Considering contact lenses Read on for helpful information you need to know.?

Answer 1

Contact lenses, also known as corrective lenses, cosmetic lenses, therapeutic lenses, or simply contacts, are used to correct deficiencies in vision. In many people, there is a disparity between the refractive strength of the eye and the length of the eye which causes a refraction error. A contact lens counteracts this mismatch and allows for accurate focusing of light onto the retina. Some conditions contact lenses can correct include myopia (near or short sightedness), hypermetropia (far or long sightedness), astigmatism and presbyopia. According to some estimates 125 million people use contact lenses worldwide (or 2 per cent of the population) including 28 to 38 million people in the United States and 13 million people in Japan.

Compared to glasses, contact lenses are less disturbed by inclement weather, do not steam up, offer the wearer a wider field of vision, and are more appropriate for participating in sporting activities. Some people use cosmetic contact lenses in order to change the appearance of their eyes. Cosmetic contact lenses may also correct the wearer’s vision however some blurring or obstruction of vision may take place due to the color or design. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labels non-corrective cosmetic contact lenses “decorative contact lenses”.

There are also differences in the length of use of different contact lenses. Daily wear contact lenses are designed to be taken out before going to sleep while extended wear (EW) contact lenses are developed for continuous overnight wear, usually for six or more consecutive nights (although some lenses, referred to as continuous wear (CW), allow for even longer use up to 30 consecutive nights). Generally, extended wear lenses are discarded after the specified length of time.

Remember that your eyeglass prescription is different from the one needed to obtain your contact lenses. You will need to see a licensed eye doctor for an examination that will result in obtaining your contact lens prescription. U.S. law provides consumers the right to obtain a copy of their contact lens prescription and to fill that prescription at the provider of their choice. Roughly 5% of contact lens wearers each year suffer complications due to their contact lenses. The majority of these issues are caused or related to excessive wear of contact lenses, particularly overnight wear.