Choosing to wear contact lenses for correcting your vision is an excellent idea. However, it is important to stress because of the individuality of your eye, not every contact lens will be suitable for your particular needs. Your optician or specialist will help you to make the right choice of contact lenses for your requirements as he has access to all the information regarding all the various brands of contact lenses that are available. Contact lenses can be distinguished by several factors, namely, the material they are made from, how long they can be worn for, over transparency and the purpose for which they are designed.
The material that contacts are made from is a distinguishing factor. There are two distinct groups of contact lenses, being either hard or soft. Soft lenses are distinguishable firstly by the fact that they are to a degree gas permeable and secondly by their water content. The water content in soft contact lenses varies from either 50% or more, or less than 50%. Hard contact lenses are gas permeable and are fabricated from strong durable material.
The length of time that lenses remain wearable depends on which variety they are. For example, hard contact lenses have a very long life and can last from anywhere between six months or several years. However, for soft contact lenses, there is a definite period of time in which they should be replaced and these vary between daily, fortnightly, or monthly. There are some contact lenses known as night and day contact which can be worn whilst you sleep. But like all other lenses, they require a regular care routine including removal of protein build-up and daily cleaning.
Toric, spherical and multi-focal is the three types of designs that are particular to contact lenses. Each category of design is created for a particular vision impairments. Toric contact lenses are specifically for anyone who has astigmatism. Spherical lenses correct the vision of those who are either short or long-sighted. Finally, multi-focal lenses are designed for those who have presbyopia. As these three different contact lens designs are created to correct different types of vision impairments it is always advisable to consult your optician before purchasing any one of them to ensure that it is right for you.
There are many different reasons for the use of different contact lenses. There are four categories into which they fall which are optical, therapeutic, cosmetic and decorative. The type of lenses used for correcting vision is Optical. Other lenses, such as Therapeutic ones are designed to assist the work of medicines that are used in the treatment of eye conditions such as diseased corneas.
Cosmetic lenses are created to change or enhance your natural eye color and to ultimately alter your eye’s appearance, whereas decorative lenses are for fun and are generally colored contacts that contain different patterns to produce different effects such as cat’s eyes or rainbows.
With there being so many different contact lenses created to achieve different objectives it is always important to ask your doctor or optician for his advice before making the wrong choice. For example, you could choose lenses that are entirely wrong for your particular vision impairment. Wearing incorrect contact lenses could result in causing permanent damage.
To choose the best contact lenses for your eyes you should always rely on the advice of your optician who will understand your particular needs after he has examined your eyes and will give you further advice on how to look after your choice of lenses. Even though venturing into wearing contact lenses may be entirely new for you it is always good to be informed so that you will ultimately the best choice, and once you have you can start to enjoy a greater clarity of sight.