Contact Lenses
Contact lenses are worn on the surface of the cornea usually to improve vision but also can be worn to promote healing or improve appearance. Contact lenses, when used properly, are comfortable and convenient. You will hardly know you're wearing them and appreciate how much more natural and unencumbered your vision is. We always recommend having a backup pair of glasses for our contact lens wearers. Glasses give your eyes a rest from the contacts each day or in case you develop a problem with your eyes or contacts. This allows you to meet your overall lifestyle demands while supporting the integrity of your eye health. We will discuss your visual requirements to put you in the contact lens option best for you. We have standard contact lenses for patients with routine needs and specialty contact lenses for those with high prescriptions, challenging corneal health issues or appearance problems.
Contact Lens Types
The types of contact lenses available have exploded in the past few years. There are now contact lenses available for almost everyone. Just because you were told in the past that you could not wear contacts or were unsuccessful when you tried, you owe it to yourself today to see what is new in today’s market. We carry many options and promise to do our very best in selecting the right contact lens option for you.
- Disposable Soft Lenses
Disposable soft lenses are the most popular soft lenses prescribed today. These lenses are worn for a short period of time and then, of course, thrown away but do require daily maintenance. The most well-known disposables last for two weeks but the trend has moved to one day disposables because they are no maintenance. These are perfect for many patients who were told they could not wear contact lenses because of allergies or mild dry eye conditions. They have a low cost per lens and are also popular for athletes and hobbyists who do not necessarily want to wear contact lenses every day. - Frequent Replacement Soft Lenses
These lenses are worn for one-month periods and then replaced. Other frequent replacement soft lens types are worn two to three months before they are replaced. They have to be cleaned (rubbed with daily cleaner or storage solution) at the end of the day after removal from the eye, rinsed and stored at night and cleaned once a week with an enzymatic cleaner, if you are prone to protein deposits. - Soft Colored Contact Lenses
With tinted soft lenses, you can change or enhance your eye color in addition to seeing clearly through your prescription. Tinted soft lenses are available in disposable or frequent replacement types as well as toric designs for astigmatism. Plano colored contacts lenses are available for those who wish to change their eye color but do not require a correction. It is important to be fitted by your eye doctor even when a correction is not needed. Patients who wear contact lenses not prescribed by an eye doctor and don’t obtain the knowledge and training on how to properly care for their lenses can cause significant damage to their eyes. - Toric Soft Lenses
Toric lenses are used for correcting astigmatism. Astigmatism is caused by a cornea that’s shaped more like a football than a basketball meaning the cornea has an irregular shape resulting in blurry vision at distance and near. In the past, before toric soft contact lenses were available, the only options for people with astigmatism were either glasses or hard PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) contact lenses. Today, toric soft lenses, which are soft lenses with a special shape to neutralize the astigmatism, are a great alternative. - Extended Wear Soft Lenses
Extended wear lenses, the result of new technology in lens materials, transmit more oxygen to the cornea than they have in the past. Some of these lens materials have been approved to be worn up to 30 days, day and night, without removal. Extended wear lenses can last one week, two weeks or one month, depending upon the lens material and your doctor’s recommendations. Although extended wear lenses are approved for overnight wear, we do not recommend sleeping in them because it raises the risk of infection and corneal ulceration. A corneal ulcer is something you never want to experience. It is painful and can lead to scarring, loss of vision and perforation of the eye. - Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) Lenses
As the name implies, these lenses are hard and gas (oxygen) permeable. RGP materials have evolved over the years as the technology has evolved to very high levels of oxygen permeability. Corneal tissue requires oxygen to remain viable, which is why it’s important the material is permeable to oxygen. If you’ve been told you cannot wear soft lenses, RGP lenses are a potential alternative. RGPs are usually prescribed for patients with corneal astigmatism. They can usually provide crisper vision but are not as popular as soft contact lenses because they are not considered as comfortable. - Multifocal Soft Lenses
Recent optical design advancements have improved the vision with bifocal soft lenses. Many patients who need progressive lenses, trifocals or bifocals may now enjoy the comfort and benefits of these soft multifocal contact lenses.
Specialty Contact Lenses
- Multifocal or Bifocal Rigid Gas Permeable Lenses
In situations where a multifocal soft lens won't provide clear vision because of astigmatism, a multifocal or bifocal rigid gas permeable lens may be a solution for patients who wear progressives, trifocals or bifocals and want to have the option of contact lenses. - Scleral, Mini-Scleral, Corneal-Scleral RGP Lenses
RGP lenses are available in highly specialized designs called Scleral, Mini-Scleral and Corneal-Scleral lenses to correct many types of challenging corneal problems. These lenses are the latest technology for addressing patients with irregular corneas resulting from issues like keratoconus, kerato-globus, pellucid marginal degeneration, corneal tranplants/grafts, post surgical issues (poor Lasik/PRK results), trauma, significant scarring, dry eye, high astigmatism/myopes/hyperopes or any patient with comfort, stability or centration problems. These lenses are large in size and vault over the cornea minimizing or avoiding contact with its surface. Tears and saline solution fill in the space between the lens and cornea. This is advantageous in cases where it's best to avoid contact with the corneal surface for healing purposes thereby reducing mechanical stress but also neutralizing the irregular surface of the cornea to create better optics. - Soft Contacts Lenses for Keratoconus
Keratoconus is a progressive degenerative disorder causing thinning of the cornea resulting in distorted optics, high astigmatism and blurry vision. Historically, patients have been prescribed hard lenses or RGPs to improve vision when glasses could not overcome the optical distortion. RGPs create a new optical surface for the distorted cornea allowing significantly improved vision over glasses. In the past, soft contact lenses were not a viable option because the cornea was too distorted for the lenses to neutralize the optics. However, advancements in soft contact lens materials and design now allow some Keratoconus patients to use these specialized soft lenses, depending on their degree of their Keratoconus. For Keratoconus patients who are unhappy with their standard RPGs because of comfort and or vision issues, specialized soft contact lenses for Keratoconus are another option to consider along with scleral, semi-scleral and corneal-scleral RGP designs. - High Astigmatism Soft Lenses
Want to stay in soft contact lenses but have a high degree of astigmatism and standard toric soft lenses for astigmatism aren't providing vision as clear as you would like? Consider moving into a custom designed soft toric lens. We can design a custom soft toric lens to try to address your high level of astigmatism. - Theatrical/Special Effect Lenses
These contact lens designs are often requested for motion pictures, TV and videos. If you need an unusual or unique design for your contact lenses, we will do our best to work with you to meet your requirements. We also carry reasonably priced special effects lenses for those special occasions like Halloween, Christmas, St Patricks Day, Electric Daisy Carnival, and more. - Prosthetics
For patients who want to improve the appearance of their eye or eyes because of cosmetic issues resulting from trauma, surgery or birth defects, prosthetic lenses may provide a possible solution. These lenses can hide defects that may be causing unnecessary distraction for you. If that’s the case, come in for a comprehensive eye exam so we can make an assessment and discuss your options. - Corneal Refractive Therapy Lenses
Corneal Refractive Therapy (CRT) is a refractive therapy option that has been shown to slow the progression of nearsigtedness in children and teenagers. CRT allows you to see clearly during the day without glasses or contact lenses. Specialty designed therapeutic lenses gently reshape the front surface of your cornea while you sleep.
