I first heard about this multipurpose solution from Say Artillero’s contact lens video and was amazed because it only costs 80 pesos. I was pleasantly surprised to see it being sold in Verona Optical Shop in a mall near me, so I bought a small bottle for testing. It cost me only P30 for a 35-mL bottle! There were no irritations or other adverse reactions so when I ran out of Sauflon multipurpose solution, I immediately got a big, 360-mL bottle of New Look for only P80. Wow! It comes in a box and contains a ziplock bag with a sanitized lens case inside.
The only thing I don’t like about the big bottle is that it has a pop-up cap so there will be times when your fingers will come in contact with the nozzle accidentally. As you know, you’re not supposed to touch the nozzle to anything to prevent contamination. So I’m extra careful when I take off the cap.
A NOTE ON LENS CASES
I don’t know how much optical shops in malls sell lens cases for, but you can find a few cute ones in Landmark Trinoma. There are cupcake-shaped ones and others that come in travel cases with a plunger and a tweezer. I bought the latter for around P35. They also sell basic, transparent cases with multicolored caps for only around P15. Please remember that like toothbrushes, lens cases must be replaced every 3 months. Before using a brand new case, I soak them in hot, boiled water for around 20 minutes, rinse them with solution, wipe them down with a clean piece of tissue, then let them air-dry upside down on a clean towel. Each time I take my contacts from the case, I throw away the solution in it, rub the chambers and the lids with solution to inhibit the proliferation of biofilm, rinse with solution, wipe with tissue, then air-dry upside down on a clean towel before putting the case into my bag.
AFTER 5 MONTHS OF WEARING CONTACTS
I don’t wear my contacts everyday; I only wear them when I’m going out somewhere. In school, I alternate them with glasses. When I was new to wearing contacts, I could only wear them for a few hours. I gradually increased wear time so now I can wear them for more than 12 hours (not that I would recommend that!). Once I wore them for perhaps about 20 hours. Sometimes I can wear them for about 17 hours with no discomfort, but there are days when I can’t wait to get home so I could take them off. Contacts are particularly irritating when I did not get enough sleep the night before.
I am in awe of people who can put on and take off their contacts without a mirror because I still can’t do that. Putting my contacts on is naturally much easier now for me, but it still hasn’t become an automatic process. Taking them off, on the other hand, is really easy.
My contacts can be worn for one year, but I’m thinking of disposing of them next month and getting new ones. The reason is that the longer you use your contacts, the “dirtier” they become despite regular and industrious cleaning because of the accumulation of deposits. That’s why they say disposable dailies are the best; there is less risk of infection.
ON THE RUB AND RINSE METHOD
This study has demonstrated that the rub and rinse method, compared to the no-rub and rinse-only methods, is the best way to reduce the number of microorganisms (and most probably also protein and lipid deposits) on your contacts. Think of it this way: when you take a shower, you don’t just soak in the bathtub or splash yourself with soapy water and call yourself clean, right? You rub your skin with soap then rinse thoroughly with water. It’s the same thing with contacts. I’ve seen a lot of women put contacts straight from the case into their eyes without rinsing, then put them straight back into the case without cleaning, and I can’t help but think “infection! acanthamoeba! protein deposits! corneal scratches!”
So exert effort into cleaning your contacts properly, okay? Or get daily disposables so you won’t have to be bothered with the whole (admittedly tedious) process of cleaning.
Ah, it’s really difficult to have myopia.
Stretches of Tedium 