Because contact lens technology is always evolving, there are many different types of contact lenses available today. The options include bi-weekly contact lenses, daily contact lenses, monthly contact lenses, multifocal contact lenses, soft contact lenses, gas permeable contact lenses, etc. Given all of the options, ditching your glasses in favour of finding the appropriate contacts may appear to be a difficult decision. However, if you break the possibilities into categories, it becomes much easier. Understanding the various materials, prescriptions, and wear times can also assist you in making the best selection! In this post, we are going to have a look at different types of contact lenses and decide which ones are suitable for your eye.
Gas Permeable Lenses:
Gas permeable lenses (also known as RGP or GP lenses) keep their shape. GP contact lenses do not fold or bend like soft contacts, but they do let gases like oxygen pass through for greater eye health. These lenses allow for greater focus, especially for individuals with astigmatism, because they hold their shape. It takes some time to become used to using GP lenses due to their stiffness. Nonetheless, after a brief adjustment period, the majority of wearers find them to be extremely comfortable.
Soft Contact Lenses:
The most often prescribed contact lenses are soft. They can be used to treat a wide range of visual problems, including:
- Farsightedness
- Age-related loss of close-up vision
- Nearsightedness
- Blurred Vision
Compared to rigid gas permeable lenses, soft contact lenses are more pleasant and simpler to adjust to. There are several varieties of soft contact lenses, including:
- Daily contact lenses:
Daily contact lenses are only for single-day wear. At night, you can remove and dispose of them. Other alternatives include weekly disposable contact lenses, two-week disposable lenses, and quarterly disposable lenses for particular prescriptions. These lenses are typically removed each night for cleaning and disinfection.
- Disposable or Bi-weekly/Monthly contact lenses:
Weekly contact lenses, bi weekly contact lenses, monthly contact lenses are all disposable lenses. Wearers of disposable contact lenses must additionally soak their lenses in contact solution each night. These lenses, like daily disposable contacts, should never be worn while sleeping.
- Extended-wear contact lenses:
Soft contacts that are worn overnight are known as extended wear lenses. Most extended wear lenses may be worn without removing them for up to six nights (seven days). Some, on the other hand, can last up to 30 days without being removed. After each planned removal, eye specialists urge that you rest your eyes for one full night without contact lenses. However, extended wear of contact lenses increases the risk of eye infections.
PMMA contact lenses:
PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) is a strong material that was to make the earliest contact lenses and other things like Plexiglas. Although they provide excellent vision, they might be damaging to the cornea since no oxygen passes through them. Furthermore, many people have a hard time getting acclimated to wearing them. PMMA lenses are still worn by a small percentage of the population. The GP lens is likely to be chosen by those who want the clarity of a PMMA lens.
Non-disposable Contact Lenses:
PMMA and RGP lenses are not disposable. Instead, the user puts them on for a few hours during the day then cleans and disinfects them at night. These lenses are long-lasting (up to a year) and offer good vision correction for a wide range of visual issues. However, because they stay so long, they might create eye problems. Because the lenses are so long-lasting, it’s easy to fall into unhealthy habits when it comes to disinfecting, cleaning, and basic contact lens maintenance. Non-disposable contact lenses can cause different eye infections if not cleaned properly.
Bifocal contact lenses:
Bifocal contact lenses combine two prescriptions into one lens. The one for close reading is different from the one for normal distant vision. The twin prescriptions aid patients with presbyopia, a condition in which age-related visual changes make it difficult to focus on close objects.
Multifocal contact lenses:
Refractive errors are a prevalent kind of visual impairment. If you acquire presbyopia coupled with more than one refractive defect, such as astigmatism and myopia, multifocal contact lenses can help. There are several varieties of multifocal contact lenses based on the location of the capabilities on the lens, which influences how your pupil adapts to see at various distances. Although bifocals are a form of multifocal lens, others may be more suitable for you.
Toric contact lenses:
A toric lens that has a particular form. The surface of standard contact lenses is spherical, like a slice of the side of a beach ball. A torus, on the other hand, is a doughnut-shaped geometric form. A toric lens looks like a slice of this doughnut’s side. Toric contact lenses have varying refractive, or focusing, capabilities in vertical and horizontal orientations due to their form. As you wander around the room, the refractive strength progressively increases or lowers.
Hybrid contact lenses:
Most individuals with corneal astigmatism benefit from hybrid contact lenses. Hybrid contacts come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including Multifocals. A hybrid contact lens is distinguished by the presence of a hard gas permeable lens (GP) that corrects astigmatism while being surrounded by a soft lens skirt. This lens combines the clarity of a GP lens with the convenience of a soft contact lens. They have in either daily contact lenses or monthly contact lenses.
Silicone hydrogel lenses:
Silicone hydrogel contact is a type of advanced soft contact lens that allows more oxygen to flow through to the cornea than traditional soft (“hydrogel”) contacts. Silicone hydrogel lenses allow up to five times more oxygen to enter the cornea than traditional hydrogel lenses. Silicone hydrogel lenses and normal hydrogel lenses are both comprised of polymers that are rigid when dry but soften and gel-like when wet. If you’ve ever allowed a soft or silicone hydrogel lens to dry out, you know how distorted, rigid, and brittle they can become. However, soaking it in contact lens solution for a few minutes restores its softness and pliability.
Orthokeratology:
Orthokeratology, or Ortho-K, is a procedure that involves changing the curvature of the cornea with specially constructed hard contact lenses. This contact lens corrects eyesight briefly and is mostly used by nearsighted individuals. Ortho-K lenses are often prescribed to be worn at night. They are often taken off in the morning and not worn throughout the day. The majority of individuals can go a whole day without wearing their glasses or contact lenses. Others will notice that their eyesight correction wears off later in the day. To sustain the therapeutic effect, Ortho-K lenses must be worn every night—or on some other specified schedule. Your eye doctor will establish the most appropriate maintenance program for you.
Decorative Lenses:
The appearance of your eyes may be altered using decorative contact lenses. They might not be able to fix your vision. For Halloween, they may temporarily transform your brown eyes to blue or make them seem like cat or vampire eyes. Did you know that these fancy contact lenses are medical equipment? Just like contact lenses that correct your eyesight, the US Food and Drug Administration regulates their safety and efficacy. You should never buy decorative contact lenses from a street vendor, beauty goods store, flea market, or Halloween store just like corrective contact lenses—and you should always have a medical prescription.
Sclera contact lenses:
Scleral contacts are GP contact lenses with a large diameter that vault over the whole corneal surface and rest on the eye’s white layer (sclera). Scleral lenses alleviate vision issues caused by keratoconus and other corneal abnormalities by effectively replacing the uneven cornea with a completely smooth optical surface.
Things to avoid:
- Wearing contact lenses can become a cause of many eye infections and eye discomfort. These are some things that you need to keep in mind while wearing contact lenses:
- Contact lenses need to be cleaned properly with sterile solutions. These solutions should be medically prescribed by your doctor. No solution that is past the expiration date should be used.
- Remove your contact lenses while taking a bath or going for a swim. Also, minimize the contact of your lenses with saliva to prevent your eyes from getting infected.
- Before changing your contact lenses, consult with your doctor for better recommendations.
- Wash your hands with soap and water before handling your contact lenses to avoid eye infections
- If you are interested in purchasing decorative contact lenses, talk to your eye doctor.
Different types of contact lenses that are available in the market are mentioned above. If you also want to purchase a pair of contact lenses, you should first consult with your doctor for better recommendations. They can be bought from any optic store. For a better experience, you can purchase contact lenses from visiondirectclub.com. They are a very well-known contact lens brand that provides quality eye care products for very reasonable prices.