3 Questions You Should Ask Your Optometrist

May 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment

There are many reasons you may wish to wear contacts. Convenience, better sight, cosmetic preference, or an active lifestyle are all great motivations to skip the glasses in favor of contact lenses. Before you delve into the world of contacts, you should ask your Phoenix optometrist these three questions.

How Do I Properly Care for My Lenses?

One of the most important pieces of information you need to have if you are going to ditch your glasses is how to clean, store, and inspect your lenses. You will want to know what the appropriate replacement schedule is and what types of products you should use for cleaning, rinsing, rehydrating, and soaking. All solutions are not created equally and some have been shown to have adverse effects on optometric patients, so be sure to follow your doctor’s recommendations.

How Can I Wear my Lenses Safely?

Be sure to ask your eye doctor about how to wear your contacts. Critical information you will need to have is the maximum length of time you should wear the lenses per day. During what activities (swimming for example) would you NOT want to wear your lenses? At what point, if any, should you opt to wear your glasses instead? Are you able to sleep in your lenses? This last question is difficult because many newer lenses do not present a safety issue if you sleep in them, but eye doctors still encourage you to remove them nightly anytime possible. Removing your lenses at night allows your eye to receive oxygen, which can be somewhat limited by wearing contacts.

Are They Safe?

Many patients who have only had experience with glasses worry that the lens will make its way behind your eye or get stuck in your eye socket somewhere. You may also need to know if your eye will be damaged if one of your lenses tears, or if your vision will get worse if you wear them instead of glasses. Another common question is if a foreign object or debris entering your eye can blind you. There are many myths about wearing contacts, but there are also many cautions around their use.

Eye doctors meet new contact lens patients every day and understand your concern about wearing them. Do not hesitate to ask your optometrist about the ins and outs of your new lenses and how you can be a responsible contact wearer.

Filed Under: Contacts, Eye Exams, Eye Health

4 Health Benefits when Wearing Polarized Lenses

March 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

While eye doctors everywhere recommend wearing sunglasses all year round to protect your eye health, you may wonder which kind to wear. Polarized lenses offer many advantages over their non-polarized counterparts, and should be a serious consideration when making this purchase.

How They Work
Polarized lenses block light rays that would normally enter your eyes after reflecting off of surfaces. The light that enters your eye after passing through a polarized lens has been filtered, allowing the wearer to see in a different way.

Health Benefits
1. Reduce Glare, Improve Safety
On a sunny day, you may notice that objects in the distance appear hazy, or nearby vehicles are reflecting light in a way that is nearly blinding. A polarized lens removes the effects of glare by blocking reflections. This improves eye comfort and allows you to take in the view without squinting. Roadways and water sources are major culprits of glare, and can cause danger to drivers who may already struggle with vision issues. Glare can create a very uncomfortable eye health issue for people with sensitive eyes, and even cause a migraine in patients who are prone to developing them.

2. Water Sports
You may notice that outdoor enthusiasts such as fishermen and boaters love polarized sunglasses. The special material makes it easier to see into the water. Without polarized lenses, the water’s surface simply reflects everything around it. This obscures view into the water almost completely. Polarized lenses block this reflection and enable the wearer to see the contents of the water instead of the sky.

3. Reduce Eyestrain
Another nasty side effective of glare, eyestrain can be relieved with polarized lens wear. Squinting to see clear images stresses the eyes and creates uncomfortable eye health issues like redness, irritation, fatigue, and headaches. Polarized lenses neutralize this issue and allow eyes to feel more comfortable and well rested.

4. Better Vision
Wearing polarized lenses can reveal colors and images like never before.  You will see crisply and cleanly, with a level of detail that may astound you.

There are a few circumstances where polarized lenses are not appropriate, such as night driving, flying an airplane, downhill skiing, and viewing LCD screens. The majority of the population will find polarized lenses immensely helpful in improving the clarity and quality of their daytime vision. Ask your eye health provider if polarized lenses are right for you.

Filed Under: Contacts, Sports Eyewear, Sunglasses

Can I Sleep in my Contacts?

March 4, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Contact lenses are the utmost in convenience for those who have impaired vision. Most of your day is spent enjoying clear vision without glasses, and it can be quite tempting to leave them in overnight. Phoenix Eye safety providers have a few things to say about this practice.

