What are contact lenses? Webster defines a contact lens as a thin lens designed to fit over the cornea and usually worn to correct defects in vision. What does that mean to you? You get to wear lenses against the outer surface of your eye comfortably and partially under your lids so you don't have to wear glasses to achieve clear comfortable vision. You have a cosmetically pleasing look, a wide range of vision, and lenses that do not fog up. You easily play all sports and can perform the same tasks you did with glasses. You are responsible for the cleanliness, storage, and maintenance of very small lenses.
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How are they different from glasses?
The obvious difference is the size and fragility of the lenses. They can be easily lost, torn, dried out, and require more maintenance. |
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Further:
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1. You have to be aware of bacteria and keep your hands and lenses clean.
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2. The lenses must be kept within a case with a solution that cleans, stops mucous build-up, and prevents infection.
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3. You must adhere to a rigid wearing schedule that can have serious eye consequences if not followed, especially with the most common form of soft extended-wear lenses. Overwear can cause a very uncomfortable corneal ulcer requiring 24-hour treatment.
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4. The optical power of your glasses does not match the optical power of your contact lenses, requiring more power if farsighted and less if nearsighted. This is because of simple optics that requires a different computation of power because the contact lenses are closer to the surface of your eye than glasses.
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5. Glasses magnify or minify the objects you view while contact lenses do not. This is very important if you have a significantly different prescription in each eye called anisometropia. |
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How many kinds of contact lenses are available? Many are available for varying uses, but 90% are soft lenses replaced monthly. All bifocal contact lenses are limited in near vision power and all utilize a form of mono - vision that disrupts eye teaming. See below.
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