Almost everyone has the option of wearing prescription contact lenses regardless of age or if you have a prescription power that is high or is for astigmatism or multifocal needs. There are specific prescription contact lenses on the market that will address all of these vision correction requirements. The only limiting factors mainly relate to eye health.
How Do I Start Wearing Contact Lenses ?
The first step is a consultation with your Eyecare Professional who will evaluate your eye health suitability and determine your contact lens prescription, which can differ from your spectacle prescription. Trial lenses are often inserted allowing you and your Eyecare Professional to assess your vision and comfort, this may take a couple of visits before the correct type and fit of the contact lens is decided upon. To set you on the road to wearing your prescription contact lenses you will be taught how to insert, remove and care for your lenses, this can take some patience and practice before you work out the technique you are most comfortable with. A professional fee is usually charged for these contact lens consultations, which differs from practice to practice.
Will Contact Lenses Hurt My Eyes ?
In the pasted hard, rigid contact lenses were used, they often caused discomfort. Today’s contact lenses are soft and thin, they contain moisture “lock in” formulas to counteract eye dryness and allow oxygen to pass through the lens material, supporting your eye health. First time contact lens wearers initially can experience increased lid sensitivity, but this feeling soon disappears to the point where you will forget you have them in.
Are Contact Lenses Expensive?
There are many contact lenses on the market that feature different technologies and various wearing schedules, that have a bearing on price. For example, Daily wear lenses come in boxes of 30 or 90 individual packaged contact lenses. Dailies are usually more expensive but offer the convenience of enjoying a fresh lens every day and being able to simply throw them away at days end, with no cleaning or storage involved. In saying that, Dailies can be cost effective if you only intend to wear your prescription contact lenses now and then, as you only open a fresh pair of lenses when you require, expiry dates of unopened lenses can be a couple of years.
Monthly and fortnightly lenses tend to be less expensive but once opened they should only be worn for 30 or 14 consecutive days and then thrown away. Storage and cleaning are required for these lenses.
Australian Health Funds provide rebates for prescription contact lenses. Once you have your contact lens prescription with the name and brand you are free to purchase your lenses from where you choose, so can shop around for the best price, which can often be found online.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Contact Lenses
The most obvious advantage of contact lenses in the current environment of mask wearing is that they do not fog up, you can throw away your anti-fogging spray for glasses and can go about your day signing in and hand sanitising without having to worry about your vision. Other advantages of enjoying frameless vision is that they give you a whole different look and there’s no weight on the bridge of your nose or pressure behind the ears. Contact lenses can improve your vision for sports activities, especially your peripheral vision, plus you don’t have to worry about them falling off and breaking. You can also swim and do water sports in contact lenses.
There aren’t many disadvantages to wearing contact lenses once you’re over the initial “settle in period” but you do have to be motivated to take proper care of your lenses and be extra careful with your personal hand hygiene to avoid eye infections.
Contact lenses use can be individual. For me personally I work between two computer screens and find my spectacles work better for me in this circumstance, however I like to use my contact lenses at the weekends when I play sports, wear my stylish sunnies, shop and socialise.
Contact lens wearers are also recommended to have a yearly eye health check with an Eyecare Practitioner, rather than one every two years.
If you have any specific questions that are not covered in this blog please reach out to us, our experienced team including our optometrist are happy to help but unfortunately we are not able to recommend prescription contact lenses being an online service.
