If you have no approved contact lens solution or clean case, do not improvise with water, homemade saline, eye drops, or saliva. For a soft disposable lens, the safest practical choice is usually to remove and discard it, then use backup glasses. A replacement lens costs far less than treating an avoidable eye infection.
The Safest Immediate Response
- Wash your hands with soap and water and dry them completely.
- Remove the lens if it is uncomfortable, contaminated, or must come out.
- Discard a daily disposable lens. Do not try to save it for later.
- If a reusable soft lens cannot be placed in its approved fresh disinfecting solution and a clean case, do not create a substitute storage liquid. Discard it and use glasses.
- For a specialty rigid or medically necessary lens, call the fitting practice for product-specific emergency instructions.
Why Water Is Not an Emergency Substitute
Tap water, bottled water, distilled water, and boiled water are not contact lens disinfectants. Water can expose a lens to microorganisms and can change the shape of a soft lens. A homemade salt-and-water mixture is not sterile and cannot replace a tested lens-care system.
Do not place a lens in an empty case either. A soft lens can dry, warp, and become damaged. Rewetting it later does not prove that it is clean, undamaged, or safe to wear.
Why Saline and Rewetting Drops Are Not Enough
Sterile saline may be used for limited rinsing steps when the labeling of a complete care system calls for it, but saline does not disinfect contact lenses. Rewetting drops are intended to lubricate the eye or lens during wear; they are not a storage or disinfection system.
What About Hydrogen Peroxide Systems?
A contact lens product containing hydrogen peroxide can clean and disinfect compatible lenses only when it is used with the special case supplied with the system and allowed to complete the full neutralization time on the label. Never place non-neutralized peroxide in the eye, rinse a lens with it immediately before insertion, or pour it into an ordinary lens case.
If You Have a Case but No Solution
An empty case does not solve the problem. Do not fill it with water, homemade saline, or old solution. Never top off solution left from a previous cycle. If fresh approved disinfecting solution is unavailable, use glasses and replace the lens rather than storing it in an unapproved liquid.
If You Have Solution but No Case
Do not use drinking glasses, bottle caps, or borrowed cases. These containers are not designed to keep lenses separated and disinfected, and a borrowed case may carry deposits or microorganisms. A new factory-sealed lens case is the appropriate replacement.
Build a Small Backup Kit
Keep current glasses, a spare sealed pair of lenses when appropriate, a clean replacement case, and a travel-size bottle of the correct solution in a bag you use regularly. Check expiration and discard dates before travel. Never transfer solution from a large bottle into a smaller unsterile container.
When to Seek Help
Remove lenses and contact an eye-care professional promptly for pain, persistent redness, light sensitivity, discharge, sudden blur, or reduced vision. Do not wear a replacement lens while significant symptoms are present unless a professional has advised that it is safe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I store contacts in distilled or boiled water overnight?
No. Neither option is an approved disinfecting system, and water exposure can increase the risk of contamination and lens damage.
Can I use sterile saline for overnight storage?
Saline does not disinfect lenses. Use only the complete care system approved for the lens and follow its labeling.
Should I keep wearing a lens until I find a case?
Do not extend wear simply to avoid discarding a lens. If the lens needs to come out and proper supplies are unavailable, remove it with clean, dry hands and use backup glasses.