Switching from glasses to contact lenses can be a freeing experience. You no longer have to worry about your eyewear falling and breaking. Contacts also have other benefits over glasses. For instance, contacts provide you with a much wider field of vision than glasses and don’t obstruct your natural line of sight.

However, there are several types of contacts that you should know. Understanding these types and their unique features will help you decide which ones to buy.

Types of Contact Lenses

There are two primary contact lenses—soft contact lenses and rigid gas permeable lenses.

Soft Contact Lenses

These are the most common type of contact lenses on the market. They are made of soft silicone or hydrogel material. They are very comfortable to wear because they take the shape of the eye. These correct various problems with vision. These include:
 

• Myopia
   

• Hyperopia
   

• Astigmatism
   

• Presbyopia

Rigid Gas Permeable Lenses

These lenses give very crisp vision to the wearer despite the vision issues. They are prescribed when soft contact lenses fail to work or when you have dry eyes. They tend to allow more oxygen, which is good for the cornea. 

Rigid gas permeable lenses are more durable than soft contact lenses. Usually, they are removed and disinfected every night. However, you can wear them for a whole week or up to 30 days. It might take you longer to adjust to RGP lenses, but you can use a pair of these for up to three years.

Specialized Lenses

Multifocal Contact Lenses

These lenses can be made of several different materials. They are designed to correct a lot of refractive errors simultaneously. They can correct presbyopia, myopia, and hyperopia simultaneously.

Hybrid Contact Lenses

These lenses are a blend of soft contact lenses and RGP lenses. They have a rigid gas permeable center and a soft lens outer ring. They can correct all the refractive errors and keratoconus, an irregular curvature of the cornea. They tend to be very comfortable to wear in comparison to conventional RGP lenses.

Tinted Contact Lenses

Contact lenses can have a tint for aesthetics or therapeutic reasons. Tinting can compensate for colorblindness as it might enhance the perception of color. 

Orthokeratology

These are rigid gas permeable lenses worn only at night while you sleep. They reshape the cornea temporarily. The reshaping of the cornea gives clear vision during the day. 

Scleral Contact Lenses

These are wide diameter rigid gas permeable lenses. Instead of resting on the eye’s cornea, these lenses rest on the sclera. These lenses correct vision for a distorted or irregular cornea.

Wear and Replacement Schedules for Contact Lenses

There are two significant types of wear and replacement schedules for contact lenses.

Daily Wear

There are two types of daily wear lenses—those that you disinfect daily and daily disposable lenses. Daily disposable lenses are usually soft lenses, while those that need daily disinfection are commonly RGP lenses.

Extended Wear

People wear extended wear lenses for seven days overnight, and then they replace them. These lenses also predispose the eye to infection.

For more on what to know before you buy contact lenses, visit Vision One Eyecare Center at our office in Ft. Mitchell or Dry Ridge, Kentucky. You can also call (859) 267-1700 or (859) 407-7400 to book an appointment today.