H. Frank Storey, OD
Gregory Christiansen, MD

Contact Lens Care

The cornea is the highly curved clear window on the front of the eye. The cornea helps focus light on the retina and therefore plays a significant role in how well you see. As the curvature of this clear structure changes, both the way your contact lens fits and your prescription, can change. Understanding these exact curves is necessary to properly fit and prescribe contact lenses. 

       Until now, instruments used for measuring the
       curvature of the cornea were only able to
       measure a small area near the center of the
       cornea. Contact lenses on the other hand,
       involve a much larger area of the cornea. 
       The computerized corneal topography 
       system measures a wide area of cornea 
       utilizing data from almost 8,000 points.

The advanced technology of the new Humphrey Corneal Topography System helps us provide 
you with the very best in eye care services.

Types of Contact Lenses

Soft Disposable
Contact Lenses

1)  These lenses can be worn either as an Extended Wear Lens or a Daily Wear Lens.
2)  The main advantage of disposable lenses is that you always have fresh, clean lenses on your eyes. Most of the complications we see with soft contact lenses are related to "dirty" lenses.
3)  After two weeks of wearing the lenses, they are simply discarded.
4)  No time is spent cleaning, enzyming, or disinfecting lenses.
5)  If a lens is lost or damaged, you always have a new lens at home for immediate use.
6)  The use of solutions are minimal.

Soft Extended Wear Contact Lenses        1)  These lenses can remain on the eyes for        one week at a time.        2)  These lenses require less solutions than        Daily Wear Lenses because they are         removed from the eyes only once per week.

3)  When these lenses are removed from the eyes, they must be cleaned with Daily Cleaner and Enzymatic Cleaner, and placed in a Disinfecting Solution.
4)  Generally these lenses need to be replaced about every two years because of a build-up of protein and lipid deposits on the lens surface which can not be removed. A few patients need to replace these lenses more often.

Soft Contact Lenses for Astigmatism

Astigmatism is the result of having a cornea  that is irregular in shape. The cornea is  normally round. An astigmatic cornea is  oblong or "football" shaped, resulting in a condition that generally causes eyestrain, headaches and blurry vision. Astigmatism is  often associated with nearsightedness and farsightedness.

Soft Toric Contact Lenses

Contact lens research over the last several years has resulted in the development of a high performance, comfortable and easy to care for contact lens that corrects astigmatism. It is called a "soft toric lens". The Toric lens is specially designed to accomodate the irregularly-shaped cornea and provide crisp, clear vision. What's more, as a soft lens, the Toric is more comfortable, easier to wear, and easier to adjust to than the rigid lenses which had previously been prescribed for astigmatism.

SOFT DAILY WEAR CONTACT LENSES These lenses must be removed at bedtime. These lenses must be cleaned and disinfected each day. Once a week the Weekly Enzymatic Cleaner needs to be used.

With these lenses you will use more solutions than with Disposable or Extended Wear Lenses. Generally these lenses must be replaced about every two years because of a buildup of protein and lipid deposits on the lens surface which cannot be removed. A few patients need to replace these lenses more often. If these lenses are not cleaned daily, or if the enzymatic cleaner is not used weekly, the lenses will have to be replaced more often.

Soft Bifocal Contact Lenses

These are soft contact lenses that correct vision for individuals who require a different lens correction for their near vision and their far vision. Basically, if you wear bifocal glasses, then this is an option you could consider.

There are now several different types of soft bifocal contacts available. We find that different brands work for different individuals. We put the contacts on your eyes to determine how well they fit the eye, and how well you see with the lenses. If one type does not work, we try a different brand.

There are disposable brands available. Also, some are designed for "extended wear" so you can leave them on at night.

Gas Permeable Contact Lenses Gas Permeable contact lenses are rigid lenses  that allow oxygen to pass through them. Most brands today have an oxygen permeable  between 60 to 90%. Also, they "wet" much  better than the first generation gas permeable so they are much more comfortable.

These lenses are used when the patient has astigmatism that cannot be corrected with a toric soft lens. Also, if the cornea is irregular, these lenses allow sharper vision.

The main disadvantage of this type of lens is that it takes a longer period of time for the patient to adapt to wearing the lenses.