Contact Lenses Have Come a Long Way!
Contact Lenses Have Come a Long Way!
Contact lenses have come a long way from the first design invented by Leonardo Da Vinci 500 years ago. Before 1508 nobody had thought of placing a spectacle lens directly onto their eye ball. Leonardo really was a visionary, because it took another 380 years before another scientist worked out that you could successfully mould and polish a piece of glass to sit directly onto your eye.
However the first contact lenses had one major problem; everyone’s vision went fuzzy after just a few hours of wearing the glass contact lens. It took a while for them to realize that the front of our eyes actually breathe oxygen from the air, and by placing a piece of glass onto it they were suffocating the eye. No wonder everyone’s vision went fuzzy!
Today’s contact lenses have mainly solved this oxygen problem, and by using special plastic materials often impregnated with silicon, people can potentially wear contact lenses 24/7.
The story doesn’t end here though. If a contact lens doesn’t move enough on your eye, the tears stagnate under the contact lens. The eye’s waste products build up, trapped under the plastic lens, and complications set in. If the lens moves too much on your eye, it is simply uncomfortable, and your vision will be unstable. Eventually your eye will normally try and dissolve a poor fitting contact lens by coating it with mucous and blinking it out. This is one of the main reasons that you need to be correctly fitted for contact lenses, by an Optometrist.
If your contact lenses fit you correctly, you should have good comfortable vision.
Infection is now the most serious potential problem with contact lenses. If you are placing a piece of plastic onto your eye, can you be sure that you are not putting harmful bacteria onto your eye at the same time. Bacteria and viruses are all around us. This why it essential that you always wash your hands with soap and water, then dry your hands with a clean towel before handling your contact lenses. Unless you are using daily disposable contact lenses, you must clean and disinfect your lenses between each use. Make sure your Optometrist has taught you how to do this correctly. Sore red eyes, blurry vision and discharge, especially in one eye, is often caused by an eye infection. It is essential that you take your lenses out and seek professional advice, if you experience these symptoms.
If you handle your lenses correctly the risk of infection is very low, but a serious infection can cause permanent loss of vision.
Allergic reactions to contact lenses or disinfecting solutions are fairly common. Fortunately allergies are nearly always reversible by changing the type of contact lens you are wearing, or the solutions you use. Allergies normally cause itchy red eyes, often with excess tearing or discharge.
See your Optometrist if you think you are suffering an allergic reaction.
Dry eyes are also a common complication with contact lenses. Typically you would feel a dry, gritty or sandy feeling in your eyes after wearing your lenses for half an hour or more. The reason that contact lenses can create this feeling is not completely understood, but generally if your tears do not form well or there are insufficient volume of tears in your eyes, or the inside surface of your eyelid is rough, then you will feel this dryness. Air-conditioning will dry the air out which can dry your eyes out. If you are staring at a computer, your blink rate will slow down and cause a dry feeling. If you are tired or if your body becomes dehydrated you can experience these symptoms. Severe dry eyes can cause permanent damage to your vision, so speak to your Optometrist if you regularly have dry eyes.
New thinner edge, smooth, materials and whetting agents can reduce or eliminate dry eyes with contact lenses.
Contact lenses are relatively safe, but you do need to be professionally fitted and taught how to follow all the instructions.
Congratulations for reading this article. Knowledge is power. If you can remember the above points you are likely to experience many years of safe comfortable and hassle free contact lens wear.