If you typically clean and then air dry your contact lens case, researchers say you could risk contamination if you leave it face up.

A study published in the July issue of Optometry & Vision Science says small numbers of microorganisms were found in contact lens cases when they were cleaned and then left in a face up position.

Contamination was even more likely in humid environments when cases were left face up after cleaning.

“On the basis of this limited study, we would recommend contact lens cases be air dried face down,” researchers said.

Based on these recent findings about care of contact lens cases, Contact Lens Headlines editorial advisor Edward Bennett, OD, MSEd, also suggests that wearers can be extra safe if they replace lens cases frequently — as often as monthly and at least every three months.

Bennett is executive director of the Gas Permeable (GP) Lens Institute (Contact Lens Manufacturers Association). He also is co-chief of the Contact Lens Service at the University of Missouri - St. Louis College of Optometry, where he is an associate professor.

Bennett offered two other crucial tips about good hygiene and contact lens cases:

• Use fresh disinfecting solution daily to minimize contamination of the soaking solution.

• Use only contact lens care products (for cases and contacts) recommended by your eye care practitioner.

“The importance of the lens case in successful, healthy contact lens wear cannot be overemphasized,” Bennett said. “Bacteria and other microorganisms in a nutrient-deprived environment, such as a contact lens case, can secrete a kind of slime which can protect the bacteria against certain preservatives.”

Many contact lens wearers fail to replace their lenses on time, don’t remember the name of their contact lens solutions and don’t replace their contact lens storage case when it gets old and dirty.

These are some of the findings of a new study conducted by researchers at the Centre for Contact Lens Research (CCLR) at the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada).

A total of 158 U.S. eye care practitioners assisted in the study by distributing surveys to their contact lens patients. A total of 1,654 of the returned patient surveys were eligible for analysis.

The mean age of contact lens wearers in the study was 34 years (range: 14 to 79 years). The majority wore their lenses on a daily wear basis, but 12 percent reported wearing extended wear contact lenses on a continuous basis.

Among the results of the study:

• 16 percent of participants wore daily disposable contacts; 45 percent wore 2-week replacement silicone hydrogel contact lenses; 39 percent wore 1-month replacement silicone hydrogel lenses.

• 20 percent of participants were unsure of the type of contact lenses they were wearing.

• 52 percent of those wearing 2-week disposable contact lenses, 28 percent of those wearing 1-month replacement lenses and 12 percent of those wearing daily disposable lenses did not replace their contacts on a timely basis.

• The overall rate of patient noncompliance with the replacement frequency recommended by their eye doctor was 38 percent.

• When asked about their lens care regimen, 40 percent could not recall or did not know the name of their contact lens care products.

Generally, contact lens cases should be replaced at least every 3 months, but only 50 percent of the study participants reported doing so. A total of 20 percent reported replacing their case every 6 months, 16 percent said they replaced their case annually and 14 precent aid they had never replaced their lens storage case.

The researchers also found that end-of-day contact lens discomfort was reported by a higher proportion of contact lens wearers (51 percent) who failed to replace their contact lenses on time.

A full report of the study appears in the June 2010 issue of Contact Lens Spectrum.

Biotrue is a brand-new multi-purpose contact lens solution for disinfecting soft contact lenses that manufacturer Bausch & Lomb says is inspired by the biology of the eyes:

• It has hyaluronan, a lubricant found naturally in the eyes and throughout the body.
• Its pH is the same as that of tears.
• The formula keeps useful tear proteins active, so they can continue to fight germs. At the same time, it washes away proteins that are no longer effective.

Every 10 oz. and double-10 oz. package also contains a free contact lens case, to encourage good contact lens hygiene.

Biotrue is not replacing Renu Fresh and Renu Sensitive multi-purpose solutions, which are still available in stores.

Though the Internet is a convenient source of information about practically anything, people should be careful about where they get information about contact lenses on the Web, say two eye doctors.

In an article titled, “Surprising ‘Facts’ Your Patients Learn on the Internet,” published in the April 2010 issue of Optometric Management magazine, optometrists Ernie Bowling, OD, (Gadsden, Ala.) and Gregg E. Russell, OD, (Marietta, Ga.) say that contact lens wearers seeking reliable information about contact lenses and lens care online are likely to encounter plenty of myths, half-truths and misinformation on many websites.

Online forums can be particularly dubious, since people who post messages typically are not eye doctors and often provide information that is erroneous and even dangerous.

For example, Drs. Bowling and Russell found online posts that included recipes for making homemade saline solution for contact lens storage, despite the fact that storing lenses overnight in saline solution greatly increases the risk of contact lens-related eye infections, including a potentially blinding infection called Acanthamoeba keratitis.

For accurate information about contact lenses online, the authors recommend the websites of major contact lens manufacturers.

Other trusted sites for useful and reliable contact lens information mentioned by Drs. Bowling and Russell include:

• AllAboutVision.com
• British Contact Lens Association
• American Optometric Association’s Contact Lens Section
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Contact Lens Section

The authors advised optometrists to remember that the best sources of unbiased, professional information about contact lenses for patients are the eye doctors themselves.