6 practical tips to start your kid handling Ortho-K contact lenses

To facilitate your kid to handle and clean contact lenses themselves, you could help them build confidence and good practices into their routine.

My son started his Ortho-K treatment two months ago. Initially, I helped him put his contact lenses on in the evening, as well as remove them in the morning. Yesterday marked his first week of successfully taking off his contact lenses by himself. Here are what I have learned and some tips to help the transition and provide you peace of mind.

1. Build their confidence

Holding a mini-plunger and moving it toward the eyes could trigger involuntary blinking;  releasing the mini-plunger at the right time to create suction may take some failed attempts to master. Frustration is common when your kid starts to handle Ortho-K themselves. You will need to help them build their confidence and expectation from the start.

During the initial stage, I asked my son to only focus on what I was doing and imagined that he was the one doing it. I also encouraged him to ask me why I did a certain step in a particular way. Since he will develop his variation of the routine, I explained to him what were the essential steps and the details to watch out for. 

I also, in a step-wise fashion, transitioned the handling of the contact lenses to him gradually. First, set up all of the accessories on the countertop; then cleaned the contact lenses; lastly took off the lenses by himself. He would move on to the next step after mastering the prior step.

2. Develop a routine

Like many, my son and I are clumsy in the morning. However, we are fine if doing routine tasks – even if we are half awake. 

Since it is important to keep good hygiene and handle the contact lenses appropriately, we kept the accessories laid out the same way, the steps the same, and the sequence the same – always the right eye first, then the left eye. We kept the same routine, so even in our half-awake state, we were doing the tasks the same right way.

I asked him to imagine and mock he was doing them himself for two weeks initially, then transition to him doing them progressively – under supervision – as he displayed that he could do them successfully. 

3. Heightened good hygiene

One of my concerns with wearing orthokeratology lenses is the potential risk of eye infections, specifically bacterial keratitis. 

Like most parents, I am overly concerned about my kid’s hygiene practices, even though he does it well most of the time.

For now, instead of only once at the start, I asked him to wash his hands twice. Once at the start and once more just before cleaning the contact lenses in his hands. It is more stringent than what I do for myself – once at the start. However, washing his hands once more before cleaning the contact lenses helps reduce the risk of accidental contamination and is fail-safe in case he forgot to wash his hand at the start.      

4. Avoid using the sink when cleaning the lenses

Another tip that could give you peace of mind is for your kid to use a container on the countertop instead of cleaning the contact lenses over the sink.

As a contact lens wearer, I dropped my lenses in the sink on rare occasions. A fear that I had was that my son’s contact lens accidentally went down the drain – a hotbed for bacteria. If I were lucky and able to retrieve it, I would be concerned about cleaning the lenses properly. If I were not so lucky, that would mean a few hundred US dollars down the drain.  

Cleaning the contact lenses doesn’t lead to much multi-purpose solution used and can be done over a nice-sized container, such as a soup bowl, a lunch meal container, or a small pot. If it fell in the container, no big deal just clean it with the multi-purpose solution thoroughly.   

5. Use a portable standing mirror

Having a portable standing mirror helps my kid see what works for him and makes the process easier.

At home, we have a large mirror on the wall in the bathroom. However, after using it for a week, I bought a portal standing mirror to put on the countertop after seeing that it is not the optimal setup. With the standing mirror, instead of adjusting his position to see better, he could get very close and adjust the standing mirror for the best angle with ease. 

6. Lubricate the eyes

Putting in some artificial tears to lubricate the eyes at the start help make taking off the contact lenses easier and could protect the eyes from abrasion.

When removing the contact lenses in the morning, you will usually find these contact lenses are bound to the eyes. Bound lenses are stuck in place due to mucous adhesion. Some liquid – artificial tear or saline solution – followed by rotating the eyes a few times could help loosen the lenses.

If the contact lenses are removed forcibly, and without some lubricant, it may lead to tearing or ocular abrasion. Most mild abrasions will heal quickly, but some deeper abrasions may lead to an increased risk of infection. Your kid should stop wearing contact lenses until the wound heals. 

Key Takeaway

The Ortho-K treatment could be initiated with you helping your kid handle the contact lenses until they are more familiar. When transiting to them doing it themselves, take the time to build their confidence and make sure they have the good practices down like their second nature.

Here is a video of my son’s routine removing and cleaning his contact lenses.   

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