There are many different eye conditions that require specific kinds of contact lenses, but finding the right kind isn’t always easy. There are lenses designed for certain eye conditions, such as an astigmatism, dry eyes, keratoconus, etc. but comfort is a very important aspect of correcting your vision, so be sure to find lenses that fit your eye properly.
Soft Contact Lenses are typically the best option for most people. They allow the eye to breath and receive moisture, and can be helpful for people suffering from dry eye as well. Most of these lenses are disposable, so you can revive your eyes with a fresh pair of lenses whenever necessary.
Gas-Permeable Lenses
Rigid Gas-Permeable Lenses are hard contact lenses that provide correction for very poor vision and conditions causing blurry vision, such as an astigmatism. The lenses provide very clear vision and will not slide on the eye as much as a soft lenses, but they aren’t as comfortable and can be a difficult adjustment. However, they are durable and can improve very poor eyesight to nearly 20/20 vision.
Scleral Lenses
Scleral contact lenses are often used for people who are unable to use traditional contact lenses. There are plenty of eye conditions where traditional lenses simply won’t work.
Scleral lenses get their name because they cover the whole eye instead of just a portion of the cornea. They rest on the sclera (the white part of your eye). Since they are much larger than traditional lenses, they are more stable on eyes and don’t get dislodged easily.
Scleral lenses are also more comfortable—once you put them in! For this reason, they can also be used on sensitive eyes or irregularly shaped corneas. Scleral lenses can also be used by people who suffer from dry eyes.
Scleral lenses can be more expensive than traditional lenses because they are custom-made to fit your eyes. It takes special tools and imaging devices to measure your eyes and order your lenses. Vision insurance can help with these extra costs, and we will be happy to discuss payments at your visit.
Hybrid Lenses
InSight EyeCare offers hybrid lenses for patients with spectacle power that is too high or astigmatism that is too large for soft contact lenses. Hybrid lenses have a hard center and soft skirt. The hard center allows the doctor to correct any spectacle power or astigmatism amount while the soft skirt provides comfort comparable to that of a soft contact lens.
Specialty Contacts
If you are looking for an alternative to laser surgery that can improve your vision in a similar fashion, you may be interested in orthokeratology, or more commonly known as “ortho-k”. Ortho-K involves temporarily reshaping the cornea through the use of specialized contact lenses.
Although these lenses are not very common and most people still prefer laser surgery to ortho-k, the reshaping method gained more attention and approval after the contact lenses were designed to be worn while sleeping. If you have more questions about orthokeratology or would like to see if it might be the right path for you, call us at (713) 462-2010 to schedule an eye exam with us today.
Multifocal soft contact lenses are used to correct presbyopia, so it is really important to us that we understand your needs, lifestyle, and expectations so we can determine the right fit for you. They should fit comfortably right away if we do our job correctly, though these are often the hardest contacts to fit.
