Different Types of Contact Lenses
What different types of lenses are available?
Soft lenses
These are the most popular because they are so comfortable to wear. They are easy to adapt to and gentle on your eyes.They do, however; need to be replaced more frequently. Modern lenses allow extended wear and are available for people with astigmatism (an irregular shaped eye) and bifocal wearers. There are even daily disposable bifocals and daily disposable lenses for people with astigmatism. We also have a great range of coloured contact lenses for every day or the occasional special nights out.
Silicone Hydrogel Lenses
The newest of the soft lens materials and possibly the most advanced. These lenses feel like a soft lens, and behave like a soft lens but allow much more oxygen to get to the eye as much as five to six times the standard materials. As well as being used for people who have had problems, they are great for extended wear for up to a month. These lenses are set to re-write the rules on soft lens performance.
As time goes by, there are an increasing number of lenses on the market. We now even have a Daily Disposable Silicone Hydrogel lens providing best oxygen and maximum convenience. Each of these lenses have slightly different properties and we will advise you on which will be best and why. We even have lenses for astigmatism from the leading manufacturers including Bausch and Lomb and Johnson and Johnson, makers of the Acuvue® lens brand. We prefer to fit Silicon Hydrogel lenses as our first choice as they tend to be the healthiest option.
Rigid Gas Permeable Lenses (hard)
Far less commonly fitted, but useful if you have a lot of astigmatisms. They do take a little longer to get used to, but they can last a lot longer than soft lenses. Bifocals and multi-focal lenses are also available.
The problem with old-fashioned hard lenses was that they offered poor comfort and manufacturing methods were crude. Modern lenses allow loads of oxygen through to the eye and are far more comfortable and accurate. We can make lenses for astigmatism, Varifocal and bifocals and success rates are far higher than they were. Modern materials are much more comfortable and the advantages of GP lenses are improved vision, better contrast and longer lasting lenses.
Other Types of lenses
There are now some new types of lenses which combine the properties and benefits of hard and soft lenses. These are useful in some cases where different lenses have been tried in the past without much success, or with certain eye conditions like Kerataconus.
We have access to many different types of contact lenses, including lense from Acuvue, Johnson & Johnson, Alcon, CibaVision, Sauflon, Jack Allen, No.7, & CooperVision.
