Do you have a trick for putting in and taking out contact lenses?

I recall seeing some tools for it, like small suction things?
That might be a little less scary to use then seeing your fingers come closer and closer to your eyeballs would be for me anyway.

You have to do it repeatedly to get used to it, I also think that many people are afraid to touch their eyes. Before I wore contacts, I thought my eyes were this sensitive jelly that would pop if I touched it.

You could wash your hands and place your finger on your eye now and nothing would happen. You just can’t be afraid to touch your eye. I put my contacts in and take them out like I’m putting on glasses.

Make sure the contact is wet with solution when you put it in: hold open you eyelid with one hand and put the contact on your eye with your index finger. Move it around a little and make sure it’s in the center, it shouldn’t slide or move around. Also make sure it’s not inside out: the edges should point up as opposed to sticking out a little like a bowl.

To take them out just gently pinch the contact like your picking up a piece of paper.

Edit: Pinch with the surface of your finger tips, not your nails I meant.

I didn’t actually touch my eye when I put mine in. I would put the lens on my index finger and then use my middle fingers to pull down lower lid and the upper lid then I tipped the lens into my eye.

To get them out I lifted up my upper lid with my middle finger and my lower lid with the middle finger of my other hand and then I used my thumb and index finger to pinch the lens out. With practise you hit nothing but lens.

It killed me until my cousin taught me how to reach over my head to lift up my eyelid instead of coming at it from below. Made it so I could finally get my eyelid up enough to let the lens in.

When I first got contacts I used a two handed method and it really worked well for me. I reached over my head with the right hand to hold the left eye open then popped the lens in with my left hand and vice versa for the other side. After doing it this way for awhile, I am now able to do it with one hand.

Yup, I do exactly what @papayalily and @SuperMouse do. Just make sure to keep that eyelid up! Also, make sure you don’t put the lenses in upside down, they should make a bowl shape without a rim. I put them in the wrong way once and was wondering why my eyes were irritated the whole time

@global_nomad I wore them backwards my entire first day wearing contacts. “You’ll know” “You can’t miss” said my doctor. LIAR!!!

@SuperMouse is the winner. Less than 5 minutes for both eyes.

@tinyfaery Yeah, as I was typing, I couldn’t think of how to describe it. @SuperMouse Did a great job even without YouTube.

Good luck!!

I wear rigid gas permeable contact lenses. To pop a lens out I just pull the side of my eye back with one finger and put my other cupped hand below that eye and blink. The contact just falls out into my hand. Then I do the same with the other. To put it in I squirt a little lens solution onto the contact and then, holding my lid up with one finger, put the lens in. Piece of cake.

yes, the one handed method is easiest. i agree practice makes perfect and the main thing is to be sure you put them in right, not inside out. make sure your fingers are wet. hold up lens to light, to make sure lens is not inside out, and also to inspect to make sure there are no rips or tears. make sure all surfaces (sink) are clean. also, when i come out of shower, and i dry my hair with towel, i rinse hand off before touching contacts because there may be lint on hand from towel.

i don’t use a mirror, i pull down the skin under my eye, look upward, pat the lens onto my eye and done. to take out, pull down skin and pinch. also, before closing case, just do a double check to make sure both lenses are in there, and not hanging out or fell onto sink or something by accident.

i have been wearing contacts since i was 18, and i am now 44, and i have had almost every possible issue occur with them. i remember back in the day, when i was 18, which was like 1984, the cleaners, the methods to clean and the lenses themselves were so much different. i used to hang out in bars a lot, and being tired and the bars being smoky had such a negative effect on lenses. and then, a pair lasted like one year, so it was a big deal to try not to rip them. now they’re so disposable it’s great.

@AstroChuck why do you prefer the rigid type? I thought everyone days wore soft lens.

I also pull the lower lid down to pop them in- wet fingers, and I just pinch them out, also wet fingers.

@rooeytoo- Most opthamologists prefer gas permeable lenses. I’ve been wearing rigid gas permeable lenses for almost 30 years and never had a problem with them. Plus, unlike soft lenses, they last for years. They let your eyes breath so they’re better for your eyes. I love ‘em.

Thanks Chuckie, I keep thinking I should try them again but I am no longer just near sighted, now I need magnification for close up also, do you and do your contacts fix that or must you wear specs on top?

I am nearsighted and have astigmatism as well.

I find it easier to put in and take out my contact lenses in a dimly lit room with a mirror. I need a mirror so I have something to focus on. To take out my contacts, I just slide them to the side and then down. Likewise putting them in, I turn side on to the mirror while watching myself, then put the contacts in beside my iris. Then I close my eyes and it goes where it’s supposed to.