Do you wear contact lenses – are you truly revolting or a strictly hygiene only? Share with Specsavers – you could win £250 NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

The team at Specsavers would love to all about your habits (good or bad) with your contact lenses.

We all know hygiene and eyes is very important – so do you tend to toe the line and follow instructions to the letter? Or are you a bit {ahem} lax in that department? How about when you were younger – or had different lenses? How do you dispose of disposable lenses? Does your DP wear them and leave them lying around when they should be in the bin?

Specsavers say "Here at Specsavers we like to make is easy for contact lens wearers - wearing contact lenses gives you freedom and convenience. And at Specsavers, when you buy contact lenses you get more than just the lenses. Our all-inclusive package not only gives you some fantastic benefits but is also an easy way to pay for your lenses. We'll give you a pair of glasses from our £45 range or designer frames from just £35, full aftercare, future sight tests as recommended by your optician and we'll deliver your lenses and solutions, at no extra cost."

Share your habits – good and bad - and everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 voucher from here

Please note Specsavers may use your comments - anon of course - on their pages on MN, on their social media or possibly elsewhere - please only post if you're happy with this.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

When I was younger ( a lot younger!), I used to wear gas-permeable hard lenses. I stayed in a friend's house and had forgotten my saline solution and case, so I left the lenses in salty water in two egg cups overnight!

Gas permeable lenses for 30 years. Tend to clean in the morning rather than at night. I clean them with solution then rinse with tap water before using wetting solution. Don't change the soaking solution every day. Rinse in mouth when I get grit in my eyes, wrap in tissue if staying over night without case (lost a few pairs that way after a few drinks....), swim with them in under goggles. New pair every 4 years or so.

Doing a few things wrong there aren't I....

The cost and waste of plastic with disposables would make me stick with GP for as long as possible.

Those who lick, reuse solution, rinse in tap water etc what opticians do you go to? Do they not tell you how to care for your lenses?

Itsbetter - of course they do. It's whether our young/drunk/stupid selves choose to follow that advice 100% of the time.

Just the thought of getting an eye infection through not following the guidance to the letter gives me the heebie-jeebies!

Daily disposables for me; much easier. Having astigmatism means they are kept for occasional use. I can usually manage a few hours before they become very dry and uncomfortable. This usually involves finding a convenient mirror and desperately trying to get them out whilst dizzy with drink! So, I usually don't bother

Oh I see I wuss just wondering if maybe some opticians give vague advice or if people getting them on the internet don't know this stuff at all.

I'm not great to be honest. I do generally wash my hands etc, but I do leave mine in too long. I use monthlies and switch them when the fluid bottle is empty. I put it all in the bin.

When I was 17 I scratched the cornea of my eye when there was a bit of grit in my lens. It was agonising and I've been more careful to make sure there's no foreign bodies on them since.

I wear daily disposables but not so often since having DS - glasses are just easier to shove on in the middle of the night as I'm quite short sighted. I'm prone to getting dry eyes if I've been wearing my lenses for too long

I also used to wear mine swimming but don't now as I know someone who got an horrendous infection by not removing hers.

I do think opticians should drive home just how bad water is for your eyes if you are wearing contact lenses.

I wear daily disposables. I'm absolutely militant about hand washing before putting them in my eyes as I'm scared of infection.

Daily disposables all the way. Usually put in after my shower so my hands are clean. Taken out at night, but not always with clean hands, depends how tired I am.

I used to use monthlies but all the cleaning/storing was just a giant pain in the arse.

Daily disposables here (who can be bothered with all that solution etc). Have worn contacts for years but I always always wash my hands before putting them in or taking them out (not like ex DP who didn't bother with hand washing, and rinsed his lenses under the tap!).

My crime is that I wear my lenses for too long every day - I hate glasses. I have been known to chuck my lenses on the floor by the bed instead of the bin as well...

I use Gas Permeable lenses, and have been wearing them for over 30 years.

When I first had them I was taught to rinse them in tap water, which I did for years because no-one ever told me otherwise, even though it's a huge no-no. I guess I'm lucky I never had any serious problems. I don't use tap water any more, by the way.

I do give them a little clean every night, but usually just with saline, as I'm too lazy to do the full clean every day. I am very conscientious about washing my hands, though.

I'm supposed to do the whole "protein remover" soak weekly, but that happens about every couple of months.

I never discard bottles of solution 28 days after opening (or whatever) - I just use them until they're finished.

Lastly, I have been known to whip out a lens and pop it into my mouth if it has a speck of dust or a hair under it. Naughty, but sorts the problem out, and I'm not alone!!

I've been wearing monthly disposables for about 10 years.