Risk of Eye Infection

For most people, eye infections rarely occur. Wearing contacts can slightly increase the risk of developing infections since foreign matter can accumulate on lenses, especially if they are not properly cleaned. Sleeping with your contacts in increases this risk exponentially. Bacteria or debris can build up in your eyes overnight and cause scratches to the surface of your eye, sometimes resulting in corneal ulcers or other types of eye damage, including blindness.

Lack of Oxygen

The cornea of your eye absorbs oxygen through the tiny blood vessels on the inside of the eyelid. Wearing contacts overnight diminishes the ability for oxygen to flow properly to the cornea and other eye structures that help you see, having a serious impact on your eyesight.  Never sleep in a lens that is not specifically designed for overnight usage, and even then you should limit how often you wear them overnight to ensure that your eyes stay oxygenated and healthy. Oxygen deprivation is an even larger issue if you wear colored lenses, since the pigments required to give your eyes a different color is a further obstacle to the proper flow of oxygen.

Eye Moisture

Wearing contacts overnight can result in a very painful morning wake-up call. Eye safety specialists often see patients who have had their contacts stick to the eyes’ surface to the point that requires an expert to remove the lens. In general, most contact wearers can attest to dry eyes and lenses when waking up after sleeping in their contacts. The lack of moisture in the eye can cause your lenses to degrade faster, or create small tears in the lens that may affect the fit and performance.

Contact lenses are a dream for those having vision issues, but they must be used with common sense. Redness, infection, swelling, tearing, and blindness can all be unfortunate consequences of sleeping with your lenses in, especially if your brand is not specifically designed for that type of wear. In the interests of eye safety, contact wearers should maintain their lenses properly and refrain from wearing them while sleeping.

Filed Under: Contacts

Benefits of Silicone Hydrogel Contacts

January 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Choosing the appropriate contact lenses for your needs can be a challenge with so many options available. Working with a Phoenix optometrist can help you make sense of the choices out there, including those using the incredible technological advancements of silicone hydrogel material. Silicone hydrogel contacts have been around for over a decade and have steadily grown in popularity for a number of reasons.

Increased Oxygen to Eyes

While more and more brands of contact lenses are designed for extended wear, silicone hydrogel
lenses allow between five and seven times more oxygen to pass through the lens into the eye, promoting eye health and minimizing the discomfort, swelling, redness and impaired vision that can accompany contact lens wear. Silicone hydrogel contacts are safer for extended wear, including during sleep, since oxygen is almost freely passed to the surface of the eye.

Lower Risk of Serious Infection

Keratitis is a type of infection in the eye that causes the cornea to become inflamed. There are two types of keratitis, those being non-severe keratitis and severe keratitis. Users of silicone hydrogel contact lenses generally experience fewer cases of severe keratitis than users of other contact lens types. In addition, minor eye infections are less frequent in wearers of silicone hydrogel lenses and those that do occur are more treatable due to the improvement in oxygen to the eye and general eye health.

Resistance to Protein Deposits

Many wearers of contact lenses have complained to their optometrist about pitting or crystalline deposits on their lenses that can cause vision impairment. These deposits are caused by protein in tears that stick to traditional lens material, making them hazy or blurred and even causing infection. Silicone hydrogel lenses are extremely resistant to protein deposits, neutralizing this hazard of contact lens wear.

Generally speaking, silicone hydrogel contact lenses are very user friendly and result in far less trouble to wearers than contact lenses of other types. Talk to your Phoenix optometrist about switching to silicone hydrogel contacts for better eye health and comfort.

Filed Under: Contacts

Tips to Overcome Fear of Inserting Contact Lenses

December 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

For those with vision problems, eyeglasses may not always be the most desirable solution. Glasses can fog easily, become dirty or water spotted, fall off in the middle of a task, or break. Contacts can be a much more convenient and aesthetically pleasing way to correct your vision, but many people have a phobia about inserting them. Try a few of these tricks to get over your fear of inserting contact lenses.

Dry Run

A tactic that works well for many novice contact-wearers is to practice touching their eyes for several days in a row before trying to actually insert lenses. Wash and dry your hands thoroughly. Try to use your clean fingers to gently touch your upper and lower eyelids, your eyelashes, and then finally the whites of your eyes repeatedly. After a few days of this you will have started to desensitized your eyes to objects in and near them. Inserting contacts will be much easier when you’ve proved to your eyes (and brain!) that there is nothing to fear.

