All About Contact Lenses

Similar to glasses, contact lenses can be used to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia. New materials and lens care technologies have made today’s contacts lenses more comfortable, safer, and easier to wear. The vast majority of people requiring vision correction can wear contact lenses without any problems.

Replacement Periods:

Contact lenses are often prescribed with a specific replacement schedule suitable to your specific needs. Planned or Frequent Replacement contacts are disposed of and replaced with a new pair according to a specific schedule.
Based on a complete assessment of your needs, a prescription for planned replacement lenses may include: Daily, Bi-weekly, or Monthly contact lenses.

Why replace lenses frequently?

Almost immediately after they are inserted, contact lenses begin attracting deposits of proteins and lipids. Accumulated deposits, even with routine lens care, begin to erode the performance of your contacts and create a situation that presents a greater risk to your eye health.

Contacts for Presbyopia

As people reach middle age, reading vision becomes more challenging (e.g., people begin to find that their arms are not long enough or that the print on medicine bottles are too small without corrective glasses). Along with reading glasses and bifocals, contact lenses are just another option to improve your near vision.

The most commonly used options for correcting the reading vision with contacts lenses are:
1) Multifocal Contact Lenses: Specially designed contact lenses that have both distance and near portions incorporated into the lens.
2) Monovision: One eye is fitted with a contact lens for distance vision and the other eye is fitted for near vision.

Truths & Misconceptions about contact lenses:

COMMON MISCONCEPTION: Teenagers’ eyes are not “mature enough” for contact lenses.
TRUTH: Most eye care professionals agree that by 13 years old most eyes are developed enough for contact lens wear. In some cases, contact lenses can be worn as early as 11 years old; however, a Vision and Eye Health Evaluation will confirm whether contacts can be worn or not.

COMMON MISCONCEPTION: Contact lenses are hard to care for.
TRUTH: Today’s contact lens care systems are easy and quick to use. In some cases, contact lenses can be ready to wear in just five minutes. Single-use, one-day disposable lenses are comfortable and do not require cleaning. They may be easily interchanged with glasses.

COMMON MISCONCEPTION: Contact lenses are not safe to wear for sports.
TRUTH: Except for water sports, contacts are very safe to wear during sports. Contact lenses cannot be broken or knocked off the face and they provide unobstructed peripheral vision.

Contact-Lenses

Contact lens wear may be difficult if:

– Your eyes are severely irritated by allergies
– You work in an environment with lots of dust and/or chemicals
– You have an overactive thyroid, uncontrolled diabetes, or severe arthritis in your hands
– Your eyes are overly dry due to pregnancy or medications you are taking