#149: How to Wear Contacts when you Have Spring Allergies

Next week is the official start of Spring. Woohoo!

I couldn't wait for this day to get here.  As a dry eye sufferer myself, I have a harder time dealing with artificial heat and that lack of moisture in the air than I do with pollen.

However, if you're an allergy sufferer, you may be hiding inside today. I want to go over three ways to help you wear your contact lenses during the spring season. The three ways to continue wearing contact lenses even though it's allergy season are: prevent, cleanse and dispose.

No. 1) Prevent

Prevent the pollen from getting in your eyes. You could do this as simply as wearing sunglasses.  This would mean that any time you're outdoors, you wear sunglasses.  Utilizing a style with side shields would prevent wind, pollen, and dust from getting into your eyes.  Then, the pollen would not get directly onto your contact lenses.

You could also use some preservative-free artificial tears to rinse the pollen off of your contact lenses while you're wearing them.  The less pollen you have stuck to your contact lenses, then the less pollen there is irritating your already irritated eyes. 

No. 2) Cleanse

Clean your contact lenses thoroughly. When you're using a multi-purpose contact lens cleansing system, you need to take the contact lenses out of your eyes rub them, rinse them, and then put them in the case.

It is very important to rub and rinse the lenses before you put the contact lenses in the case.  If you don't rub and rinse the lenses prior to storing the lenses, then you'll get the pollen in your case.  And then, tomorrow you're putting the contacts back in the same case of maybe getting pollen all over them.

Always rub and rinse your lenses at night before you store them, not in the morning before you put them in your eyes.  Also, you must dispose of these cases once a month.

The second option is to use a hydrogen peroxide-based system, called Clear Care.  This system will pull the pollen, dirt, dust, and debris off of your contact lenses as the hydrogen peroxide changes to water through the chemical reaction. This system cleanses your contact lenses even better than using the multi-purposes solution.

If you're using a hydrogen peroxide-based cleansing system, it is very important for you to follow the steps to clean the lenses precisely. Please check the instructions that come with the product, or watch this video, before using this style of cleanser.

No. 3) Dispose

Dispose of your contact lenses. Every contact lens has an FDA recommendation of when to dispose of it.  Most of today's lenses are disposable at a rate of once a day, every two weeks,  or once a month. Those are the most common disposable schedules on the market today.

Also many lens prescriptions are available in a daily disposable contact lens.  Whether you have an astigmatism or you wear a multifocal, there may be a daily disposable option for you. The market has gotten much more broad as far as the prescriptions that are available in a daily modality.

If you cannot wear a daily disposable every day, consider just using them during the allergy season.  This way you are using the lenses and not adding more pollen into your own eyes.

CONCLUSION

So there you have it, the tips for wearing contact lenses during the spring season are prevent the pollen from getting on the lens in the first place.  The next step is to cleanse the pollen off every day.  And, finally, dispose of your contact lenses on schedule.

Also, if you feel like you need to treat your eyes for allergies, don't hesitate to reach out to your eye care provider for treatment.  You can utilize something over the counter.  Check out this blog.

Finally, don't forget to keep your eyes feeling better with artificial tears.  If you'd like to check out my guide to artificial tears, download it here.