A Sight for Sore Eyes

Contact Lenses

Soft Lenses, Gas Permeable, Daily Disposable, Coloured, Bifocals

Above is just a short list of the types of contact lenses available today. At Oldbury & Cruickshank, we have a special interest in contact lenses, this enables us to select the right sort of lens to suit your eyes and your lifestyle. There are many different types of lenses currently available, each with benefits for particular people. It is important to be aware that contact lenses can also cause eye problems, it is therefore very important that they are fitted properly initially and that they are checked regularly. At Oldbury & Cruickshank, we put particular importance on regular aftercare for all our contact lens wearers. Following is a brief guide to the more common types of Contact lenses.

Soft Lenses

By far the most common type of contact lens currently fitted is the soft lens, and most soft lenses fitted are of the disposable type. Soft lenses are usualy comfortable straight away, which makes them particularly useful for occasional wear eg for sports and social wear. Although they are also very suitable for daily wear. Click here to see the special offer on Monthly Disposable soft lenses.

Gas Permeable Lenses

Gas permeable lenses are developed from what used to be called hard lenses. These were made of perspex, were good optically and were fairly resistant to deposits and poor handling. However they allowed minimal oxtgen through to the front of the eye, resulting in poor comfort and blurred vision when the lenses were removed. Gas permeable materials allow oxygen through to the eye, giving better comfort and less eye problems. They still require an adaption time during which they may be a little uncomfortable, however once the adaption is achieved, these lenses can be very comfortable to use.

Bifocals

Around the age of 45 your eyes lose their ability to focus on close up objects. So if you already need eyewear for distance vision, you're faced with the choice of either separate glasses for reading or spectacles that combine both near and distance lenses (eg. bifocals).

But the idea of bifocal glasses probably won't hold much appeal to someone who is used to contact lenses. Fortunately there's now a viable alternative - bifocal contact lenses. Available in Gas Permeables and soft disposable forms, bifocal contact lenses are very different from their spectacle counterpart. There is no real line in the contact lens, but rely on the central part of the lens giving a focus for both near and far vision. This allowing for simutaneous close and distance vision in all directions of gaze.

Although not everyone is suitable for contact lenses, why not call us for further information. We can arrange a contact lens trial, subject to clinical suitability.

Progressive Dailies

There is now available a daily disposable version of the successful Monthly Progressive Contact lens from CIBA. Designed for the occassional user wanting to do without glasses for reading and distance for those special occasions.

Importance Of Aftercare

As a final comment, wearing of contact lenses is not without possible problems. Luckily these are rare, but ulcers such as this do happen. This is mostly due to poor patient compliance with the solutions (where needed) and patients avoiding returning for regular aftercare. Please do handle and care for your contact lenses as you have been advised, and don't skimp on using the care products properely. IT REALLY IS WORTH IT.

Last modified: August 2001