Choosing the right contact lens for your eyes is essential. Your eye care professional will evaluate your eyes and determine the best lens to meet your needs.

Rinse your contact lens in the solution recommended by your eye doctor before insertion. If your contact lenses are feeling gritty, this indicates a high level of buildup and may require additional cleaning.

Lenses correct vision

Contact lenses are worn directly on the eye to correct vision problems like long-sightedness, short-sightedness, and presbyopia. They are made from soft water-absorbing material that conforms to the shape of the eye. They also have a spherical power component, which helps the lens focus light on the retina.

Contacts are medical devices that should be fitted by an eye care professional. They require special attention to hygiene and proper handling to avoid serious eye infections. Nonprescription contacts bought online or from another source can lead to a painful corneal infection called Acanthamoeba keratitis, which can cause permanent blindness.

You need a prescription for contact lenses, which includes a set of numbers that indicate how the lens should bend light to your eyes. These are called diopters, and they appear in the sphere column of your prescription. The numbers next to a plus or minus sign indicate whether you are farsighted or nearsighted. The higher the number, the stronger the correction.

They are easy to wear

Whether you wear contact lenses for aesthetic reasons or to correct your vision, they are easy to wear and comfortable. But before you start wearing them, it is essential to have a thorough eye examination and a fitting by an optometrist or ophthalmologist. Regular annual check-ups are also important to monitor your eye health and update your prescription.

Before handling your contact lens, it is important to wash and dry your hands with a mild soap and lint-free cloth or towel. This minimizes the risk of transferring harmful bacteria to your eyes. You should also keep your contacts away from water, including swimming, hot tubs, and saunas, which can introduce germs to the lenses.

Once you have your hands clean, use the pads of your fingers to pick up the lens from its case or disposable packaging. Be sure to pick it up with the right side facing up, or you could end up with an inside out lens.

They are convenient

One of the biggest advantages of contact lenses is that they are convenient to wear. They are comfortable, don’t fog up due to changes in temperature or perspiration, and can be worn while playing sports, swimming, or working. They also don’t get knocked off the face or broken like glasses.

Lenses can be used for daily, weekly, monthly or even longer periods (known as “extended wear”) – but they need to be removed before sleeping as sleep in contacts can lead to corneal ulcers.

Most people find it easy to insert and remove their contacts. The first step is to wash your hands thoroughly and dry them before touching the lens. Then, put the lens on the pad of your index finger with the concave side facing upward. Rigid lenses are placed directly on the cornea, while soft lenses are usually inserted by placing them on the sclera. A small tool that resembles tweezers can also be used to hold the lens in place and ease it out.

They are affordable

There are many affordable ways to buy contact lenses. In general, the cost depends on your eye doctor’s prescription and the type of lenses you are wearing. Some are more expensive than others, especially if you are wearing daily disposables or bifocal or multifocal lenses. In addition, there are a variety of online contact lens retailers that offer safe and budget-friendly buying options. Just make sure that you are purchasing your lenses from a reliable source and always keep multipurpose contact solution and storage cases on hand.

Most of the most common types of contacts are soft disposables that are worn for one day and then thrown away. Rigid gas permeable (RGP) and PMMA hard contact lenses are more durable and last for several years. However, these lenses require more care and may not be comfortable for some patients. These lenses also limit the passage of oxygen to the cornea, which can cause severe infections such as acanthamoeba keratitis, which can result in permanent blindness.