Eye Care and Contact Lens Maintenance Guide for Travellers
Packing clothes for a trip is difficult enough for people with a full wardrobe; what more if they have vision problems? You’re more likely to forget something important if your eyes are dependent on glasses or contact lenses. Don’t get us started on possible problems you’ll face if you prefer wearing contacts during air travel. To avoid any hassle as a traveler, read on to learn some crucial tips for caring for your eyes and lenses while you’re away from home.
How To Travel With Contacts
Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or planning your first trip, there are some things you should know about travelling with contact lenses.
If you plan on wearing contacts during your flight, be sure to pack enough saline solution and lens wipes to clean your lens thoroughly before takeoff and landing. The changes in cabin pressure can cause your eyes to dry out, which can make your lens feel uncomfortable.
To avoid this, try to blink frequently and use artificial tears if needed. It’s also a good idea to take your contacts out during the flight and give your eyes a break. Don’t forget to pack your contact case and an extra pair of glasses, just in case your contacts get lost or damaged.
If you’re travelling to a country with different tap water, be careful about using it to clean your contact lenses or rinse them out. Water from different countries can contain harmful bacteria that can cause infections. Use only sterile saline solution or distilled water to clean your lenses.
When swimming in pools or hot tubs, take your lenses out before getting in the water. Chlorinated water can damage your lenses and irritate your eyes. If you must wear them, be sure to use goggles to protect your eyes.
Tips for Packing Contact Lenses
Of course, the obvious answer is to never forget your travel money or credit cards when you travel. Forgetting a couple of clothes or personal necessities is nothing compared to staying in a strange city or town without even a single coin to spend.
When it comes to your eyes’ needs, though, you should pay more attention to what you’re packing. Remember the following items:
Pack Your Trusted Contact Lens Solution
Putting a full bottle of contact solution in your bag isn’t enough. What if you’ll stay in a remote area for several weeks or months? What if you’ll be forced to stay longer? That’s why before calling it a day after packing your things, make sure you’ve estimated the amount of solution you’re bringing correctly based on the length of your travel.
If you think there’s nothing to worry about if you’re in a city, think again. Some cities or countries may not have the exact same solution you’re using. You can’t just buy any alternative product for it may not be the right one for your eyes. Just imagine having an allergic reaction while you’re alone in a faraway place.
However, take note that if you’re going to bring a large container or multiple bottles of contact lens solutions, you must not put it in your carry-on bag. Liquids exceeding three ounces should be placed in checked luggage. Don’t think about transferring the solution in a smaller bottle for it will only contaminate the liquid.
And, since leakage is a common problem in bringing any type of liquid, protect your belongings by packing the bottle/s in at least one ziplock bag. Be cautious when sealing the bag for it may pop if there’s air inside it. An air-filled bag, pack, bottle, or container tend to burst when exposed to drastic changes in air pressure.
Pack Contact Lenses – Always Have a Fresh Pair
If you have multiple destinations, it’s not far-fetched that you might leave your contact lenses accidentally in one of those locations. Another possible scenario is one of your contacts breaking for some reason.
To reduce the odds of misplaced lenses, you may buy a bigger, more colorful carry on luggage that’s appropriate for the type of contacts you use. That way, you can easily spot your contacts’ container, which is also helpful if you have a spacious bag. No more fumbling around your bag just to find the contact lens case.
Using daily disposable lenses is also highly recommended for travelers. Since you only have to use each lens once, you’re not required to put them in a storage case at all. That’s a must if there’s no clean water in your destination, specifically in remote areas.
The clean water isn’t for your contacts, by the way; it’s for washing your hands before touching the lens. Never wash your lenses and their case with any liquid, except for cleaning solutions.
Remember, always bring an extra pair of lenses. A spare pair is always a great idea, especially if you’ll be gone for an extended period.
Contact Lens Prescription
If you have no problem finding the exact contact lenses you’re using in the city you’re staying in, you’re totally lucky even if you’ll lose a pair. But, most physical stores won’t let you buy new contacts without a prescription.