Practice Your Moves

Blinking can often interrupt the contact application process. Practice not blinking by using your non-dominant hand (i.e. your left, if you are right-handed) to assist. Place your pointer finger on the upper eyelid, and the side of your thumb on the lower eyelid to gently hold open your eye. This will help you avoid blinking midstream. You may need to experiment with different positions for your helper hand to become comfortable with this approach prior to putting in the contacts.

Look Away

The best tactic for inserting contacts is to not look at the finger that is approaching your eye. Instead, look into a mirror and manage the application from the mirror’s image. Get as close as you need to and focus on the image in the mirror who happens to be putting in a contact lens. As the finger is ready to insert the lens, look up slightly and apply the lens to the white part of your eye. Gently slide the lens up into the correct position. Managing from the mirror’s perspective takes some of the emotion out of the process.

Wearing contact lenses can be far more comfortable and convenient than eyeglasses. Be persistent, breathe, and keep practicing. Once you have had some success, the process will become increasingly easier and you’ll wonder why you ever wore glasses!

Filed Under: Contacts

Is My Child Ready for Contacts?

November 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Among the many questions and apprehensions that a parent faces as their children grow up, is what is the right age for kids to move on to contact lenses.  While many children’s eye care specialists advocate that a child as young as 11 years old can benefit from wearing contact lenses it is important to know that each child is different and handles responsibilities differently. A parent should carefully assess their child’s level of responsibility before allowing the child to graduate into wearing lenses.

J Walline, assistant professor at Ohio State University states that “wearing contact lenses can instill confidence in a young child and help her perform better. However the child must also be able to understand the importance of caring for their lenses and eyes”.

Here are a few questions that can help you decide if your child  is ready to see an eyecare specialist to get a prescription for contact lenses.

Does your child complete small chores without having repeatedly asked to do so?

Children who are responsible about  small chores and keep you informed about their whereabouts will be responsible and diligent about their lenses too.

Is your child clean and hygienic?

Being clean and maintaining good hygiene is important with regards to children’s eye care and use of lenses as well. Poor hygiene and lack of care towards lenses can lead to eye infections. A child who cannot remember to take off her lenses or clean them properly may not be ready for lenses yet.

Is your child unhappy with her glasses?

A child who is unhappy with their glasses is more likely to take good care of their contact lenses to avoid having to switch back to eye glasses.

Can your child understand and follow instructions given by an eye doctor?

This is very important as the child needs to be able to store the lenses properly and be able to properly put them on and take them off. While putting the lenses on the wrong side may not cause damage to the eyes it can cause discomfort and redness of the eyes.

Does your child love sports?

A child who is actively involved in sports can benefit from wearing sports contact lenses. These lenses provide better peripheral vision as well as unobstructed field view which will help your child excel in sports.

Filed Under: Children's Vision, Contacts

How to Take Care of Your Contacts

November 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Contact lenses are a great alternative to glasses however proper care needs to be taken while using them. In order to extend the life of your contact lenses it is essential that you are acquainted with the following tips of proper eyecare and lens maintenance.

  • Get your pair of contact lens after having your eyes checked by an eyecare specialist. While many advocate computerized eye tests, it is best to get the correct prescription for lenses from an ophthalmologist.
  • Always wash your hands with warm water and soap before handling your lenses. Dry them using a clean towel. Ensure that there is no residue of soap left on your hands as residue of soap can stick on to the contact lens and cause not just pain and irritation but may also lead to blurred vision.
  • Different lenses are designed to be worn for different durations of time. Wear your lenses only for the prescribed time and never sleep with them on.
  • Eyes are the most sensitive anatomy of the body and tend to get dry easily when contact lenses are worn. This leads to itchiness and redness of the eyes. Use saline or a re-wetting solution to keep your eyes well lubricated.
  • Opt for daily contact lenses if feasible as they are linked to lesser infections than extended wear lenses and are also more comfortable to wear.
  • Remove your lenses before you sleep and avoid wearing them overnight even if they are extended wear lenses. Wearing lenses for a long time increases the risks of contracting an eye infection.
  • Use lens cleaners and eye drops as prescribed by your eye doctor. You may need to try out different samples to ensure you are not allergic to the solution.
  • Clean the case that you store the lenses in, after each use in hot water and allow it to dry. Replace them once every 3-6 months.
  • Disinfect your lenses before every use. Never clean lenses with saliva as this will lead to eye infections.

