How to Insert or Remove Your Contact Lens

Most contact lens wearers laughingly remember struggling in front of a mirror the first time they tried to insert or remove their lenses. As they soon learned inserting contact lenses follows the old saying - with practice comes perfect.

For everyone from first time contact lens wearer to experienced contact users here are a few helpful tips to show you how to properly insert and remove your contact lenses:

Checking if your soft or disposable contact lens is right side out.

___________ Correct

__________ Incorrect

Inserting Your Lenses

Make sure that your fingers are clean and dry. (Dry fingers facilitate handling as soft contact lenses tend to stick to wet fingers).
Remove your lens from the storage case.
It is a good idea to get in the habit of always working with the same lens first the right or left in order to avoid mix-ups.
Rinse your lens with the solution recommended by your eye care practitioner to remove all traces of debris.
Place the lens on the tip of your index finger.
Using the middle finger of your other hand pull and hold your upper lid so that you cannot blink.
Pull down your lower eyelid using the middle finger of your inserting hand.
Look up and place the lens gently on the lower white part of your eye.
Slowly release your eyelid and close your eye for a moment.
Blink several times to centre the lens on your eye.
Sometimes small dust particles trapped behind the lens during its placement can cause discomfort. To remove dust slide the lens off and then back onto the front of your eye.
Insert the other lens following the same procedure.

Removing Your Lenses

Wash and dry your hands.
Make sure that your lens is centered correctly on your eye.
Looking up pull down your lower eyelid with the middle finger of your inserting hand.
Bring your index finger close to your eye until you touch the lower edge of the lens.
Slide the lens down to the lower white part of your eye.
Gently squeeze the lens between your thumb and index finger and remove it from your eye.
Follow the lens care procedures recommended by your eye care practitioner.
Remove the other lens and follow the same procedure.