Eye Care Fun

Like clothing, it is more important to choose clothes because they fit, than because they are a certain brand, although fashion designers may disagree! There are many different brands of contact lenses to choose from. It is important that you take your time, and try several different brands for comparison, and then choose the brand that offers a really good fit for you personally.

Choose a lens which provides a good fit, provides good vision and is comfortable to the eye. There is a lot of advanced technology in contact lenses. Some brands offer more breathability and wettability, some offer distance and reading combinations within one contact lens. Astigmatism can now be easily corrected as well with Toric lenses. The doctor will evaluate your eyes and your living environment to recommend the best possible contact lenses for you. You can also ask your eye doctor about the latest developments in the contact lens industry. Make sure your doctor is offering the latest technology to you.

Hard or Soft Contact Lenses?

With so many options, if is difficult to know what to choose. First you need to decide whether you want the advantages of hard lenses or the ultra-comfortable soft lenses. Daily wear soft lenses are currently the most popular choice. Made of a soft polymer-plastic material combined with a percentage of water, this design allows oxygen to pass through the contact lens material and increases comfort. Many soft contact lenses also provide UV protection.

While most people choose soft contact lenses because of their benefits, there are also some disadvantages. Soft contact lenses easily absorb pollutants like lotion or soap from your hands, which can irritate your eyes. Soft contact lenses are also more fragile than hard contact lenses and can rip or tear easily.

The advantage of hard lenses is that, being semi-rigid, they do offer crystal clear vision and they are more durable, lasting up to one year.

Daily Disposable or Extended Wear?

Choosing daily disposable soft lenses means that every day you have a fresh pair of contact lenses with less chance of infection, less cleaning, and more comfort. These are especially good for people whose eyes naturally produce more protein that clouds contact lenses. If you are an allergy sufferer, these are the best contact lenses for you.

Another new innovation are the extended wear lenses. If removing the lenses is a problem, these lenses can be worn for a whole month at a time. These soft contact lenses are made with a new silicone hydrogel material that can be worn for up to 30 nights and days. The new silicone material also prevents deposit build up and reduces dry eye irritation.

Clear, Tinted or Colored?

Even contact lenses can make their own fashion statement. Soft contact lenses are available in a range of colors. You can have baby blue eyes for work and amber eyes at the weekend. With daily disposable lenses you get to wear them once then throw them away. There are other practical reasons for choosing these contact lenses too. There are four types of colored contact lenses, each offering a slightly different benefit:

Visibility tint. These colored contact lenses are lightly tinted so you can find your lens if you drop it. These visibility tints do not affect the color of your eyes.

Enhancement tint. These colored contact lenses have a translucent tint that will enhance your natural eye color. Enhancement tints are slightly darker than a visibility tint.

Color tint. These are darker, opaque tints that change the color of your eyes. Color tints come in a wide array of specialty colors, including amethyst, violet, and green. You will see plenty of these on the TV and at the cinema as they are very popular with actors and film stars!

Light-filtering tint. These colored contact lenses are designed for athletes and sports fans. They enhance certain colors and mute other colors. For instance, contact lenses for tennis players would enhance optic yellow, the color of tennis balls.

Remember, colored contact lenses are a medical device just like clear contact lenses. Never share colored contacts lenses with anyone. Clean and care for them just as you would any prescription contact lens.