Are you about to venture into the world of wearing contacts? Many people in need of corrective lenses choose to wear contact lenses because of the comfort and an aversion to looking awful with glasses. Glasses slip down your nose, weight on your ears and nose, and have glare problems with light. You also have to have special lenses or an extra pair to keep the sun from blinding you when wearing glasses. A contact lens allows you to get rid of this paraphernalia and simply have corrected vision. Most individuals won’t even realize you are wearing a contact lens because they are virtually impossible to see in your eye.
Contact lenses have changed since the 50’s. A hard contact lens was the first lens to be made. This type of contact lens was made of a glass material making it very rigid and very uncomfortable for your eye. Most individuals felt glasses were the only way to go because of the uncomfortable material and expense. After all it was very easy to scratch your eye with a hard contact lens when trying to get it out because of the rigidity of the material. Soon glass material was replaced with a polymer based product making contact lenses a little more comfortable; however the restricted oxygen flow to the cornea was causing eye sight problems like blindness in individuals who wore contacts for several years.
We now have a silicon hydrogel contact. This is known as a soft contact lens. The material is like plastic and conforms to the eye easier than their counterparts. It is also thinner. This thinner material tends to tear easily, but gives more comfort to your eye. It is an almost weightless material so your eye will barely feel its presence.
With the introduction of the silicon hydrogel contact lens we also have the introduction of more color contact lenses available. You may have seen some one with violet, jade, yellow or red eyes. The color contact lenses are available to create whatever effect you wish to, however there are downsides. The color contact lens tends to restrict oxygen flow when you have these type of opaque lenses because the material is a little heavier to create the affect.
Your contact lens is created to fit your eye. An eye care specialist will measure your eye to get the correct lens ordered to fit your eye. This is why most individuals with higher prescriptions tend to wait a week or more for their contact lenses to arrive. You can also have corrective lenses for astigmatisms or bifocal contact lenses. The Toric lenses are weighted at the bottom to keep the contact on your eye and eliminate the blurriness created by the astigmatism. The bifocal contact lens is available for those who need an adjustment for near and farsightedness and don’t want glasses. Your eye care professional will make sure you have the right prescription for your contact lens.