My hygiene with them isn't great but I'm better now than when I was in my twenties and had a bit more of a transient lifestyle. They do at least go in solution every night these days. Hand washing has never been much of an issue as I tend to put them in straight after having a shower in the morning.

I don't clean them at night at all other than putting them in solution as its too much hassle and I've not noticed it makes a difference and it caused too many splits in the lens by accident when I was tired at the end of the day. If they get a bit uncomfortable I maybe give them a bit of a rub in the morning or leave them to soak for a day and wear my glasses instead.

Monthly disposables. Wearing them for 27 years...not the same pair! Take out every night and put in all-in-one solution, although there were a couple, ok, maybe a dozen times in Uni years where they weren't taken out at all! Don't usually wash hands specifically to handle my lenses but usually do it after shower in morning and after loo at night so hands (nearly) always clean. Rarely rub them as found this caused splitting. Use a flat case - hate the cases where you have to put the lens in a cage - often got lens caught when closing the cage. I have used Specsavers monthly program and recently changed, one reason being that I am not convinced that providing one case with 3 months supply of lenses and solutions is particularly hygienic.
Oooh, and I know it's naughty but I do wear them when swimming - I wear goggles though so rarely get pool water in eyes. I did catch a horrible eye infection once upon a time whilst swimming in the sea on hols in Corfu (at least that's what the eye doctor put it down to).

I wear daily disposables. I wear them longer than I should (and longer than I admit to the optician). I usually throw them into the toilet before I go to bed.
DH wears a daily disposable in one eye and often steals mine when he runs out. He has an annoying habit of leaving them lying around the house when he's finished wearing them. He also used to re-use a daily lens for a couple of days at a time, but I think he's given that up.

I wear daily disposables. I use them properly, I don't keep them in longer than necessary and don't wear them every day. I also don't swim in them, I am amazed by the amount of people on holiday that moan about being splashed in the pool because of lenses.

I have been wearing monthly contacts for about 18 years and have been a Specsavers customer for the last 15. It was here on Mumsnet in the last year that I learnt you're not supposed to wear them in the shower or swimming. Perhaps you could ensure your customers are better educated and not assume that just because they already wear lenses they know everything about them.

I wear daily disposables but have worn other soft lenses and gas permeables in the past. I have always been careful with hygiene as I know how delicate the eyes are and have rarely had problems. The only problems I have had have been when gas permeables have popped out of my eyes and when soft lenses have been torn. Luckily this hasn't happened often.

When inserting and removing my lenses I have always used my right hand for my right eye, and my left for my left eye as my nose can get in the way! This is what I was advised to do when I first started wearing contact lenses many years ago.

I wear monthly contact lenses and like some others have said, I'm sometimes not as strict as I should be with washing my hands before touching them, especially when I'm taking them out. I have even let dh take my lenses out before now!

I also sometimes run over a month by a few days and a bottle of solution does last just longer than a month for me, I feel I should probably rinse the lenses and the case out a bit more than I actually do.

Yes, I also keep them in for swimming although know I shouldn't.

I throw them in the bin once I start a new pair although usually keep a used pair as a spare, for emergency use!

Daily disposables for me, although super dry eyes, so can't wear them daily :-(

I used to use gas permeables and did get a bit lax about hygiene, I'd just use tap water to clean and some times sleep in them after a night out. I stopped to dailies many years ago now although I wash my hands to put in I mostly forget when I take them out. I have dry eye syndrome so when they start drying and I haven't got my drops I just take them out wherever I am. I wear glasses much more now as working in an office doesn't work well with my eyes and contacts. Evenings and weekends I switch to lenses, oh and holidays .

I'm a bit of a stickler for hygiene and follow instructions to the letter. I put my daily disposables in the bathroom bin when doing my make-up removal, tooth brushing routine. I was secretly jealous of my less uptight friend who just chucked hers on the carpet at the end of the day but just can't bring myself to do it.

I used to initially wear prescription coloured lenses and because I loved them so much (and the opticians used to only give a couple of months worth for free), I used them longer than the month and even after it started stinging. (Yes I know I shouldn't have done it!) To be honest back then I just wanted them to last long and didn't really think about the effect on my eyes. At one point I had an infection that made my eyes so red. It was really bad. I now never try to go over a month and try to always remember when I first put it in.

That said, I really am bad with hygiene though. Sometmes I don't even change the solution, which is really bad of me. I do try to wash my hands though before I put it in. I tried out dailies recently and I loved them so I'm planning on switching to them next month. I have had several blips with this too (like having them on for more than 24 hours) although in my defense I was abroad and I didn't have access to the rest as I had forgotten to pack an extra pair in my hand luggage.