So, always have a copy when you travel. Don’t hesitate to visit your eye doctor days before you leave for your trip.
If you don’t have your prescription, you can always order extra pairs of contact lenses from ContactLenses4US without prescription.
Learn How To Read Contact Prescription? >
Pair of glasses
Your glasses are incredibly useful for emergencies. What if your contact solution bottle leaks? What if you indeed lose your contacts and learn that you can’t find another pair in your bag?
And, just in case your eyes get irritated out of the blue, you shouldn’t wear your lenses. That’s when you should resort to your glasses.
Helpful Tips for Travel
Firstly, it’s not advisable to wear contacts when you’re inside a plane. High altitudes can easily dry your eyes out, which results in irritation. However, if the flight is only for two hours, feel free to use your contacts. Keep a bottle of moisturizing eye drops within your reach for a more comfortable ride.
Longer than two hours, and you’ll have no choice but to observe some precautions if you really want to wear your contacts. It’s more convenient to wear glasses when you’re thousands of feet off the ground.
Check out these tips you’ll find useful in your future flights exceeding two hours, as well as some guidelines you should follow when you’re finally settled in your destination:
- Remove your contact lenses if you want to sleep, unless you’re using the extended wear type.
- The contact solution you’ll put in your carry-on must be contained in a small bottle to prevent breaking travel security rules.
- Always wash your hands before touching your contacts.
- If your contacts got dirty, clean them only with contact lens solution.
- Don’t use a hand sanitizer before touching a lens because alcohol can ruin the material.
- If you’re going to the pool or beach, we suggest leaving your contacts in your room. Never wear them while swimming or doing activities on sandy shores.
- Consider taking pair of UV blocking contacts.
Can you pack disposable contact lenses in hand luggage?
The short answer is no. Disposable contact lenses, along with other solutions and liquids, must be placed in your checked luggage.This is because of the 3-1-1 rule implemented by the TSA or Transportation Security Administration in all US airports. According to this policy, each passenger is only allowed to bring containers that have a maximum capacity of 3.4 ounces or 100 milliliters. These containers should be placed in a single, clear, quart-sized bag. Each passenger is allowed to bring one bag per item.
Consider switching to daily disposable contact lenses
If you frequently travel, and you plan to wear contacts, consider switching to not reusable lenses. They’re more convenient and easier to pack. You can just throw them away after using them once, so you won’t have to worry about bringing a lens case and solution with you. You need more daily disposables for your whole trip, but bringing those for your trip will be much easier.
Bring your contact solution, extra lenses, prescription, and eyeglasses at all times if you’re a frequent traveler can be tiering. Daily contacts are also better for your eye health, you as a contact lens wearers can therefor avoid eye infection and irritation.
Long haul flights with contacts on
Before a flight, it’s up to you to decide whether to wear contact lenses or not. We suggest, however, that you should wear glasses if your flight takes longer than two hours. If you decide to bring contacts onboard, then we recommend you to keep your rewetting drops near to you.
Plane tend to have a dry air circulating, that can lead to eye discomfort.
Where to Buy Contact Lenses for Travel
Daily disposable lenses are the best options for people travelling a lot. It’s a good thing that here at Contact Lenses 4 Us, we have a wide variety of contacts you can immediately throw away after each use. Some of our excellent products include Soflens Daily DisposableAcuvue® Oasys 1-Day with HydraLuxe™Proclear 1 Day. We don’t require prescriptions so you can literally order right now! We also offer global shipping.
1-DAY ACUVUE TRUEYE (90)
The 1-day Acuvue TruEye is a disposable contact lenses designed for people who want to keep their eyes healthy without the ...
Soflens Daily Disposable Contact lenses (30)
The Softlens Daily Disposable Contact Lenses from Bausch & Lomb is disposable and designed for night time use. It delivers ...
Proclear 1 Day Contacts
Proclear 1 Day Contacts, made by Cooper Vision keeps you from getting that gritty, sandy feeling in your eye. The PC technolo...
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