Types Of Contact Lenses
 

Contact lenses are excellent devices in vision correction. They significantly reduce and eliminate optical distortion as compare to spectacle. Contacts also give a realistic object size and distance, unrestricted visual field, and they free all the physical burden of spectacles. 

They are medical devices which must be professionally fitted and the wearer adequately instructed on their use. Serious eye complications can develop if any of these is neglected.
 

Conventional Soft daily wear contact lenses are made of flexible hydrophilic (water loving) material which contain 35% to 50% water. The diameter varies from 13 mm to 15 mm. They are available in almost any optical correction with either colorless, transparent tint or opaque iris patterns to change the eye colour or to cover corneal or iris defects. 

Soft lenses are usually instantly comfortable therefore are well suited for occasional wear and not susceptible to irritation from foreign bodies when in dusty or windy environment. They are also more secure for vigorous and contact sports. 

Due to hydrophilic nature of the material, they are more readily to have protein deposit and have shorter life span. Most authorities recommend these lenses should be replaced yearly or earlier if they are used daily for long hours or wearers with poor quality of tear. 
Top of page

Rigid gas permeable contact lenses are made of dense and solid material, generally provide a sharper vision than soft lenses. They contain very little water and do not require much tear to maintain their structure integrity. 
RGP are easier to maintain and last much longer than soft lenses. They may be somewhat uncomfortable initially but after adaptation they are equally as comfortable as soft lenses. 

As soft lenses, they are available in almost any optical correction. 
Compare to soft lenses, RGP lenses also superior in oxygen transmissibility, more tolerance to poor hygiene, and much less contact lens related problems, such as allergies, dry eyes, microbial infection. 
Top of page

Flexi-wear contact lenses are soft or RGP lenses with higher oxygen transmissibility which suitable for either daily wear or short-term extended wearing. 

Due to the higher risk of complication on extended wearing, they are generally recommended for not more than two days continuous wearing in a week, to allow for reasonably normal corneal physiology. 
Top of page

Toric contact lenses are specially designed to correct for astigmatism. 
In soft lenses, the astigmatic correcting power is ground on the lens and at the same time, a stabilising device is also created to prevent lens rotation on the cornea with each blink. 

For RGP lenses, they can correct low to medium astigmatism without the astigmatic correcting power worked on the lens. For higher astigmatism, a toric surface on the back of the lens often needed for better lens fit and performance, and to prevent corneal insult. 
Top of page

Cosmetic soft contact lenses are made with opaque iris patterns onto the front surface of the lens. 

They are used for either just to change eye colour on normal healthy eyes or to mask unsightly disfigured cornea or iris malformatiom to reduce glare and improve quality of vision. 
Top of page

Disposable soft contact lenses are made specially to be thrown away periodically - daily, once weekly or two, or monthly. They are very useful for people with allergies or frequent lens deposit build-up problems as the lenses are replaced before problem develops. They have fewer lens related eye complications than conventional daily wear modalities 

The greatest advantages of using daily disposable contact lens are the elimination of the hassles of lens cleaning, irritation from deposits built-up on the lens, and the use of a sterile lens every day increases safety significantly by reducing the risks of contamination by pathogenic organisms which have been shown to be linked with contaminated lens storage case/solution or poor wearer compliance in their use. 
Top of page