The choice of which contact lenses are right for you should be based only on an examination by your doctor or eye care professional, never over the phone. You’ll want to take simple precautions to make any contact lenses purchase safe and effective. Be careful about buying cheap lenses, they may not be the quality you want; discounted quality contact lenses are the most desirable.
Before you buy contact lenses from anyone other than your eye care professional, it pays to be a wise shopper. Always buy lenses from a reputable company; you can buy discount contact lenses without a prescription, but the company is selling you a prescription device as if it were an over-the-counter device, in violation of FTC regulations – selling you lenses without a prescription.
There are two general types of contact lenses – soft and rigid gas permeable. Extra-thin soft lenses are on the market for sensitive people. In some models, each lens corrects for near and distance vision and in others, one lens is for near vision and the other is for distance vision.
You can adjust to soft lenses within just a few days, compared to several weeks for rigid ones. Soft lenses have an added benefit in that soft lenses aren’t as likely as rigid lenses to pop out or get foreign material like dust underneath. With ‘planned-replacement lenses’, the doctor works out a replacement schedule tailored to the needs of the patient.
While the ability to hold water increases the oxygen permeability of soft lenses, it increases their fragile quotient as well. Extended wear contact lenses are used for overnight or continuous wear ranging from one to six nights or sometimes up to 30 days. The length of continuous lens wear depends pretty much on the lens type and your doctor’s evaluation of your tolerance for overnight wear.
Rigid lenses generally give you a clearer vision. Disposable lenses don’t come with instructions for cleaning and disinfecting, while those labeled specifically for’ planned-replacement’ do.
There are many good contact lens retailers now on the Internet making lenses available at a good discount for prescription and non-prescription lenses. Great choices – you can buy contact lenses from an eye doctor, on the Internet, from an optical store or a warehouse club. Try to find out how long the online supplier has been in business before you buy it.
If possible buy your contact lenses from a supplier you’re familiar with and know is reliable or has name familiarity. When you place your order make sure the lenses are available and not out of stock because you’ll need them now. Make sure to focus on value, not just the price; most people looking for the best price, are really looking for the best value.
Compare the prices – get quotes from two or three online and offline suppliers. Wherever you buy, shop for quality and value and don’t forget you want to do what is best for your eye health. Check and see if your health insurance plan includes vision coverage.
The risk of corneal ulcers for people who keep extended-wear lenses in overnight is 10 to 15 times greater than for those who use daily-wear lenses only during their waking hours. Replace your contacts as recommended by your eye doctor because they will wear out as time goes by. Heat disinfection is the only method effective against the microorganism Acanthamoeba keratitis, which is a common culprit for contact lens wearers; it also kills organisms in and on the lens case.
To make sure your eyes remain healthy you shouldn’t order lenses with a prescription that’s expired or stock up on lenses right before the prescription is about to expire; it is much safer to be re-checked by your eye doctor. The FDA has approved extended-wear lenses for usage up to seven days before removal for cleaning, but there are risks with the use of extended-wear lenses even for one night. The use of a homemade saline solution made by using salt tablets mixed in water is one of the biggest contributors to Acanthamoeba keratitis in contact lens wearers: the FDA no longer condones the use of these salt tablets.
If your first lens fitting is performed by an eye care professional, he or she can help minimize or eliminate the cause of any eye irritation associated with the new lenses. If you are looking for cheap contact lenses, you may find that cheap materials or other ways of cutting costs will affect the quality you want for your precious eyes. Shopping for contacts online will save a lot of money; contact lenses are deeply discounted.