How to Put in Contact Lenses

If you're like millions of other near- and farsighted people in the world, you probably are considering buying contact lenses, if you haven't already. While the benefit of improved vision without glasses usually persuades people to join the happy masses and immigrate to contacts, others are intimidated with the idea of jabbing plastic circles in their eyes. Indeed, putting in contacts is a great tribulation for new users (I spent about half-an-hour jabbing them in my eye with the aid of family members my first day). The following are two different methods for getting these little discs of wonder into your eyes. The first is recommended by most optometrists while the second is the method favored by myself and my parents.

Place-in-Center Method

The "Place-in-Center Method" was taught to me by my optometrist the day I got my contacts. The steps are as follows (I'm a rightie so if you're a lefty you'll have to switch directions for everything):

1. Place the contact lens on your right index finger. It should be upright, standing concavely away from your finger.
2. Using the middle finger of your right hand, pull down your lower eyelid.
3. Using the opposing hand's (i.e. the left one) index finger, pull up on the upper eyelid.
4. Now comes the tricky part: place the contact gently on the pupil of your eye using your pointer finger. Make sure to keep your eyelids open with your two other fingers!

The major drawback of this method is that, because you're placing an object directly on the pupil, you're eye will try to blink and you'll probably go crazy jabbing the lens into your blinking eye.

The Sclera Method

"The Sclera Method" is named after the whites of your eyes. This much simpler method is carried out in the following way (again, this is for a rightie):

1. Place the lens on your finger the same way you did for the "Place-in-Center Method."
2. Again, pull down the lower lid using your index finger.
3. Here's where things can get a little dicey: place the contact lens on the white part of the eye revealed when the lower lid was pulled down.
4. Now, move the inserted lens on top of the iris using your pointer finger. You may have some air bubbles trapped underneath the lens; moving it up should release any.

This method is my preferred choice because it reduces the possibility of blinking the lens out while trying to put it in. When the lens is placed on the sclera it isn't "picked up" by the retina and therefore doesn't cause the blinking reflex. However, you have to deal with air bubbles getting trapped under the lens and, if moving something around in your eye seems gross to you, the first method might be preferable. In either case, have fun with your new 20/20 vision!