For those with vision problems, eyeglasses may not always be the most desirable solution. Glasses can fog easily, become dirty or water spotted, fall off in the middle of a task, or break. Contacts can be a much more convenient and aesthetically pleasing way to correct your vision, but many people have a phobia about inserting them. Try a few of these tricks to get over your fear of inserting contact lenses.

Dry Run

A tactic that works well for many novice contact-wearers is to practice touching their eyes for several days in a row before trying to actually insert lenses. Wash and dry your hands thoroughly. Try to use your clean fingers to gently touch your upper and lower eyelids, your eyelashes, and then finally the whites of your eyes repeatedly. After a few days of this you will have started to desensitized your eyes to objects in and near them. Inserting contacts will be much easier when you’ve proved to your eyes (and brain!) that there is nothing to fear.

Practice Your Moves

Blinking can often interrupt the contact application process. Practice not blinking by using your non-dominant hand (i.e. your left, if you are right-handed) to assist. Place your pointer finger on the upper eyelid, and the side of your thumb on the lower eyelid to gently hold open your eye. This will help you avoid blinking midstream. You may need to experiment with different positions for your helper hand to become comfortable with this approach prior to putting in the contacts.

Look Away

The best tactic for inserting contacts is to not look at the finger that is approaching your eye. Instead, look into a mirror and manage the application from the mirror’s image. Get as close as you need to and focus on the image in the mirror who happens to be putting in a contact lens. As the finger is ready to insert the lens, look up slightly and apply the lens to the white part of your eye. Gently slide the lens up into the correct position. Managing from the mirror’s perspective takes some of the emotion out of the process.

Wearing contact lenses can be far more comfortable and convenient than eyeglasses. Be persistent, breathe, and keep practicing. Once you have had some success, the process will become increasingly easier and you’ll wonder why you ever wore glasses!