If you need your vision corrected or you want to enhance the color of your eyes you might be looking to buy some contact lenses. But your eyes are precious and getting contact lenses can be a scary proposition. As a first step, ask yourself a series of questions to identify your needs.
Q. Why do I want contacts?
A. Perhaps you need lenses for everyday wear or for sports or other activities. You might want contacts for a special occasion or function.
Q. Do I have special needs for my contact lenses?
A. You could want contacts that can be worn for several days at a time or perhaps you might prefer contact lenses that can be thrown out each day. Or perhaps you want lenses that change the color of your eyes.
Q. How much money do I want to spend? A. You may need contact lenses that have a lot of extras beyond correcting your sight. These kinds of additional features will add to the overall cost. Realize too that the more often you need to change your contacts, the more expensive they will be both for the actual contacts as well as for the materials that you will need to maintain them.
Q. How often will I use them?
A. Perhaps you need lenses that are comfortable for all day use or you might be just going to use them for working out or during travel. Determine if you need contact lenses for certain activities.
Q. Where will I be using them?
A. You might need contacts for indoor or outdoor use. If you’re working out, perhaps you need contact lenses that remain stable during strenuous activity.
Now you’ve put some work into identifying your needs it’s time to look at the contact lenses that are available and consider which options match your needs:
Durability – Single view, bifocal, trifocal, RGP (Rigid Gas Permeable) lenses, soft.
Colors – Clear or tinted blue to make them easier to find in the cleaning solution; also in black, green, blue, brown and novelty (cats eyes, spider webs etc).
Special features – Bi-focal, tri-focal, mark to indicate correct side, UV protection.
Length of wear – Disposable or conventional; one day, one week, thirty days wear
Prescription – Contact lenses can correct for myopia (near-sightedness), hyperopia (far-sightedness), presbyopia (age-related deterioration of vision) and astigmatism (vision distortion).
Your eyes are delicate and contact lenses are best selected after consultation with an optometrist. Your optometrist will be able to determine which contacts are suitable for your particular eye conditions, so the only major considerations you need to make are which types best meet your lifestyle needs and whether you want to make a particular fashion statement with colored lenses or not. You can purchase from the optometrists or elsewhere.
Tip: You will be instructed by the eye doctor or assistant as to how to put in the contacts as well as care for them – these directions should be followed precisely.