What are Contact lenses?

Contact lenses provide an excellent alternative to glasses for correction of refractive errors, and the technology of lenses continues to improve. However, contact lens use is not without risk, and the potential for vision threatening problems is present, especially in those who abuse the use of contacts.

What are Contact lenses

Contact lenses are small, thin discs made of a transparent material. The outer surfaces are custom-shaped to correct or improve vision and the inner side is carefully formed to fit the surface of the cornea (the clear, front covering of the eye including the iris and pupil).

The rigid nature of the hard contact lenses of the day kept the cornea from becoming more distended, which results in nearsightedness as the focused image falls short of the retina. Today, some eye care professionals prescribe rigid contact lenses to keep teens from becoming more nearsighted.

 

Facts about Contact lenses

 

Contact Eye care professionals won’t promise that contact lenses can improve your eyesight, but they can influence visual changes. Teenagers commonly experience “myopia creep:” At each annual eye exam, they are slightly more nearsighted. About a half-century ago, eye care professionals began to notice that teenagers who wore contact lenses tended to experience this creep more slowly if at all.

How Contact lenses Helpful in Vision

Many doctors prescribe contact lenses to clear user’s far vision.  Patients over 40 may notice a progressive decrease in the ability to view near images, like medicine bottle labels or small print, through their distance contact lenses.  This may appear suddenly and leave the patient wondering what is wrong with their lenses.  The condition that causes this is called Presbyopia and affects everyone over 40 years of age.  

A contact lens fitting process called Monovision, where the doctor underprescribes the non-dominant eye, is the most common way of getting around the effects of Presbyopia in contact lens wearers.   In the past few years, great advances have been made in contact lens technology allowing the user to “get their young eyes back” – these technologies include soft and RGP bifocal contact lenses and progressive contact lenses. 

  

People who have tried these technologies unsuccessfully in the past may now find them more accommodating, as science has greatly improved the functionality of the lens.   The most effective “multifocal” contact lens is a RGP aspheric design. An eye doctor experienced in fitting these modalities should evaluate your eye to see if you are a candidate for a multifocal contact lens option.  In almost all multifocal contact lenses, night vision can be slightly decreased.  

This can be remedied with a simple pair of night-driving glasses you put on over the contacts and leave on the visor of your car for such situations.  Fine print may be very clear and readable, but for extended near work such as reading a book or an entire newspaper, a small near prescription over the contact may help to prevent fatigue.

Conclusion

The concern about the use of contact lenses with respirators or personal protective hoods arose because it was believed that dislodgement or sudden loss of a contact lens while wearing a respirator could lead to two potential problems.