How special can contact lenses be? It seems they have been around forever. They correct your vision. What’s the big deal, right?
I think you will find that the advancements in contact lenses include some uses that you will be amazed at. Let’s take a look at some of these special contact lenses.
Colored or tinted contact lenses have been in use for decades. These can be used to either enhance our natural eye color or to change our eye color altogether. But are you aware of the prosthetic use of colored contact lenses? Unfortunately, many people are born with eyes that are mismatched. It may be that they have two different colored eyes. Sometimes, one or both corneas are elongated or off-center. Still others suffer from an overall cloudiness of one or both eyes. This is when a prosthetic contact lens can usually solve the problem. These special contact lenses are hand-painted to match the exact look, color and depth of the unaffected eye. This same technology is used for accident victims, who have damaged or scarred eyes. Sometimes the contact lenses are laminated to match the other eye, but lamination has been shown to fade and it is impossible to match the look of depth in a real eye with lamination. Hand painted lenses are more expensive, but are so realistic that it is almost impossible to tell the difference.
There are special contact lenses that are only worn at night while you sleep. These lenses reshape the curvature of your cornea to improve your vision during the day. Similar to wearing a retainer every night after you have your braces removed, these contact lenses keep your eyesight 20/20 during the day. They must be worn every night, as your eyes will want to readjust to their original shape. These contacts may not be for everyone. But, if you are someone who works in an environment where wearing contacts is impossible, these may be for you.
Did you know there are contact lenses that are worn to dispense medication to the eyes? In addition to that, special contact lenses are being tested right now, that will monitor your blood sugar levels. These contact lenses will notify you of high or low levels of blood sugar by a small dot on the outer edge of the lens that will change colors. This will be a wonderful advancement for diabetics, who won’t have to test their blood sugar level with needle pricks anymore.
There are newly developed contact lenses that are used for infants that are born with a form of cataract on the eye. Often times this affliction requires surgery, but there has but a lot of success with having the infant wear a contact lens that will allow the eye to continue to develop and heal the cloudiness on its own.
These are just some of the special contact lenses that have been developed and their uses. Advancements are always being made and there will be dozens more in the years to come.