We have all heard of contact lenses, which applied onto the eye can drastically improve a person’s vision. However, everybody has another lens inside the eye, or intra-ocular in medical jargon. This lens, in conjunction with the cornea focuses light onto the retina and when working properly is an important part of the vision system. However, as people age, the intra-ocular lens will become opaque, or cloudy, due to the natural aging process. This clouding of the lens is called cataracts. Many older American have their cloudy lens removed and a prosthetic lens placed in their eyes. The eye lens is also susceptible to other conditions such as a deterioration of the muscles which control its shape either through a loss of nervous control or a malfunction within the muscles themselves.
Newer models of intra-ocular contact lens are flexible and can change their shape to allow a person to see objects close-by, and those in the distance. Besides their use for cataract patients, intra-ocular contact lenses can also be used to correct vision in people who are either near sighted or far sighted. The surgery for this type of intra-ocular contact lens is minimally invasive, using a small slit in the eye to remove the eye’s lens and replace it with a more properly shaped or fully transparent implant. A person is usually able to recover in a week or less. Because a person’s eye still grows up to age 40, this type of surgery is done only in people older than 40 years of age.
Because intra-ocular contact lenses are often detrimental to a person’s ability to focus on near and far objects, many people choose to have a LASIK procedure if they are tired of wearing glasses. For patients with severe deformities of the lens, LASIKmay not be an option, and they may decide to have their lens replaced with intra-ocular contact lens. You should discuss you options for corrective eye surgery with an ophthalmologist before you decide on any specific procedure.
More information on myopia and other sight conditions can be found here.
Buying contact lenses online is for many a more affordable solution than the average high street optician. Lower costs allow online suppliers of contact lenses to offer lower prices than many high street retailers.