Contact lens cleaners

There are lots of different contact lens cleaners available, it is important to choose one that suits you and your contact lens type. Newer silicon based contact lenses are more permeable to oxygen, in some cases these lenses will work better with certain cleaning products.

	AOSept is one of the most effective contact lens cleaners. The solution contains microfiltered 3% hydrogen peroxide. The peroxide is automatically neutralised by a platinum coated disc attached to the inside of the contact lens case. AOSept is good for sensitive eyes as no chemicals or preservatives enter the eye. AOSept is the best choice for all lens types including silicon based lenses such as PureVision and O2 Optix.
	Aquify is a chemical based cleaner that was specifically designed for the newer silicon based contact lenses specifically the O2 Optix lenses . It's unique feature is the new anti-bacterial contact lens case, which helps to prevent the build up of germs in the case that can cause eye infections. Aquify is a cost effective solution that is suitable for all contact lens types.
	Opti-free is a chemical based cleaner that is effective against a range of eye infecting organisms including Acanthamoeba. It is ok to use with some silicon based lenses, in particular PureVision lenses.
	Renu solution has recieved some bad press recently as it showed increased corneal staining with the Andrasko Corneal Staining Grid. It is thought that increase corneal staining is correlated to increased discomfort with contact lens wear. If you are using Renu without any issue then there is certainly no reason to change. However if you have comfort issues, particualy with silicon based lenses, you could try one of the other a peroxide cleaner such as AOSept.
	For hard contact lenses we mainly use the Total Care and the Boston contact lens solutions. Some hard lens solutions now claim to be multipurpose for cleaning and storing, though we find it is best to still use a separate cleaner such as MiraFlow.