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.
