How to remove contact lenses without pinching?

For many people, the thought of having to put in contact lenses, bringing your fingers into such close contact with your eye, is enough to send shivers down your spine. Once you've mustered up the courage to learn how to put contacts in, you find that the process is quick and easy. But at the end of the day comes the hard part, you somehow have to find a way to take them out again without poking yourself in the eye. What happens if they get stuck in your eye? Not to worry, we've got the guide to teach you how to take contacts out, even if they get stuck in your eye.

Taking out your contact lenses should not be cause for concern - there a few are different techniques that you can learn, some of them safer than others for your lenses and your eye.

While many people are proponents of the pinch method - holding your upper eyelid open with your non-dominant hand while using your dominant hand to hold open your lower eyelid and pinch your lens with the index and thumb of your dominant hand to get ahold of the lens and remove it - this method requires a certain degree of dexterity and confidence in order to avoid damaging the lenses or scratching your eye. Luckily, this is not the only technique to remove your contact lenses, nor the most recommended for people with long fingernails or those who are squeamish at the idea of putting their fingers directly into the eye! Read on to learn how to remove contact lenses without pinching but using the "swipe" method.

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How to remove contact lenses without pinching, step by step

Whenever touching your eyes or your contact lenses, the first step is always to wash them well with soap and water and dry them off with a clean, lint-free towel. Make sure you also have your lens case and contact solution at the ready, and your glasses nearby. Once you've cleaned your hands well, you can start trying to remove your contact lenses, following the steps outlined below:

• Hold your eyelids open by using the middle finger of your non-dominant hand to pull up on the upper lid and the middle finger of your dominant hand to pull down on your lower lid.
• Look upward and use the index finger of your dominant hand to gently touch the bottom of the contact lens. Slowly try to slide the lens off of the cornea and onto the white part of your eye.
• Once you have slid the lens off the cornea, you should be able to feel a slight crinkle in the lens as it rises slightly off the surface of the eye. Using the index finger and thumb of your dominant hand, try to get a hold of the lens by pressing the edges of the lens together.
• At this point, the lens should easily come out of the eye! Now all there is left to do is to place it back in its case.

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Is this the easiest way to remove soft contact lenses?

While it may not be the most direct route when it comes to removing your contact lenses, the swipe method is perhaps one of the safest ways to learn how to remove contact lenses easily. The main advantage to this method is that it does not rely on pinching the eye directly, meaning that there is much less risk of hurting your eyes. For additional help removing your contact lenses, consult your OD.

And there you have it! Now that you know how to remove them, you can buy your contact lenses online.