With eye contact lenses fast gaining ground on the popularity front, it is no surprise that the consumption has gone up. With more consumers making the call to switch to contact lenses, a few pointers have to be pinned up for consideration before the final choice of buying contact lenses.
Functional compliance
The foremost question that needs to be considered is what are the eye contact lenses for? Are they going to be used for the correction of specific types of errors? Are they contact lenses that would do away your dependency on reading glasses. Based on this, we have various options at our disposal staring from simple spherical lenses to specially designed toric lenses.
What are the contact lenses made up of?
PMMA lenses
Also known as hard contacts, these contact lenses are made of a transparent rigid plastic material called polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), used as a substitute for glass in shatterproof windows and are sold under the trademarks Lucite, Perspex, and Plexiglas. PMMA boasts of excellent optics but blocks the transmission of oxygen to the eye. They also prove to be a handful, when it comes to adapting to them. Being old-fashioned, they are now being replaced by GP lenses and are not prominent.
Gas permeable contact lenses
Possessing the look and feel of PMMA lenses, no wonder GP contact lenses are considered to be the ideal replacement for PMMA lenses. GP lenses are rigid eye contact lenses that are porous, allowing oxygen to pass through them. Since they are permeable to oxygen, they are a better fit for the eye and thus are more comfortable than conventional hard lenses. They also have the edge over soft lenses when it comes to vision.
Hydrogel based soft lenses
Soft lenses, made from gel-like, water-containing plastics called hydrogel. These lenses are very thin and pliable, conform to the front surface of the eye and are easy to adapt to.
Silicone gel-based soft lenses
An advanced type of soft lenses that allow more oxygen to penetrate to the cornea, because of their porous nature.
Hybrid contact lenses
Designed through a mix and match of comfort that rivals soft lenses and the crystal-clear optics of gas permeable lenses, these eye contact lenses have a rigid gas permeable central zone, capsuled by a fringe of hydrogel or silicone hydrogel material.
Frequency of lens replacement
Post the frequency of usage, the lens will eventually be disposed of. This incidence of replacement has a bearing on the buying process and needs to be factored before the decision is made. There are two broad types of contact lenses that fall under this umbrella:
Soft lenses
Soft lenses have the below classifications, based on how frequently they should be disposed of:
- Daily disposable lenses — Get rid off after a day
- Disposable lenses — Get rid off bi-weekly, or sooner
- Frequent replacement lenses — Get rid off monthly or quarterly
- Traditional lenses — Get rid off every six months or longer
Gas permeable contact lenses
These offer more resistance to lens deposits and don’t incite the necessity to be discarded as frequently as soft lenses. They last a year or longer before they need to be replaced.
The look of it.
How contact lenses look on you is a deciding factor, contemplated often by users who are conscious about style and fashion.
Colored lenses
Apart from the above, we have eye contact lenses that come in colours and can make a statement about your style quotient.
Special-effect lenses
Known as theatrical or novelty lenses, these special-effect contact lenses leverage the style factor by making you look like another alter-ego of your choice.
Certain colored contact lenses specifically cater to medically oriented purposes. Opaque soft lenses called prosthetic contacts are custom made for those, whose eyes have been disfigured by injury or disease. These eye contact lenses mask the disfigurement and match the appearance of the other, unaffected eye.
Dry eye Syndrome
If you are having trouble with contact lenses that make your eye feel dry, then there are soft contact lenses specially designed to reduce the risk of contact lens-related dry eye symptoms.
Other factors
Price
Along with the budget factor consideration, do not forget to take into account the cost of contact lens solutions.
Allergies
Sometimes wearing of contact lenses might culminate in eye allergies. Thus, consultation with your eye doctor before the contact lens fitting is of prominent importance.
Diligent scrutiny of the above factors, along with the aid of a professional is bound to help you land the right lens. If you still do have troubles, please reach out to an optometrist at any of the Specsmakers 250 stores, for counsel. For store details, click here.
