SPECIALTY CONTACT LENSES

Specialty Contact Lenses

Contact lenses provide quality vision without the distortions and restrictions of eyeglasses. Almost any one can wear contact lenses comfortably, and our optometrists regularly fit contact lenses for refractive conditions such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and presbyopia. We are experienced with spherical, toric, multifocal and toric multifocal lenses in soft, gas permeable and hybrid materials. Many contact lens designs are disposable from daily to quarterly increments. When indicated we fit custom lenses in soft and gas permeable materials.

Soft Contact Lenses:

The most frequently prescribed due to their tremendous comfort, soft contact lenses offer tremendous comfort and excellent vision. Types of soft lenses include:

Disposable: from daily to biweekly to monthly and quarterly disposable frequencies Single Vial: often reserved for custom lenses, but available in nearly any prescription Color-Changing: can change the color of your eyes even if vision correction is not needed

Extended Wear: for overnight wear up to FDA limitations

We routinely fit soft lenses in our patients who have basic refractive needs such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and presbyopia. For the difficult-to-fit patient we have the knowledge and experience to match the proper lens to meet their vision needs. Sometimes this requires custom soft lenses, combinations of custom and standard lenses and even finding the right soft lens material (polymer) that provides the best result. Taking enough time to satisfy a patient’s visual needs continues to be one our most important goals.

Hard Contact Lenses:

Gas permeable (GP) contact lenses, also called “Oxygen Permeable” contact lenses, are a great alternative to soft contact lenses. GP contact lenses are made of a firmer material than today’s soft contact lenses, which helps to provide the crispest and clearest vision of all contact lens materials. Because GP contact lenses are often much smaller than today’s soft contact lenses, a new wearer may notice some movement when they blink. But, with a well-fit GP lens, that feeling goes away in a few days leaving the wearer with a comfortable contact lens experience. Today’s new GP materials allow even more oxygen to pass through them making them even healthier than the materials from just a few years ago. And new designs create an even greater level of comfort:

Multifocal/Bifocal: Presbyopia is a condition that naturally occurs in people over the age of 40. As the lens inside the eye becomes less flexible, it becomes harder to focus on objects up close. It’s not a disease. And GP contact lenses can help! There are a number of GP contact lens options that can help patients who find they are reaching for reading glasses or holding reading material further away. GP multifocals and bifocals are a great option for today’s presbyopes. These contact lenses help a person see objects up close, far away and everything in between. And, because they are permeable material, the vision is excellent!

Corneal Reshaping: Think of orthodontics for your teeth or orthopedics for skeletal injuries. Ortho means correction and in this case, it means correcting the front surface of the eye. Corneal Reshaping, also known as “corneal refractive therapy,” “vision shaping treatment,” or “orthokeratology” involves wearing retainer GP lenses while you sleep. Over time, the contact lenses gently reshape the surface of the cornea and can eliminate the need for eyeglasses or contact lenses during the day. This non-surgical procedure can be less expensive and less risky than refractive surgery. Best of all it is totally reversible!

WAVE Lenses: Just as no two corneas are alike, no two Wave lenses are alike. Wave Contact Lenses are computer designed and manufactured for custom fitting to match each patient’s cornea perfectly. This complex computer program allows more control over the design of your lenses. Instead of three parameters, over twenty can be controlled to improve comfort, fit and performance. This is particularly useful in complex fits including:

• Post-LASIK
• Keratoconus
• High Corneal Astigmatism
• Multifocal
• Irregular Corneal Curvatures
• Disease-causing Corneal Distortions