Custom Contact Lenses

Having spent the best part of my childhood and teenage years wearing prescription glasses, I never know the joys of custom contact lenses till a friend told me about them. In our home, we were taught to believe that having poor vision was nothing to be ashamed of. And custom contact lenses were viewed as a purely cosmetic option, meant to cover that fact. But it wasn't until I gathered the courage to go in for my first set of custom contact lenses that I realized how wrong that belief was!

My optometrist first had a good laugh when I narrated my belief about custom contact lenses to him. He then took the time and the effort to tell me all about custom contact lenses. He first explained that contrary to popular belief, custom contact lenses weren't merely aesthetic devices. They were medical devices in the true sense of the term and should be worn only when prescribed. In the United States of America, it is considered illegal in many states to try to buy custom contact lenses without a prescription.

Next, he told me all about the kinds of custom contact lenses that were available in the market. Broadly, there are two types of custom contact lenses. While all custom contact lenses are made from some form of plastic, the two broad sub-divisions are whether the custom contact lenses are soft or hard. Hard custom contact lenses are also known as rigid gas permeable lenses. As the name suggests, soft custom contact lenses are softer because they contain more water. This makes them much more comfortable to wear than the rigid gas permeable custom contact lenses, which are more defined. While it is initially easier to get used to soft custom contact lenses, in the long run, it is the hard custom contact lenses that are more dependable and durable.

Of course, a lot depends on the individual wearing the lenses. If you are someone like me, whose eyes produce more lipids or proteins, you will need to go in for a shorter wearing schedule as the deposits can decease the lifespan of the custom contact lenses. And finally, (my optometrist had another long laugh) there are variations in color of the custom contact lenses. After the prescription has been determined and the material has been chosen, individuals can opt to go in for tinted custom contact lenses to change, highlight or even modify the color of their eyes!

Article by T.C. Johnson an independent writer for Healthy Help FIles on General Health Issues.

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