If your natural vision is blurred and you have been diagnosed with a refractive eye condition such as near-sightedness, far-sightedness or astigmatism, you will need to use corrective eyewear to help you see clearly again. Generally, patients choose either glasses or contact lenses, although some people like to use a combination of the two different solutions. We are pleased to be able to offer prescriptive eyewear solutions, including a comprehensive contact lens service.

Benefits of contact lenses

Many people who rely on prescription eyewear choose contact lenses for either some or all of the time because of the unique benefits that they can offer. Here are 10 of the most common reasons why patients opt for contact lenses over glasses. Contact lenses:

• offer natural, all-around vision without compromising your appearance

• are simple to use

• make certain sporting and leisure pursuits that would be impossible or difficult with glasses, possible

• can be worn for all of the day, part of the day or even just for special occasions, you can fit them perfectly with your lifestyle

• are suitable for people of ages

• can correct virtually any refractive eye condition

• are comfortable

• no glare

• are easy to look after

• support the health of your eyes

• are a great alternative to laser eye surgery

• you can wear goggles or sunglasses

• work well in all weathers

The evolution of contact lenses

If you haven’t had contact lenses before, you can be forgiven for thinking that all contacts are created equal. However, the design of contact lenses has evolved just as much as those lenses used in glasses and now there are varying types of contact lens available. This includes daily lenses, which involve placing a new set of lenses in your eyes each morning and throwing them away at night, to re-usable lenses which must be taken out and placed in a special cleaning solution overnight.

In addition to this, there are specially designed contacts that can help support your visual health. For example, some contact lenses have been shown to effectively manipulate the peripheral vision which can slow the progression of a condition known as myopia. The material used in contact lenses has also evolved to become superior and modern lenses are now highly oxygen permeable. This means that your eyes are less likely to become dry and your lenses can be worn for many hours without disruption.

How do contact lenses work?

The lenses in contacts work in exactly the same ways as glasses, correcting the way that light refracts in your eyes and focuses on the retina. By changing this, it is possible to enable the light to focus properly and this means that our brain will interpret the message from our eyes correctly and will be able to tell us what we can see.

Something which you may not realize is that a prescription for contact lenses is very different from a prescription for glasses. This is because contact lenses sit directly onto the surface of your eyes, rather than a few inches in front of them. If you obtain a prescription for glasses and you decide you would rather wear contacts instead, our professional doctors may need to retest your eyes to determine what your prescription would be for wearing contact lenses instead.

Contacts can be worn for all or part of the day. Make sure to take care of your contacts and use them exactly as described by our dental team.

If you are considering switching from eyeglasses to contact lenses, or if you would like to arrange an assessment of your eyes to see if your eyes would benefit from prescription eyewear, please don’t hesitate to contact our offices.

Contact us to learn more (818) 960-1300.