If youve worn a mask during the coronavirus pandemic, you know that contact lenses have one advantage over glasses: They dont fog up as glasses do.

Everyone is wanting to wear their contacts because its so much easier with the masks, said Ashley Brisette, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medicine. They are safe and fine to wear, but just make sure you are washing your hands before and after [use], and not rubbing the eyes at all.

But you do need a current prescription to order more contacts, and you may not be able to visit your eye doctor in person. During the coronavirus pandemic, many routine health checkups are being delayed until it is safer for patients and doctors to interact face-to-face.

Renewing your current contact lens prescription is a better option than wearing your contact lenses for too long, said Sophia Saleem, senior director of teleophthalmology at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.

These days, people might be overwearing their lenses because they dont want to deal with going to the eye doctor, Saleem said. Most ophthalmologists are very in favor of renewing contact lenses online, because it prevents their patients from getting bad infections.

If you want to wear contact lenses for the first time, its better to wait until you can go in person to do a contact lens exam, said Saleem.

When you first get a pair, you have to go in to check what brand is good for you and the fit of the contact lens on your eye, Saleem said. Theres no way you can do that unless you go in to see someone. Contact lens renewal is really renewals. You cant really get a new pair.

So, if you already wear contacts and cant meet up in person, you have several options, depending on your eye health and your reason for getting a renewal:

You can ask your eye doctor to renew your prescription for you.

If you already have a relationship with a doctor, you can call and ask them to renew your previous contact lens prescription. Brisette noted that offices are more lenient with renewing prescriptions right now, given the difficulty with office visits. At our office, if you call in, well just renew if for you for at least three months so that you dont have to come in and get refitted, she said.

An advantage with going to a doctor who has seen you before is that they can access your medical history to explain any vision changes.

They can look back at your old exam, review your history with you, and they know you a little bit better, Saleem said.