Contact Lenses Purchased On-Line Are High Quality, Low Cost Eye Care

By Herb Brandon
Israel News Agency

Tel Aviv----January 7....If you live in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Israel, Holland, Italy, France, Japan, China or almost anywhere world-wide and you're not buying your discount contact lenses online, you should think again", advises new contact lens portal Healthylens.com. They found that over all Coastal Contacts is the cheapest on line lens supplier for most brands of contact lenses, one of three companies recommended by that delivers tens of thousands of lenses each month all over the world.

Whether you are looking for a daily disposable contact lens such as acuvue, bifocal lenses, or even special effects contact lenses to wear on Halloween, more and more wearers are seeing the advantages of buying on line. The discounts compared to buying contacts directly from high street shops are often between 50-70%. Millions of lenses have been sold in this way in recent years indicating high demand, solid pricing and efficient delivery.

Healthylens.com, a health conscious eye care Website offering advice on ordering contact lenses on line together with general eye health consultation, has looked at the prices of many different types of lenses, including daily and monthly disposable lenses, toric lenses for astigmatism, novelty and colored lenses, supplied by various companies advertising on the internet. They found that buying contacts over the internet is certainly a bargain, even when considering shipping costs. Indeed shipping is often free.

Ordering contact lenses is usually straight forward with Websites being very user friendly. Buyers of course have to know which brand and type of lenses they require, and be able to read the details off the side of their previous box of lenses. The numbers required are for the contact lens prescription itself, base curve and diameter of the lens for each eye. Healthylens.com can help you out understanding what is needed. You may need your doctor’s prescription.

Dr. Andrew Fink MD, eye surgeon and medical adviser to Healthylens.com, emphasizes the importance of a healthy approach to contact lens wearing.

“Buying lenses over the internet without professional supervision (either an eye MD or optometrist) may be asking for trouble. Contacts are an ideal life style solution for millions, most of whom never have any problems. However even experienced wearers need advice on lens hygiene and fitting from time to time. Regular eye checks ups at your eye care professional are a must to detect early signs of over wear and other preventable problems, in addition to attending for routine eye screening”.

Fink adds: “We see patients in the eye clinic every week with eye inflammation and other complications, all caused by negligent contact lens wearing. Using contact lenses is like having a permanent “foreign body” in your eye. Therefore sensible wearing habits are crucial and ensure that the huge majority enjoy problem free contact lens vision correction for many years.”

Although contact lenses were first described by Leonardo da Vinci in 1508, a German glass blower was the manufacturer of the first pair, made of glass, in 1887. It took another 60 years until the American Optometry Society saw the wearing of contact lenses as an acceptable form of vision correction, and the field became formally recognized as a profession within their organization.

Today the science of contact lenses is developing at a rapid pace with newer materials and more advanced optical functions. Silicone hydrogel is a new material specially designed to keep the eye moist and well lubricated, and to improve the penetration of oxygen through to the eye surface. Lenses made of this material help many wearers who previously suffered from dry and sensitive eyes. Such lenses include PureVision from Bausch & Lomb, CIBA Vision's O2Optix and Night & Day, and Johnson & Johnson's Acuvue Advance and Oasys. A non silicone hydrogel lens called Proclear and manufactured by CooperVision has FDA approval for the statement "may provide improved comfort for contact lens wearers who experience mild discomfort or symptoms relating to dryness during lens wear."

Newer designs of contact lenses to correct astigmatism (toric lenses) and presbyopia (reading difficulties in the middle aged) with multifocal lenses have achieved great success for many. And recently Bausch and Lomb, well known in the eye care field, teamed up with Nike the sports wear company and developed the Maxsight contact lens. In house testing has shown a majority of wearers enjoy enhanced vision, with improvements in their sporting performance (although this has yet proven independently).

Most contact lens wearers enjoy the benefits of excellent vision with few complications. But over time, which may be decades, a significant minority do develop problems, some short term and easily solvable, but others are compelled to stop wearing lenses. A significant proportion of candidates for laser vision correction (Lasik) site contact lens problems as a main motivating factor.

Problems fall in to four categories. These include contact lens over wear which can chronically starve the eye of oxygen, and other long term problems such as dry eyes. Secondly poor lens hygiene can lead to numerous problems from mild eye discomfort to eye infections which occasionally can be severe and even blinding. Lenses can become infected if not sterilized appropriately after each wearing. Fatty and protein deposits may accumulate on the lenses and need to be removed regularly to prevent eye irritation and blurred vision.

Allergies to contact lens materials or cleaning solutions are not infrequent even when the same product has been used for years without any previous reaction. And fourthly difficulty with poorly fitting lenses and their insertion and removal is the fourth category of problem encountered by contact lens wearers.

Prevention is of course the best form of treatment. Regular check ups with an eye care specialist are important to detect early signs of over wear, and to solve fitting issues. Strict adherence to efficient sterilization techniques and a preference for disposable lenses will reduce inflammation and infections. Any contact lens wearer developing a pink eye should seek medical advice without delay to exclude a serious infection.

Many people new to contact lenses have a lot of questions. What's the first step? How do I read my prescription? How can I tell if my contact lens is inside out? Aren't all contacts pretty much the same? First, see your eye doctor. If you want to wear contact lenses, you must first see an ophthalmologist, optometrist, or in some states, optician. This is the case even if you don't normally wear glasses, and just want contacts to change your eye color.

