Should I use Contact Lenses?

Once-upon-a-time, those who wore glasses were labelled as geeks and unfashionable – remember  the classic 'speccy four-eyes' jibe?

Fast forward some years, stick a few photos of celebrities wearing glasses in the news, introduce famous brand names like Gucci and Prada  to the glasses market and volia... suddenly donning specs is seen as a sexy, stylish and sophisticated affair.
 

Celebrities have set the trend, yet an estimated three million people in the UK are prepared to swap their Harry Potter frames for contact lenses. 

The question is, why?

Convenience and flexibility
 

People turn to contact lenses for different reasons. Some may find that wearing glasses for sports such as rugby, tennis and swimming is not an option; some may want to look different for special occasions or nights out, and others might simply want to wave good bye to the embarrassing ‘fog attack’ on the good ol' specs after a cold night out. 

Yes, we’ve all been there…

Lens Type
 

There are generally two types of contact lenses used today – soft lenses and rigid gas permeable lenses (RGP). RGP lenses are usually prescribed for people with high degrees of astigmatism (where the shape of the cornea causes distorted eyesight). 

However, soft lenses are the ones commonly used in the UK; they tend to be more comfortable to wear and easier to fit than RGP lenses. Soft lenses are made of oxygen permeable plastic which contains round 30 to 80 per cent water, and come in differnt types.

Soft daily and monthly disposables
 

Daily disposables are for those who want to pop their lenses in and go; no cleaning, no disinfecting and no faffing around. It is highly convenient as a new pair of lenses is worn and thrown away every day so there is no need for solutions and storage cases.

Those who are interested in giving daily disposables a go might be interested in Johnson & Johnson's Acuvue 1 Day Daily Moist.

Monthly lenses tend to be cheaper than daily disposables and once opened, can be kept in a case with solution for up to a month. Lenses should be cleaned, to prevent dirt build-up, before inserting into eyes every time.

If you want to try contact lenses the economical way to, Ciba Vision Air Optix Aqua  (for a box of three) is a popular choice among monthly contact wearers.

Soft extendable weekly and monthly lenses
 

Extendable contact lenses are perfect for those who want to see clearly from the moment they open their eyes in the morning to the moment they close their eyes at night. Yes, these lenses are ‘breathable’ and designed to allow more oxygen to reach your cornea, so you can even sleep with them in!

Weekly extendable lenses allow wearers to wear contacts for up to seven days without removing them from their eyes.

Some monthly extendable lenses are made of silicon hydrogel and allow wearers to sleep in their contacts for up to 30 days.

Toric lenses
 

Toric lenses are designed for those with astigmatism. These lenses are thicker on the bottom to prevent them from moving around in the eye when the wearer blinks.

These days, there are plenty of choices in the toric lens range from daily lenses to weekly extendable lenses to choose from.
 

Bifocal contact lenses
 

These lenses are used to treat presbyopia (also known as "aging eye"). Bifocal helps to correct vision so that objects can be seen in the distance as well as acting as reading "glasses".

Like toric lenses, there are a wide range of bifocal lenses to select from including daily lenses and weekly extendable lenses.