Over 38 million Americans wear contact lenses. If you wear glasses, the freedom and flexibility to ditch your glasses for good is compelling. But as promising as this sounds, many contact lens wearers lose their enthusiasm and stop wearing contact lenses because of discomfort and irritation. If your lenses do not fit properly, you can experience red, swollen, gritty or dry … [Read more...]
What’s in those Lenses Anyway? Reviewing Your Contact Lens Options
What your contact lenses are made of affects how they wear, including how long they last, your comfort, and their health impact. For many years contact lenses were made of glass. Today, fewer than 1% are, with the other 99% made from various types of plastic. The choices are predominantly some type of PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), polycarbonate or silicon hydroxy gel. Hard … [Read more...]
Can You Wear Color Contacts if You Have Perfect Vision?
If you’re one of the lucky ones with perfect “20/20” vision, you can still try colored contact lenses. Lenses without vision correction are called Plano. However, you still need a prescription from an eye care professional to get them. Why? Because, even though you may not need vision correction for near sightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism, colored contacts from … [Read more...]
Why You Need an Eye Exam
Photo by: Schrierc on Flikr In the United States, by law you are required to have a verifiable prescription for colored contact lenses. Without one, you can’t legally purchase contacts and retailers can’t legally sell them to you. This means that you need to visit your eye doctor (optometrist or ophthalmologist) for an eye exam and proper fitting for the brand of colored … [Read more...]
What Parents Need to Know about Contact Lenses
One of the most demanding problems for a parent comes when their child is prescribed glasses. Ensuring that your child wears specs can be challenging, particularly during the school day when they’re likely to need the help their glasses will give. With that in mind, it’s a surprise that more parents are not encouraging their youngsters to try contact lens wear. The question … [Read more...]