Problems When Removing Soft Contact Lenses

Soft contact lenses are used by millions of people each day to improve their vision or in some cases just change their eye color. Soft contact lenses can be worn for anywhere from a few hours to a month at a time before they need to be removed. If you wear soft contact lenses, you can potentially run into a few easy-to-fix problems when it comes time to remove the lenses.

Dirty Hands

• Dirty hands can cause you lots of problems when removing contact lenses. Before you start to remove your lenses, clean your hands with warm soapy water and then dry them completely. Debris from unwashed hands, or soap residue from hands that haven't been dried can cause your eyes to become irritated, or damage your contact lenses.

Stuck Contact Lens

• Occasionally soft contact lenses will become stuck to the eye much like a suction cup, making them difficult to remove. If your contact lens appears to be stuck to your eye, gently pinch the center of the contact to release the suction under the lens and remove it safely from your eye.

Torn Contact Lens

• Remove torn soft contact lenses from your eye by looking in the mirror and gently removing each piece of the contact. If the lens is still attached together, try to place your finger on both sides of the contact lens and remove it at once. If the lens has been torn completely in half, look straight forward--so as not to lose one piece of the contact in your eye--and use a finger to gently slide each piece of the lens to the corner of your eye for removal.

Folded Contact Lens

• Remove a contact lens that has become folded over by simply grabbing the raised portion of the lens and removing it. If your contact lens does not have an obvious raised area, place one finger on the lens and gently slide the lens to the corner of your eye to remove it.

Missing Contact Lens

• Remove a contact lens that has become "lost" in your eye by gently lifting your eye lid to locate the missing lens. Due to the construction of the eye, it is impossible to actually permanently "lose" a contact lens within your eye. If you cannot find the contact by lifting your eye lid, try blinking several time rapidly with the eye lid raised, or flushing your eye with water or eye drops to uncover the missing lens.