Which Lens?
Whether you suffer from long sightedness (Hyperopia) or short sightedness (Myopia) and wish to try contacts for the first time, your eye care professional will assist you in making the right choice of lens depending on your lifestyle and your feelings about contact lenses.
The four most common eyesight problems can now be assisted with the use of contact lenses due to developments in the technology available to scan the cornea and the latest advancements in the makeup of the silicone hydrogels used to make lenses. Myopia is commonly treated with the use of a convex minus lens, which is available in most lens types; hyperopia is adjusted with the use of concave plus lens, which is also available in a large range of lens types to suit the individual. There is no longer any reason to remain in glasses if you wish to change to contacts. For example, where sufferers of Astigmatism were often told it was not possible to create a lens that would sit happily on an irregular cornea, the advances in the world of toric lenses have changed all that.
Available as either a hard or soft lens, each eye corrector has a special mechanism that keeps the lens in the same place as your eye moves. This mechanism also stops the lens from revolving on your eye, which was the main bar to having lenses prior to this. For those with a stigmatism this mechanism helps to stabilize the light that hits the retina. Before any intervention in the case of astigmatism, light images focus on two separate points in the eye, causing the resulting image to be warped. Presbyopia is the process of the eyes aging. Commonly affecting the eye’s ability to shift from one field of focus to another, it has in the past warranted separate glasses or bifocal lenses alone to readdress the balance. It is now possible to correct this problem with bifocal contact lenses however, and in this case your eye care specialist will prescribe the lens type most appropriate to your specific prescription.
Ultimately the choice of which lens lies with your lifestyle, such is the range of lenses available these days. There are 30 day extended wear lenses that are disposed of after the month is up saving on cleaning and build up of micro organisms on the lens if you wish to sleep in your lenses or daily disposable options in the soft lens range keeping your eyes fresh every day. These are useful if you are very active as they sit happily on your eye no matter how you move around. These days payment programmes where the lenses are replaced automatically have grown in popularity as the wearer can spread the cost of the lenses over monthly payments.
Online stores such as Vision Direct offer a range of contact lenses that can be delivered direct to your door.