Inserting contact lenses is easy. The reason is safe and simple. Contact lenses are medical devices that need to be properly fitted by an eyecare practitioner. In the United States, contacts can be legally purchased only with a valid written prescription. The eye doctor will check your eyes to make sure it's okay for you to wear contacts; today, nearly everyone can, but there are a rare few who can't. Then, he or she will determine your prescription.

Your contact lens prescription eye doctors all use pretty much the same shorthand to write down contact lens prescriptions. It can look like a secret code to the uninitiated, but it's really quite simple to decipher. Let's take a look at an example: In addition to the above information, your prescription may note how often your contact lenses must be replaced (once a month, every two weeks, once a week, daily, etc.). Or you may be instructed verbally, during your exam. Often the lens brand includes this information (e.g., Ophtha-Lens One-Week), but the real judge is your eyecare practitioner, who knows which replacement option is best for your eyes and lifestyle.

Which way is the right way? How to know if your contact lens is inside out. The difference can be subtle, but make sure the lens looks more like a taco than a soup bowl. A question many first-time wearers have is: "How will I know if my contact lens is inside out?" The trick is to place the lens on your finger so it's forming a cup, then hold it up directly in front of your eyes so you're looking at the side of the cup. If it's forming a "U" with the top edges flared out, it's inside out; if it's forming just a "U," it's correct. Some contact lenses also have a laser marking, such as the brand name, on the edge to help you (if you can read it properly, the lens is not inside out). Don't worry if you place a contact lens in your eye inside out: it will probably feel uncomfortable, but it can't do any damage.

The selection of contact lenses available can best be described as "vast." Don't worry about becoming overwhelmed, though: contact lenses can be broken down into several main categories based on what they're made of, how often you need to replace them and whether you can sleep in them.

Contact lenses are made of many different types of plastic, but they are divided into two main groups: soft or rigid gas permeable (RGP lenses, now called GP lenses). Soft contacts contain from 25% to 79% water, are easy to adapt to and are quite comfortable. Rigid gas permeable contact lenses take longer to adapt to, but are more durable and more resistant to deposit buildup. They tend to be less expensive over the life of the lens (but the upfront cost is higher) and can offer some people crisper vision than they would have with soft contacts.

The replacement schedule of a contact lens refers to how long you can safely wear it before you need to throw it away. With GP lenses, you generally replace them every couple of years, because they are made of a very durable material (though a prescription change would necessitate new lenses). Soft contact lenses come in a wider variety of replacement schedules.

These schedules vary by individual, as some people's eyes produce more protein or lipid deposits than others' and therefore decrease the contact lens lifespan. Wear schedule refers to whether you may sleep in your contacts. The kind you can sleep in are called extended wear, and the others are daily wear. New Wearing Options The big buzz in the contact lens world is that 30-day continuous wear contact lenses are back. The good news is, they're made of a different type of material than those that were available in the '80s. With these, a lot more oxygen reaches your eyes while you're wearing them, making them a much safer and more comfortable option.

Quite a few companies are now making both bifocal and toric lenses in disposable and frequent replacement styles, in addition to the conventional ones (which last one to several years) that have been around for some time.

Researchers have linked UV light to the formation of cataracts. Exposure to excessive UV light also may result in a condition called photokeratitis. Up until 1999, the FDA did not recognize the benefit of UV blockers in contact lenses. That year, manufacturers produced enough studies to show the benefit. As a result, companies may now state that contacts with UV blockers "help protect against transmission of harmful UV radiation to the cornea and into the eye." You can't tell if a contact lens has a UV blocker just by looking at the lens. The blocker is provided in clear form, so as not to disturb vision. The contact lens packaging will specify if the product has a UV blocker, or you can ask your eye doctor.

Now let's focus on the relationship of makeup and contact lenses. Getting makeup in your eye is annoying, but it's even worse with contacts, because it can stick to the lenses instead of flushing right out. These tips can help keep your eyes happy. But keep in mind that these contacts are not meant to replace sunglasses. A contact lens covers only your cornea, not your entire eye. A sunglass with UV protection can cover more of your eye and the parts of your face that surround the eye, depending on the size of the sunglass lens. That's why contacts with UV blockers are designed to complement sunglass use as an added protection. You wear special contacts at night, and they reshape your eye so that your vision is improved even when you don't have them in.

Contact lens materials and optical qualities are advancing all the time improving comfort, safety and vision. Contact lenses will continue to be the best form of vision correction for many. But the resilience of the eye to their continual presence should not be overestimated and regular professional supervision is to be encouraged.

Dr. Andrew Fink, M.D. contributed to this story on contact lenses eye care problems and advice.
Dr. Fink resides in Raanana, Israel. He is a trained family doctor, and practices today as a licensed Ophthalmologist, Eye Surgeon and serves as the Director of the Ra'anana Eye Clinic. Dr. Fink is a consultant to the Eye and Laser Vision Center in Tel Aviv. Dr. Fink is highly respected throughout Israel, England and Holland for his knowledge of laser vision correction, Lasik surgery and eye disease. He can be contacted via e-mail at IsraelEyeDoctor.