Contact lenses: more choice, greater comfort, better vision
By John Wood, OD Special to the Acorn

Over the past two years, there have been significant changes in contact lenses thanks to new technology.

The new silicone materials which are now available allow much longer comfortable wearing time. The new higher oxygen materials are the greatest change since soft lenses came on the market in the early 1970s, superseding rigid or "hard" lenses.

The materials, which allow upwards of six times more oxygen to reach the cornea than the old lenses, result in significantly greater comfort and extend wearing time while improving vision. The discomfort in the older soft lens Hema materials resulted in an annual 10 percent "dropout" rate of patients who stopped wearing their contacts due to discomfort and ocular fatigue.

The new silicone lenses have greatly reduced "red eye" and ocular fatigue symptoms remarkably, especially for patients working on computers. Since patients tend to blink less when working on video display terminals for hours all day long, the new lenses are much more comfortable. This improved comfort also is protective against corneal breakdown, resulting in fewer infections as well.

While wavefront LASIK works well for most patients, it is not a viable option for everyone, and the new contacts have allowed a resurgence of many former contact lens "dropouts" to return to contact lens wear.

For patients who need more help with near work, the new bifocal contacts have been improved significantly and have been extremely successful. Traditionally we have only had mono-vision, with one eye for distance and the other for near. Many patients have done well with this, but most patients are going to have much greater visual comfort and performance with a bifocal contact which allow both eyes to view the same target.

Many patients' first reaction to these lenses is concern that the "line" will bother them as it did in their bifocal glasses. These lenses work differently from glasses, and there is no head turning or adjustment in head position. These bifocal lenses have a very high success rate and patients are pleasingly surprised at how well they work. The design allows for distance, intermediate (computer CRT screen range) and near vision combined.

So if you think you'd like to give contacts another look, I think you'll find many of the issues that were present only a couple of years ago have been solved by this new technology. Like that song from the '80s, the future of contact lenses is so bright they've got to wear their shades.

John Wood practices optometry at 525-F Los Angeles Ave., Moorpark.