A contact lens is a thin, curved lens placed on the film of tears that covers the surface of your eye. The lens itself is naturally clear, but is often given the slightest tinge of color to make them easier for wearers to handle. Today’s contact lenses are either hard or soft. Most people wear the latter form, but it wasn’t too long ago that contact lenses were even glass blown!
In order to keep your eyes and vision in peak performance and health, each pair of contact lenses is manufactured and prescribed for a certain wear schedule and should be replaced after a certain amount of time.
Certain conditions can determine what type of contact lens should be worn. Astigmatism is a common condition that can result in blurred or distorted vision at all distances, varying with the amount of astigmatism. Lenses for astigmatism are referred to as Toric lenses. Presbyopia is an age-related condition. As you reach your 40’s or 50’s, you may find it harder to focus on nearby objects like menus, books or magazine print, especially in low light. Multifocal lenses can help.
Traditionally, people used eyeglasses to correct their vision, but today a lot of people prefer to use contact lenses for comfort, lifestyle, aesthetics or convenience. At Ewing Optical, we can prescribe the best choice in contact lenses according to your unique needs.
Reasons To Choose Contact Lenses
The decision to wear contact lenses is purely personal and depends on the use of the wearer. Many active people choose to wear contact lenses so they don’t have to worry about their eyeglasses shifting around. You can also opt to change the color of your eyes by using different hued lenses. Contacts can also suit any style, whereas eyeglasses can potentially limit your style choices. Though they carry their own responsibilities, contacts tend to be more of a carefree choice in that you never need to worry about where they are or if they were to come apart from your face during use.
Types Of Contact Lenses
At Ewing Optical, we offer contact lenses from top brands based on our patient’s preferences. Gas Permeable (GP) contact lenses are rigid and more suitable for those who want a durable lens with a high flow of oxygen to get crisp vision. To correct astigmatism, Toric contact lenses are typically used. For patients suffering from presbyopia, dry eyes and keratoconus, we can determine the proper contact lenses based on needs. Bifocal and multifocal contact lenses are designed for those with presbyopia but who do not like to wear bifocal eyeglasses.
What Are The Different Types Of Contact Lenses?
Each person that is looking to correct their vision using contact lenses has different requirements when it comes to what they need to achieve vision correction. One person’s vision correction requirements may not be anything like the next person. Another important variable in people who are looking for contact lenses is the person’s lifestyle. Keeping that in mind, several contact lens types have been developed and are available on the market today. Deciding on which type of lens that is right for you is important and can make the whole experience more comfortable overall.
Contact Lens Comfort and Material
The most commonly used contact lenses are soft contact lenses. These contacts can be made of various forms of soft plastic and gently drape over the cornea. Over the years, soft contact lenses have evolved to soft lenses that have a silicone gel incorporated into them to allow your cornea more oxygen. Hard contact lenses are much different and are known as Rigid Gas Permeable lenses. Patients with higher astigmatism benefit from hard contact lenses as they provide excellent vision correction. However, because the specifications of the lens has to be extremely precise for them to be effective, hard contact lenses require a fitting process that is pretty detailed and can be more challenging to adapt to.
When To Replace Contact Lenses
When it comes to soft contact lenses, there is a variety of options depending on the person’s lifestyle and vision correction needs. Soft contact lenses require regular maintenance so choosing which soft contact type that is best for you is very important. Daily wear contacts can be worn all day but must be removed for cleaning each night. For some people, this can be a task that feels like more of an inconvenience and those people prefer extended wear contacts. These contacts can be worn overnight and for extended periods depending on the brand. Some extended wear soft contacts can be worn for up to 30 days so be sure to follow your eye doctors’ instructions.
Soft contact lenses are disposable contact lenses whether they are daily wearing contacts or extended wear contact, eventually, they will need to be replaced. Depending on what your eye doctor thinks is appropriate in terms of scheduling when your contact lenses should be replaced, there are options to choose from for replacements as well. As previously mentioned, monthly replacement soft lens contacts can be worn for up to 30 days and some can even be worn overnight. Weekly or bi-weekly soft contact lens replacements are disposed of once per week or once every other week depending on what is right and comfortable for you. However, these lenses still need to be removed each night for disinfection. Then there are daily contacts which are found to be the most healthy option for your eyes. You just can’t do better than a fresh lens every day. They eliminate the worry of cleaning solutions and deposits of debris from reusing lenses.
Prescription Options for Contact Lenses
Spherical lenses are the most common and are designed to correct nearsightedness as well as farsightedness. Toric lenses are used to correct astigmatism as they change power going around the lens. Multifocal lenses are used to correct everyone’s inevitable presbyopia which is when a person’s natural lens in our eyes begins to stiffen with age. Multifocal lenses provide extra magnification. Colored lenses can be worn for vision correction purposes or purely cosmetic reasons.
Ewing Optical Royal Palm Beach Florida
Since 1986, Ewing Optical has been Palm Beach County’s first choice when it comes to their vision. We are a full-service optical center, providing prescription & custom eyewear, repairs, specialty products and so much more. With four licensed opticians on staff, along with two independent Doctors of Optometry, Ewing Optical ensures that every client receives knowledgeable, personal service, along with an honest, independent evaluation of their prescription and individual needs. Customers rely on Ewing Optical when no one else can.
Ewing Optical has been serving clients in the Royal Palm Beach and surrounding communities since 1986. Customers rely on Ewing Optical when no one else can: Customize it, Repair it, Deliver it. We carry an extensive line of frames for men, women, children and infants to satisfy everyone from the trend setters to traditionalists. We also can custom make glasses in the size or color you want for a better fit and personalized look.
For a consultation and to schedule an appointment contact us today at 561-798-0244