For any doubts or queries with regard to eyecare, or use of your contact lens, do not hesitate to contact your eye doctor.

 

Filed Under: Contacts, Eye Health, Prescription

Top 5 Things You Might Not Know About Contact Lenses

October 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Wearing contact lenses is a great eye care option for those who dislike wearing glasses due to a number of reasons- physical discomfort, social embarrassment, inconvenience, and management. Invented back in 1887, contact lenses embolden you to go out and look the world in the eye (no pun intended!) with confidence. The best part about contact lenses is they are invisible to the naked eye.

Here are five lesser known facts about contact lenses:

1)    Water can harm your lenses: Rinsing your contact lenses with tap water, bottled water, or your saliva is a very serious mistake because they run the risk of causing eye infections. It is for this reason that it is sensible to avoid swimming while wearing the lenses.

2)    Contact lenses suitable for kids too: Yes, that’s right! Young children are actually better candidates for contact lenses than their older counterparts. This is because unlike adults, they have been found to be very careful in following eye care instructions. Of course, you would not want to make them wear lenses without consulting an eye specialist. However, don’t be surprised if the doctor sees no problem with your little one wearing tiny contact lenses.

3)    They can be worn by diabetes patients as well: There is a widespread misconception that a diabetes patient cannot wear contact lenses because they suffer from frequent eye dryness. However, this is not true. All it means is that the choice of their lens would be slightly different from regular ones. If you’re one such diabetes patient, ensure that you let your eye care specialist know about it. It is also important to follow their suggestions on lens maintenance to the ‘T’.

4)     Contact lens can tackle myopia: Recent research studies suggest that the use of specific lenses during the night can actually retard the progress of myopia. This goes to show that they have preventive as well as curative value, if worn correctly.

5)    You should not wear them even while taking a nap: As a thumb rule, wearing contact lenses during sleep is a strict no-no. This eye care rule is applicable even for a short nap of 10-15 minutes.  Doctors opine that not doing so can cause redness, soreness and even ulcers in the eye.

Filed Under: Contacts, Eyeglasses

Are you Interested in Colored Contact Lenses?

October 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Popular for correcting vision, contacts are increasingly being used as an accessory to enhance appearance by altering eye color to provide an entirely different look.  Different colored contact styles are available depending on the amount of change you want and the purpose for which you are using them.

Styles of Colored Contacts

There are several different styles of colored lenses from which to choose depending upon the reasons you are wearing them.

  • Subtle Color Enhancers - These lenses intensify your natural eye color, adding vibrancy to lighter eyes and deepening the color of darker eyes.
  • Color Altering Lenses - This style completely changes the color of your iris.  They are available in natural eye colors and can change the color of even very dark eyes.
  • Color Filters - While this style of lens can alter eye color somewhat, they are designed to filter certain wavelengths to improve color vision.  The resulting brightening effects make these lenses popular with athletes, increasing visual acuity.
  • Party Lenses – These lenses provide a starting effect as they’re produced in unnatural eye colors such as red, gold, florescent colors or even patterns.   As these lenses are no cheaper than other versions, they are generally used predominantly for movies or theatrical purposes, however they are becoming increasingly popular with college students who wear them at parties.

Safety Issues

While previously considered a cosmetic product, Federal legislation passed in 2005 declared that colored contact lenses are medical products.  The associated regulations made it illegal to sell colored lenses without a prescription.

If you are considering buying colored contact lenses, there are several factors to be aware of to ensure the lenses you purchase are safe for your eyes.  In addition to obtaining a proper prescription, make sure the lenses you buy are FDA approved.

It’s important to have your eyes measured and a complete eye exam conducted to ensure you are a good candidate for wearing colored lenses.  Your new lenses should be fitted by a trained professional and you should  have follow-up examinations to ensure you aren’t experiencing problems from your contacts.

Make sure to follow the recommended schedule for wear to avoid eye irritation.  To protect your eyes from damage it’s also critical to follow care recommendations for cleaning/sterilizing your lenses and basic hygiene practices when putting them on or taking them off.

