When thinking about the kind of contacts you want, there is a whole lot more to think about than simply price. Most standard contacts are taken out every night. If you don’t, then eye health problems like infection, inflammation, and new blood vessel growth on the cornea are more likely to occur.
But realize you have other choices. There are some lenses on the market that you can officially sleep in, like the Ciba Focus Night & Day. I can already hear you say, “No, I can’t sleep in my contacts- too uncomfortable.”
That’s because you tried it in those standard lenses. If you really want the convenience of just taking your lenses out once a week or once a month, then at your next contact lens evaluation ask me about the newer, more breathable silicone hydrogel lenses.
Another thing, maybe you have had poor luck with wearing contacts because they dry out your eyes too much. I have strategies for that as well. If your eyes match the lens, we can try out the Acuvue Oasys material or the CooperVision Avaira or Biofinity. Also, it’s a little known fact that contact lens solutions can effect contact lens comfort. We can switch your multi-purpose solution to Opti-Free or try the Clear Care system because in a study, these two were shown to cause the least amount of trouble for the most people.
Allergy suffers sometimes think it’s not possible to wear contacts. Prescription eye drops like Pataday in conjunction with daily disposable contacts or frequent replacement contacts while using Clear Care can make all the difference for allergy eyes.
Another contact lens option is Ortho-K. A hard contact lens is worn during the night. You take it out in the morning, and you see great all day long without any glasses or contacts. Then at night you put it back it. It’s like a retainer for your eyes. It molds the surface cells of your cornea into a lens shape so you can see clearly during the day. Its benefits include being completely reversible if you ever want LASIK in the future from a place like TLC in Ogden. Also, studies indicate that for kids whose eyes seem to rapidly progress in nearsightedness from year to year Ortho-K slows down this acceleration (see here, here, and here). Ask me at your next eye exam if you are a good candidate because I can only do it for low to moderate nearsightedness with low astigmatism.
Another contact lens option you should be aware of is bifocal/multifocal contact lenses. The optics are a little complex, which means your vision probably won’t be as crystal clear as your glasses with Nikon or Zeiss progressive lenses, but at least you can take a break from glasses when you want and still see pretty good far away and up close. You should try them out and see what you think.
Your contact lens options will sometimes be dictated by your eye shape and glasses prescription, but more often than not it can be a lifestyle choice. During my exams we’ll talk about what contacts are available to you that will match your budget and, more importantly, which ones can keep up with your lifestyle.
Tags: allergies, Contacts, Eye Health, LASIK, lifestyle, Ortho-K
