Consumer Guide to Contact Lenses

Today just about everyone can wear contact lenses, and there are more healthful and convenient contact lens options than ever before.

Start with our contact lens basics article, which is great for new or prospective wearers. Review types of contact lenses, or read the features below.

Contact Lens Wearing Tips
Learn how to apply and remove contact lenses, as well as what to do to protect your eyes when you wear makeup.

Understanding Your Contact Lens Rx
Why you need a prescription for contact lenses, plus what all those numbers and terms mean on the form. Also an explanation of your legal right to a copy of your prescription.

SPONSORED SECTION: Teens & Contacts: What Parents Need To Know
Should your teen wear contact lenses? Read this Q&A to help you decide.

What to Do if Your Contact Lenses Are Uncomfortable
With so many contact lens and care product choices, there's no reason to suffer.

Where to Buy Contact Lenses
How can you choose between eye doctors, retail stores and Internet sites? Our buying tips and price charts will help. Also: How to buy contacts online.

SPONSORED SECTION: Acuvue Bifocal Contact Lenses
Five invisible, concentric zones allow you to see clearly both near and far.

Caring for Soft Contact Lenses
How to make sense of all the different products, and properly clean and disinfect your contact lenses.
Also: Caring for RGP contact lenses, ReNu MoistureLoc linked to fungal eye infections and what you need to know about Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Contact Lenses After LASIK
Why some people still need contacts after surgery.

30-Day Contacts: A Smart Alternative to LASIK?
Both options eliminate hassle. Compare the safety, effectiveness and cost of contact lenses and LASIK.

SPONSORED SECTION: Teens & Contacts: What Parents Need To Know
Should your teen wear contact lenses? Read this Q&A to help you decide.

Departments
Contact Lens News & New Products / Eye Doctor Q&A / Contact Lens FAQ

Types of Contact Lenses:

Bifocal Contact Lenses provide both near and distance vision
Colored Contact Lenses give your eyes a subtle or dramatic change

NEW: Custom Contact Lenses could work for you if other options fail
Disposable Contact Lenses enable a healthier wearing experience
Extended Wear Contact Lenses for safe overnight wear
Gas Permeable (GP) Contact Lenses for the ultimate in crisp vision
Monovision is an alternative to bifocals for presbyopia
Orthokeratology Lenses for overnight corneal reshaping
Prosthetic Contact Lenses mask eye injury or disfigurements
Silicone Hydrogel Contacts transmit more oxygen to your eyes
Special-Effect Contact Lenses let you become a leopard or cheetah
Specialty Lenses for the "hard-to-fit" patient
Toric Contact Lenses provide good vision if you have astigmatism

About Contact Lenses

Modern contact lenses fall into two categories: soft lenses that are made from water-containing plastics, and GP or "oxygen permeable" rigid contact lenses.

Contact lenses may also be classified by wearing schedule. Daily wear lenses must be removed, cleaned and stored each night, while extended wear contact lenses are made from materials which are safe for sleep. You may also have heard of "continuous wear" contact lenses, a type of extended wear that can be worn for up to 30 days.

Various lens designs are available for different vision problems. Spherical contact lenses correct nearsightedness or farsightedness and are indicated by a minus or plus in your prescription, respectively. Bifocal contact lenses are similar to multifocal eyeglasses in that they use different optical zones to correct presbyopia (the decreased ability see at both near and far distances). Toric contact lenses correct astigmatism, which can accompany either nearsightedness or farsightedness.

All of the contact lenses mentioned above can be custom fabricated for unusual prescriptions, and many other contact lens designs are available as well, including designs for conditions like keratoconus.

Many lens designs come in colors that can enhance or change your natural eye color. Special-effect contact lenses are also available for novelty use and are used extensively in theatrical and filmed productions. Prosthetic lenses are colored contact lenses that can cosmetically mask eye disfigurement. Many contact lenses come with an embedded UV inhibitor as well.

Which is the right contact lens for you? First, your contact lenses must correct your vision problem. Second, each lens must properly fit your cornea, so contact lenses come in tens of thousands of parameters, meaning the combination of size, shape and power.

Your eye care practitioner will evaluate your eyes to determine which lens is right for you, and will take into account your special needs such as dry eyes, a desire for color change or the need for overnight wear.

Read an expanded introduction to contact lenses.

[Page updated July 2008]