1. See No Evil
The eyes need to breathe, just like any other body surface. Contact lenses keep the renewing movement of air from reaching the important parts of the eye, which is necessary for good vision. Even extended wear lenses should be removed regularly. While you might wear the same lenses for long periods of time, it is best to take them out every night. Even when closed, the sensitive areas of the eyeball can get enough healing air during sleep.
2. Clean Contact
Always wash your hands before removing contacts. Use a mild soap that doesn't have any cream or oil in it and rinse thoroughly. Dry them with a towel that won't leave lint on your fingers. Clean under your fingernails, especially if they are caked with dirt or if you've handled any spicy foods like hot peppers or vinegar. It's easier and cleaner to take out contacts every night if you keep your fingernails short and smooth.
3. Squeeze Please
With one hand, hold your eyelids open and look up. Place your fingers over the lens and squeeze it together gently to lift it off the eye. Pull it out and place it in the storage solution. Always take out the contacts in the same order. If you can see better with your right eye, take out that lens first every time. It will save you from wondering which storage side of the lens case to drop it in once it's out. The first time you mix up your lenses and put them in the wrong eye, you'll want to establish a system for storing them.
4. Dry Eyes
Taking out contacts can be difficult for people with dry eyes. Then lens can stick and refuse to budge, increasing the odds that you might scratch your eye or the lens if you keep trying to budge it. If you suffer from dry eyes or have been out in the wind for a long time, put a few contact-safe eye drops in before removing the lens. These drops will moisten the whole eye and make the contact slide around much easier.
5. Come Out Wherever You Are
Sometimes when you've been fishing around in your eye for a while or if you rub your eyes too hard when the contacts are still in place, the lens can move and get folded under your eyelid. Don't freak out because even if you have to leave it for awhile; the contact cannot move behind your eye or get lost in there. Often, you just need to relax, hold your lids open and move your eyeball around from side to side and up and down. Even clear contacts have a light tint so they will stand out and you can eventually fish out the errant lens.
