any issues. To be honest, I've never had an optician ask me anything about the hand towels I use. Also they have never recommended using paper towels. I use daily disposable lenses if that makes any difference.

I just use a normal towel. I have been wearing lenses for over 25 years. Getting tap water on lenses can lead to a bacteria that essentially eat your eye, it’s very rare but can happen and isn’t curable. My husband didn’t know about letting his case air dry and he had had lenses longer than I have,

I just dry my hands on my normal towel. Never had a problem.

Good to know. That’s fine then

Oh gosh ok

How to dry my hands is not something I have worried about in 34 years of wearing contacts. I have never had any problems.

I've worn contacts for over 25 years and never heard this before. I guess it makes sense you don't want fluff in your eyes, but I've never had an issue using a regular towel.

The no tap water yes they stress this every time especially in more recent years (and no showering/washing my face or hair with them in in case any drops run into the eyes).

Tbh my optician said he had never seen it in his 30 year career but it has the tiniest chance of happening. I have worn my lenses in the shower and pool etc so I have taken risks.

I’ve never washed my hands before taking them out - nor dried them on anything in particular. I’ve stuck my fingers in my eyes to remove them, drunkenly, over many years.

don’t be ridiculous. How do you think we’re all not blinded

Another 25+ yr wearer.
Standard towel to dry hands, never use tap water as 'temp' solution, but otherwise crack on with normal life.
I shower, swim etc wearing them

I’ve swum, showered, done all manner of of things in my contacts. Sure, something rare and awful could happen. But that can be said of any part of life.

Of course, I'm just saying what they say to me on my two yearly check ups. I certainly wasn't careful during my twenties etc and nothing happened. It's just personal risk assessment at this point.

I’ve worn contacts for over 30 years. I’ve done all sorts of things you shouldn’t do too!

But not washing your hands before taking them out / putting them in is really crazy. You need to really observe proper hygiene, the risk of a nasty eye infection is not worth it. In a serious situation you may be unable to continue wearing lenses, or worse again, cause permanent damage.

Um ok. It’s been 35 yrs of literally doing this every day and nothing has happened but I’ll heed your urgent warning.

I've worn contact lenses for years and have never been advised to use a lint-free towel. I have highly-unfashionable RGP lenses. My morning routine is wash hands, rub with cleaning solution, wash under tap water, and then place saline solution on the lenses before putting them in.

I use soft lenses for swimming and long-haul flights, but generally it's RGPs all the way because they offer sharper vision, are easier to handle, and there is less risk of bacterial infection. (The horror stories of people almost losing their sight through infection usually involve soft lenses.)

No need to be snippy! Putting contacts in / taking them out with unwashed hands is really poor hygiene. I assume you wash your hands after the bathroom or before eating? Transferring bacteria to your eye is easily done if you are handling your contacts without washing your hands.

Just because nothing has happened doesn’t mean it’s not a problematic choice to do this - if something does happen, your eyes are pretty important & the effects may be permanent.

I also noted that I had done plenty of daft things over the years including sleeping in my lenses, leaving them dry out (and still wearing them) but the hand washing is a non-negotiable, the same way it is for other occasions I wash my hands.

Yawn

@Completeme nighty-night so if you’re tired. (As well as rude).

Another unfashionable GP lens wearer. 47 years. I wash my hands and always soak them overnight in the proper solution. But I also swim and shower in them and, horror of horrors, pop them out and lick them clean if I'm out and about and there's something in my eye. Never had a problem.

Lick them???

Yup. Well, put the offending one in my mouth for a few seconds so the bit of fluff or dust gets washed off. Pop back in.

Wow, never done that! I wore contacts for many years, first the awful hard ones, not very comfortable, and easily lost, and then the semi-permeable, which were much better. I always refused the idea of the soft ones, because I didn't like the idea of no tap-water; what to do in an emergency? I went back to glasses when I got older, cos I CBA, but now fortunately had had the cataracts zapped. If only I could have had it forty years ago!

Maybe I'm playing Russian roulette but it's been fine for the last 47 years so I can't say I'm going to start fretting about it now.