Contact lenses are a wonderful choice if you’re looking for an attractive, reliable solution for correcting your vision. But before you commit to buying and wearing contacts, make sure you know the different types and how they work. Start by getting a contact lens prescription and then consider factors such as daily, weekly or monthly contacts and hard contact lenses vs. soft contacts. Your contact lens primer starts here.
An estimated 45 million Americans wear contact lenses. If you’re thinking about becoming one of them, you have some decisions to make. Contact lenses have come a long way in the past few decades, with options including different materials, colors and replacement schedules.
Let’s start with the basics.
There are two basic types of contact lenses—soft and hard (also called rigid gas permeable or RGP). Both types are made of plastic that allows oxygen to reach your cornea. Soft contact lenses are made of very flexible plastic that mold to the shape of your eye, making them comfortable and easy to wear. Hard contact lenses are made of very stiff plastic and sometimes glass. They are more durable, but it can take more time to adjust to wearing them.
Just like the lenses in a pair of glasses, contact lenses help you see better by affecting the direction of light rays entering your eyes. Depending on whether you are nearsighted or farsighted, your contacts will direct light to the correct area of your retina to improve your vision. And because contact lenses sit directly on your eye, they are able to correct your eyesight even though they are much thinner than the lenses in a pair of glasses.
Soft, hard, dailies, monthlies—the options can be confusing. When trying to decide which type to choose, you’ll want to talk to your eyecare provider about what’s best for correcting your vision. You’ll also want to take into consideration your lifestyle, your budget, and how much time you can devote to caring for your contacts.
A few things to keep in mind:
The good news is that almost everyone who wants to wear contacts can find a type, fit and prescription that works for them. Advances in contact lenses mean there are more options designed to correct more vision problems.
In addition to fixing near and farsightedness, contacts can address tricky combinations of the two. For people who are nearsighted but find themselves needing reading glasses as they get older, multifocal contacts are an option. Like old-fashioned bifocal glasses, multifocal lenses can help you see both far away and close up more clearly.
You will need to see your eyecare provider in person for a contact lens exam and fitting. During the appointment, they will check the overall health of your eyes and determine the right prescription to correct your vision.
Your provider will also need to measure various aspects of your eyes to help find the right contact lens fit. Then, you can try on different pairs until you find the one that fits best, gives you the clearest vision and feels most comfortable.
This initial exam needs to be done in person. But unless you are changing contact brands, had a serious eye injury or have a progressive eye condition, you probably won’t need to get refitted every year. Online prescription renewal makes getting your annual supply of contacts easy to do from home.
Contacts are a great option for people with a wide range of vision problems. They can improve eye health, change appearance and give people freedom from glasses. But, as with all medical devices, it’s important to use contacts responsibly, following your provider’s instructions for care, cleaning and replacement. And be sure to renew your prescription every year—which you can do conveniently online at Quadrant Eye—and see your eyecare provider as recommended.
Taking good care of your eyes and your overall health can go a long way toward preventing age-related eye conditions. Eating an eye-healthy diet that includes lots of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables slows down the formation of cataracts and reduces your risk of macular degeneration. Getting plenty of exercise and maintaining a healthy weight can prevent diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure--both of which affect vision and eye health. And while you may not be able to prevent the presbyopia (and need for reading glasses) that comes with getting older, your eyecare professional can make sure you get the correct vision correction to see clearly.
The sun’s rays contain damaging ultraviolet (UV) light. The same UV rays that burn your skin and lead to skin cancer also affect your eyes. Staring directly into strong sunlight can damage the retina. And repeated sun exposure over time can lead to cataracts, benign growths on the eyes and even eye cancer. Protect your eyes anytime you’re in the sun by wearing sunglasses that block both UVA and UVB rays.
Some people claim that by correcting your vision with prescription glasses or contacts, you’re weakening your eyes—which then leads to worse vision. Their “proof” is that after wearing your corrective prescription for a while, your vision appears blurrier when you’re not wearing it. But that’s likely because you’re now used to seeing the world in clear, crisp detail—and in contrast, your uncorrected vision appears fuzzier. Getting the proper vision correction for your eyes is essential for your eye health. Don’t try to tough it out if you can’t see clearly. Visit your eyecare professional for an in-person or virtual vision screening.
Not having a bright enough light may make it harder to clearly see the words on the page, but it won’t damage your eyes or permanently impact your vision. Because you’re straining to see, you might get a headache or other symptoms of eyestrain. If you want to read in bed without illuminating the entire bedroom, get a reading light that provides just enough brightness to see your book clearly.
LASIK surgery corrects your distance vision only, so people who are nearsighted benefit most from it. But LASIK doesn’t affect the lens of the eye, the part that helps you focus up close. As you get older, changes to the lens impact your ability to see close up. So even if you have LASIK in your 20s or 30s, you’ll most likely still need reading glasses by the time you hit your 40s or 50s.
Having your face right up next to the bright screen may give you a headache or even cause some temporary eyestrain or fatigue, but it won’t damage your vision. Children are more prone to this behavior than adults—which may be because children can focus close up better than adults can. But if your child can only see the television clearly when sitting close (and has to hold other things close to see them clearly), they may be nearsighted. Taking your child to an eyecare professional for a vision exam will help determine if they need glasses to see clearly.
Most eyecare professionals recommend removing—and thoroughly cleaning—your contacts every night. Even if you use extend-wear lenses that are approved for use a week or month at a time, it’s always safer to give your eyes a nightly break. Your contacts are more likely to accumulate bacteria when you leave them in 24/7, and that can lead to eye infections. Sleeping in your contacts also prevents essential oxygen from getting to your corneas. If you must sleep in your contacts, make it a once-in-a-while event and ask your eyecare provider about contacts that are specially formulated to let more oxygen through.
Carrots (along with other vegetables like sweet potatoes and dark leafy greens) contain high amounts of beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A. Vitamin A is essential for eye health, and a deficiency of the nutrient is the leading cause of childhood blindness in developing countries. In the U.S., vitamin A deficiency is rare, and few people get so little it could impact their eyesight. Also, there’s no evidence that beta-carotene affects the sharpness of your vision or can prevent near or farsightedness. So while getting lots of beta-carotene in your diet may help keep your eyes healthy, no amount of carrots is going to actually improve your vision and allow you to toss out your glasses or contacts.
The jury is still out on how effective blue light glasses are for eyestrain. One recent study found they made no difference in eyestrain symptoms during a two-hour-long computer task. But some experts feel they may help alleviate eyestrain and fatigue during prolonged, cumulative screen time. Either way, blue glasses alone won’t solve the problem of too much screen time. The best way to reduce eyestrain is to limit screen time and take frequent breaks when you do need to spend several hours at your computer.
The jury is still out on how effective blue light glasses are for eyestrain. One recent study found they made no difference in eyestrain symptoms during a two-hour-long computer task. But some experts feel they may help alleviate eyestrain and fatigue during prolonged, cumulative screen time. Either way, blue glasses alone won’t solve the problem of too much screen time. The best way to reduce eyestrain is to limit screen time and take frequent breaks when you do need to spend several hours at your computer.
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