With proper fitting and care, colored contact lenses can give you a fun and different look within minutes.

Filed Under: Contacts

Gas Permeable (GP) Contact Lenses

July 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Gas permeable (GP) contact lenses, also known as rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses, are hard contact lenses made of silicone-containing compounds that allow oxygen to pass through the lens material to the eye. Though not as popular as soft contact lenses, GP lenses offer a number of advantages over soft lenses.

Advantages of gas permeable lenses

  1. GP lenses allow your eyes to “breathe” better. GP lenses allow more oxygen to reach the front surface of the eye. This reduces the risk of eye problems caused by hypoxia (reduced oxygen supply). Gas permeable lenses provide a better oxygen supply than most soft lenses because:

The silicone-containing lens materials of GP lenses are more permeable to oxygen than many soft lens materials (though new “ silicone hydrogel” soft lenses are comparable to GPs in oxygen transmission).

GP lenses are smaller in diameter than soft lenses, so they cover up less of the front surface of the eye (the cornea).

Gas permeable lenses hold their shape and move on the eye with each blink. This movement pumps oxygen-containing tears under the lens. Soft lenses conform to the shape of the cornea and have only minimal movement with blinks, so little or no tears circulate under soft lenses.

  1. GP lenses provide sharper vision. Because they are custom-machined to a smooth surface and maintain their shape on the eye, GP lenses provide sharper vision than soft lenses, which can fluctuate in shape and clarity if they start to dry out. Gas permeable lenses also provide a more stable and accurate correction of astigmatism.
  2. GP lenses last longer. GP lenses are rigid, so there’s no worry about ripping or tearing them. They are also easier to keep clean and don’t need to be replaced frequently like soft lenses. With proper care, a single pair of GP lenses can last a year or longer. And since they’re long-lasting, GP can be less expensive than soft lenses in the long run.
  3. GP lenses may slow the progression of nearsightedness. In addition to their other advantages, some research suggests that wearing gas permeable lenses may slow the progression of myopia (nearsightedness) in some children. GPs are also used for orthokeratology, where specially designed contacts are worn during sleep to reshape the cornea and improve vision.

The Downside of GP Contact Lenses

So why doesn’t everyone wear GP lenses? Potential disadvantages of GP lenses (compared to soft lenses) include:

1.  Need for adaptation. Unlike wearing soft lenses (which are comfortable right from the start), you may need few weeks before you can wear GP lenses comfortably all day. Initially, you may be able to wear the lenses only a few hours daily until your corneas adapt to them. But if you can tough it out for those first few days, you may be pleasantly surprised at how comfortable GP lenses become. Many people who switch from soft lenses to gas permeable lenses say GP lenses are more comfortable than soft lenses (after their eyes fully adapt) and their vision is noticeably clearer.

2.  Inability to wear part-time. To fully adapt to GP lenses and to stay comfortable wearing them, you have to wear them every day. If you stop wearing them for several days, you will be more aware of the lenses on your eyes and you’ll have to re-adapt to the lenses.

3.  Increased possibility of dislodging. Because they are smaller than soft lenses, gas permeable lenses can dislodge from your eyes during contact sports or if you rub your eyes aggressively.

4.  Vulnerability to sand and dust. GP lenses don’t conform to the shape of your eye like soft lenses do, so it’s possible sand or dust can get under your lenses at the beach or on a windy day. (You can minimize this risk by wearing wrap-style sunglasses outdoors.)

5.  Higher lens replacement costs. Unlike soft lenses, which come in limited sizes, GP lenses are custom-made to the shape of your eye. This makes GP lenses more expensive to replace if you lose them. Also, it can take up to a week to get a GP lens replaced.So it’s a good idea to purchase a spare pair to avoid the inconvenience of being without your GP lenses if you lose or break one.

Best of Both Worlds?

Since comfort is the primary barrier to GP use, an interesting innovation is the hybrid contact lens. These lenses have a GP center, surrounded by a soft lens “skirt.” The goal of hybrid lenses is to provide the clarity of a gas permeable lens and wearing comfort that rivals that of a soft lens.

Call for more information and a trial fitting

To see if gas permeable lenses are right for you, call our office for more information and to schedule a trail fitting.

For more information on GP contact lenses, visit All About Vision®.

Filed Under: Contacts, Eye Health, Low Vision
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