Are Contact Lenses Right for Me?

There is no one contact lens that is right for everyone.  And not everyone is going to enjoy perfect vision with contact lenses.   But if you are an appropriate candidate for contacts, you may enjoy several advantages over wearing glasses.  The most obvious advantage of contact lenses is the ability to see without the weight of glasses on the nose and behind the ears. 

Cosmetically speaking, contact lenses allow a person to see clearly without altering their appearance.  Some people with very strong prescriptions notice better peripheral vision and less distortion when wearing contact lenses.  In addition, glasses tend to magnify or minify images, where contact lenses have less of a size altering effect.  Active people sometimes find glasses a nuisance.  Wearing contacts allows a person to be active without the worry of their glasses being steamed up, knocked off, or broken.  On the other hand, contact lenses must be worn responsibly.  

Drs. Newman, Blackstock, & Associates do not recommend sleeping in contact lenses.  Patients who sleep in their lenses are more likely to develop eye infections and ulcers of the cornea that may be sight threatening. If a patient insists on sleeping in contact lenses, you will be fit in the healthiest lenses approved by the FDA. We will continue to recommended lens removal at least 1x per week.

In the past, people with special needs were unable to wear contact lenses.  Now, there is a contact lens for almost anyone.  People with astigmatism, athletes, people with mild dry eye, and people who have had cataract surgery can wear contact lenses.  Even people who wear bifocals or reading glasses may be able to switch to bifocal contact lenses.



Contact lenses are made of different material and depending on your prescription and wearing habits, different materials may be recommended by one of our doctors.

Hard Lenses or PMMA: Hard contacts are made of PMMA (polymethylmetaacrylate), a durable, rigid material that does not transmit any oxygen to the cornea. Thus any oxygen that the cornea receives comes mainly from the tears that circulate under the HCL. Due to the low amount of oxygen that the cornea receives, HCLs often can cause corneal edema and other changes to the structure of the cornea.
Since the advent of GPCLs, HCls are now used infrequently, and require a very precise fitting relationship with the cornea in order to reduce the possibilities of eye health problems.

Gas Permeable (GP) or rigid GP: Gas permeable contact lenses are most often prescribed to patients with astigmatism. The lenses may, however, be prescribed for spherical patients. These lenses are made of a semi-rigid, silicon based plastic that allows oxygen to pass through the lens and into the cornea. The gas permeable contact lens is more difficult to adjust to due to the rigidity of the lens. It takes about three weeks of wear to become comfortable with the feel of the lens on the eye.

Soft Lenses: This lens, similar to a wet sponge, contains water, varying, upon the type of lens, from 38% to more than 70%. This is exactly the secret of soft contact lenses and their oxygen permeability which is vital for adequate corneal health. The cornea, in fact, is eye's main physiological lens which in order to remain transparent must absorb oxygen primarily from the environment.

Unfortunately, the high water content of this type of lens causes it to easily become dirty or deposited with various organic and inorganic particles. A person's tears (tear film) can cause deposits to form on the surface of the contact, reducing the lens's comfort and decreasing the oxygen permeability. Intolerance to contact lens wear generally occurs slowly over a period of time so that a person may not readily note that the eye is becoming increasingly more irritated. For this reason, be sure to always clean and care for your lenses as directed by your eye care doctor.

To help reduce the time needed to clean and care for contacts, various contact lens companies introduced soft lenses known as "disposable". This marketing term is somewhat misleading, in that all contacts are indeed disposable! Some contacts are thrown away after one year, others after one month, one week, or even one day. Most importantly, remember that regardless of the frequency of when your contacts are thrown out (disposed of), basic cleansing and disinfecting solutions still need to be used. Talk to one of our Doctors, all of whom are well experienced in the art of prescribing  and fitting contact lenses. Failure to always use the correct contact lens care system results in a very high risk of possible severe permanent damage to the eye, including blindness.

Advantages:
 • Comfortable, even for first-time CL wearers
• Well tolerated for various sports due their good stability and low risk of falling out while being worn


Disadvantages
• Due to their high water content, an excellent tear film quality is necessary so that these lenses stay hydrated.
• Their soft material construction may make it difficult to correct some forms of astigmatism. Toric soft contact lenses, used for astigmatism may not compensate completely for this visual defect.
• SCL become dirty or contaminated easily.
• Need a meticulously followed CL care solution system

If you would like to be fit with contact lenses, please schedule an eye exam and contact lens fitting at any of our locations. Fees for contact lens fittings depend on whether you are fit with single vision or bifocal contacts. The fitting fee includes trial lenses until the right lens is found, as well as follow-up exams for an entire year.

Contact Lenses are also recommended for different wearing schedules.