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Long term storage for costume contact lenses?

Gabriel_PittGabriel_Pitt (effective against Russian warships)Registered User regular
edited July 2012 in Help / Advice Forum
So I picked up a pair of costume contacts for a costume the other weekend, and now that the weekend is over, I'm not sure how to store them until the next time I need them (I've never worn regular contacts before, and although I understand how you keep contacts in general, I'm asking about what to do for lenses you actually only take out a few times in a given year).

Any suggestions?

Gabriel_Pitt on

Posts

  • NotYouNotYou Registered User regular
    I'm not sure contacts really last that long after you've opened the package. You might want to carefully read the instructions. I've heard an optometrist say that you'd just left contacts sitting in a contact lens case for a couple months without using them you might as well just throw them out and move on to the next pair. Without a perfectly air tight seal I think bacteria can grow in there and then that'd fuck your eyes right up.

  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    There IS storage solution for contacts, as well as cleaning solution you can use to keep them from messing up your eyes. What NotYou said is entirely true for disposables, since they're too fragile to really clean properly. It's been a long time since I wore long-term contacts, though, so I would recommend you call a local opthamologist's office and ask. You probably won't need to talk to an eye doctor or anything.. just ask about the best way to store what you've got.

    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • NotYouNotYou Registered User regular
    ceres wrote: »
    There IS storage solution for contacts, as well as cleaning solution you can use to keep them from messing up your eyes. What NotYou said is entirely true for disposables, since they're too fragile to really clean properly. It's been a long time since I wore long-term contacts, though, so I would recommend you call a local opthamologist's office and ask. You probably won't need to talk to an eye doctor or anything.. just ask about the best way to store what you've got.

    Well, even non disposables are usually for just 1 month, right? I don't think they really make many of those hard lenses that you never replace anymore...

    Calling someone and asking would be advisable.

  • OrogogusOrogogus San DiegoRegistered User regular
    edited July 2012
    People generally wear semi-rigid gas permeables instead of actual hard contacts nowadays, but you generally don't have to replace semi-rigids either. I think I've been wearing my current pair for 5 or 6 years now.

    I was told by my eye doctor to store them by washing them, letting them dry, and then storing them dry in a case (since the solution will just dry out and cake on the lenses). I've done this and put them back on after 3-4 years of storage if I lose a lens, wearing them for a month or two until I get a new pair.

    I don't feel like bacteria are a real concern, at least not any more than you would have by wearing them, either. But you would wash them and soak them overnight before putting them on.

    Wouldn't hurt to call and ask, in any case.

    Orogogus on
  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    The do indeed still make them! There are also monthly, bi-weekly, weekly, and daily disposable soft contacts. I use dailies. They also do gas-perms and long-term soft contacts, which is what I wore when I was younger.

    Anyway, like I was saying, costume contacts are most likely long-term soft contacts, which means you can clean and store them safely. You just need to get the right solutions, and you'll probably need to make sure you check up on them every so often to replace the storage solution.

    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • CabezoneCabezone Registered User regular
    Contact the manufacturer and find out what they recommend.

  • PelPel Registered User regular
    I would say the most important thing is sterility. I would be very concerned I were growing a culture and then sticking it in my eye. Be sure that whatever storage container you use (per manufacturer, I guess), is freshly sterilized and that you wash your lenses thoroughly before storage and again before putting them on again. Eye infections are a bloody nightmare and a half.

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