There are a great many people out there with contact lenses – whether they are for eyes with a slight reading problem or whopping short sightedness, there is not one person with glasses who has not at least considered contact lenses. Many of us do opt for the lenses, for many different reasons. For appearance, fashionable eye colours, even to prevent the eye from becoming any weaker. There are specific types of contact lens to suit people with lenses for any reason, and it is certainly a blessing to be able to take your glasses off and not feel that dead weight on your face!
Unfortunately, most of us ignore the care instructions when we pick up our new lenses, being completely swept up in the dream of a life without glasses. You should not forget the instructions from your optician! Without taking proper care of your contact lenses, you are putting yourself at risk for any number of eye infections and disorders. While it can be very tempting, especially in the first year or so of contact use, to leave your lenses in for long periods of time and even overnight, this is not a good option. Doctors have found that people who stop taking their lenses out are prone to developing allergies to the lenses themselves. In these cases, which are not as uncommon as you may thing, people can never wear contact lenses again. Think about that when you are feeling lazy!
Another common problem is the lack of decent hygiene as concerns the lenses. There are two main types of contact lens: soft and hard. Most people opt for the soft kind, for several reasons. Mostly, the majority of eye care patients do not have severe vision disorders and really only need a slight vision adjustment to see perfectly clearly. Also, soft lenses are considered more comfortable and are easier to get used to than hard lenses.
So why go for hard lenses to begin with? For people with severe vision loss, it is important that the contact gives them the sharpest vision possible. For short-sightedness of -6 and worse, for example, it is often the best option to use a hard contact lens that will sharpen the vision better than a soft lens can. These gas permeable lenses are also in use so that younger eye care patients may stop further vision loss. The way this works is for the hard lens to simply hold the eyeball into shape, preventing the oval shape to increase and a stronger prescription to be required.
Regardless of which type of lens you end up using, you must remember to clean the lenses properly in a special solution and not allow them to dehydrate or collect bacteria. The eye is a sensitive body part and it must be treated carefully. If you fail to cleanse the lenses properly you are likely to contract an eye infection, which aside from being uncomfortable and embarrassing could also affect your vision in the long term or your ability to wear contact lenses at all. It is really not so difficult, all you must do is rinse each lens in cleaning solution as per the instructions, and you should be free and clear of infection and disease!
Your contact lenses can give you a great new lease on life, so be careful with them and make sure that you are attending to your eye care so that you may continue to use them. If you find that you really cannot deal with the cleansing process, then you can always look into daily disposables!