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Contact Lenses

Contact Lenses

 

Contact lenses have been around for more than 50 years, technology has dramatically improved in that time, particularly in the last 5 years, and we are able to offer almost everybody the comfort and convenience of contact lens wear.

Contact lenses are medical devices which have to be properly fitted and checked by your eye care practitioner. After your eyes have been checked for suitability, your contact lens prescription will be determined, then the best contact lens option for you will be discussed. The type of lens and replacement schedule will direct you towards the best lens for you.
 

Disposable Contact Lenses 

Disposable lenses are now the most common type of lens, favoured because of their health and convenience benefits. Disposable lenses are also known as frequent replacement lenses, they can be prescribed for either daily or extended wear. How often they are replaced varies from person to person and depends on the type of lens, how often they are worn, and how your eyes behave whilst wearing contact lenses.
 

Daily Disposables

Also known as one-days, fresh new lenses every day, each night the contact lenses are thrown out and a new pair is worn the next day. This allows for the convenience of occasional wear and avoids the hassle of cleaning and storing contact lenses. For people who have problems with protein and deposit build ups, and for people with allergies this lens may be a solution.
 

Monthly Disposables

These contact lenses are an excellent choice for the frequent lens wearer, they are cost effective, convenient, and the many designs available, allow for more complex prescriptions and astigmatism to be corrected. They are replaced frequently enough to prevent the discomfort of deposit build up and therefore help the eyes maintain clear vision and optimum health.
 

Continuous Wear

These are contact lenses, which have been designed to safely allow the continuous wear of contact lenses for 24 hours a day, for up to 30 days, even while you sleep. These lenses allow more oxygen to reach the eye than a standard lens, this allows the eye to remain healthy and comfortable whilst wearing the lenses. Continuous wear lenses are ideal for busy lifestyles, and for people who want to see clearly at any time of the day or night, without the hassle of removing and cleaning lenses. These lenses also allow flexible wear, the lenses are worn as a daily lens and allow occasional night wear, good for taking a nap or a weekend trip away. Overnight lens wear has more health risks compared to removal at night and therefore a stricter aftercare regimen is essential.
 

BIFOCAL LENSES

These lenses have been designed to give good vision for people with presbyopia as they offer the convenience of distant and reading vision in the one lens, eliminating the need for separate reading glasses. These lenses are available as soft, rigid or disposable frequent replacement lenses. When this type of lens is not the answer, due to adaptation problems, another solution may be monovision, this is where one eye is corrected for distance and the other for near. As this process is very subjective, and the answer varies from person to person, we offer free-trial programmes to find the solution for you. These lenses are available as a disposable or conventional lens.
 

TORIC LENSES

These are special lenses designed for eyes needing a correction for astigmatism. Astigmatism is usually caused when the front surface of the eye is not perfectly round. A specially designed toric contact lens can be prescribed to correct this problem and allow good vision. Toric lenses have 2 powers in them and a mechanism to keep the lens stable on the eye. This lens takes more time and expertise to fit. These lenses are available as a disposable, rigid or conventional lens, the best option varies depending on the amount of astigmatism present in the eye.
 

COLOURED LENSES

Coloured lenses can be used to completely change or just enhance your eyes’s natural colour. They are available in lots of colours and can even be worn by those who have perfect vision, a prescription is still required as a coloured contact lens is still a medical devise. These are available as conventional and disposable lenses.
 

GAS PERMEABLE LENSES

While soft contact lenses are the most common, another type is available called gas permeable. These lenses are made of a rigid oxygen permeable material, they can provide better vision, durability and deposit resistance than soft contact lenses. They can be easier to clean, and since they are long-lasting, they can be less expensive in the long term than soft lenses. Not everyone can wear these lenses, as to achieve maximum comfort with them, they have to be worn every day, and  they require more time to get used to before they are comfortable. But they can be the answer for people who don’t achieve acceptable vision with soft lenses.