Benefits of Daily Disposable Contact Lenses

Imagine if you had a fresh pair of contact lenses waiting for you each morning?  Or if you didn’t have to pack a lens case or bottle of contact lens care solution when you went on a trip?  What would this level of convenience be worth to you?  How about a dollar or less per day?  It doesn’t make sense not to when you think of the many benefits of daily disposable contact lenses.  And yet, daily disposable contact lenses are far less utilized in the US than they are in other countries.  In Europe and Asia they are the primary type of contact lens that is worn.  There are different brands of daily disposable contact lenses with benefits for everyone from teenagers to those who need multi-focal lenses or who want color contacts.

With daily disposable lenses, young patients and first-time wearers of contacts do not have to bother with following cleaning and storing procedures that are necessary for safe and comfortable wear with other disposable contact lenses.  Parents of these patients then do not have to worry that their son or daughter is not properly taking care of their contact lenses or doing harm to their eyes.  Daily disposables are fast and convenient and great for those patients who want to wear contacts only for sports or recreational activities or simply a night out.  Each time they want to wear their contacts, they do not have to worry about how long their pair has been sitting in solution and if they are still clean or not.

Disposable Contacts help with Allergies

Allergy sufferers can have problems with their contacts itching, feeling gritty, and drying out.  Some will not even try contacts or stop wearing them and switch to glasses because of this.  Sometimes, no matter how well these patients clean their lenses, they are not able to wear contacts comfortably for the full 2 week or monthly time period they are supposedly good for.  Daily disposable contacts greatly reduce the amount of protein and biofilm buildup on the lens surface which leads to uncomfortable lens wear and allergic conjunctivitis.  Allergic conjunctivitis can occur with a without contact lenses and can affect patients in spring and fall or throughout the year.  A more severe allergic reaction  that affects contact lens wearers is giant papillary conjunctivitis(GPC), in which bumps form under the eyelid from the mechanical action of the contact lens rubbing against it.  This is aggravated by the amount of buildup on a lens.  For this reason, daily disposable contacts are recommended to any patient who has had GPC or who is at risk of this happening.

Multifocal disposable contacts and color disposable contacts.

Cibavision® makes multi-focal and color contact lenses in daily disposable form.  This gives more freedom to those who normally have to wear reading glasses over their contacts.  Focus® Dailies® Progressives are also a good for progressive glasses wearers who want another option for near and far vision correction on special occasions.  This was, they don’t have to worry about paying a lot of money for one pair or a package of lenses they may only use once and lose or be unable to keep clean enough for a second time of wear.  Teenagers and adults who wear other brands of contact lenses most of the time but who want to change their eye color on occasion can try the Freshlook® One Day Color contact lenses for these times.  Both Focus® Dailies® Progressives and Freshlook® One Day Color are available in certain powers so check with your eye doctor to see if you can wear them.

Erin Mark, O.D.  (Sources on next page)

Sources:

Nixon GJ.  A Review of Contact Lens Modalities.  Cl Spectrum.  2006 Mar.  ( HYPERLINK “http://www.clspectrum.com/article.aspx?article=12967″ http://www.clspectrum.com/article.aspx?article=12967)

DeNaeyer GW.  Promoting Healthy Contact Lens Wear.  Review of Cornea and Contact Lenses.  2009 Nov.  ( HYPERLINK “http://www.arenaeyesurgeons.com/documents/arenaeyesurgeons/016_rccl1109_CE.pdf” http://www.arenaeyesurgeons.com/documents/arenaeyesurgeons/016_rccl1109_CE.pdf)

We’ve heard these three words time and time again growing up from parents and teachers. As soon as we get into something fun and adventurous the words start to echo in our ears: “wash your hands!”

We all know the importance of washing our hands prior to eating or after using the bathroom. We’ve seen the gruesome pictures of bacteria build up and how just a dollop of antibacterial soap can annihilate those little buggers. With that being said, it’s almost common knowledge that another important time to wash your hands is when you’re handling your contact lenses. However, some users still don’t take the time to add this necessary step to the application process.

In 2007, researched Ralph Stone and fellow scientists compared the handwashing activity of contact lens wearers. They analzyed the lenses for bacteria and seperated them between those that were handled by wearers who washed their hands before application and those that did not. They analyzed the lenses for bacteria and they found that lenses that were handled without handwashing contained, on average, nearly 10,000 bacterial colony-forming-units or CFUs.   However, lenses that were handled after handwashing only yielded an average of 2140 CFUs.    That’s nearly a 80% reduction in the amount of bacteria on a contact  lens, just by washing hands prior to lens handling.

So before you place your contact lenses in your eyes, it’s important to wash your hands thoroughly. In doing so, you’ll eliminate of myriad of bacteria and grime that can get trapped into your lenses and inevitably in your eyes.

That little twinkle in her eye may have cost her $15,000! Beauty addicts are eyeing a new trend — custom-made, gold-plated contact lenses featuring 18 sparkling diamonds. The peculiar and appealing new jewelry line from Shekhar Eye Research satisfies those are looking for innovative ways to boast their bling.

Creator Chandrashekhar Chawan tried his hand at gold-dust contact lenses, but they lacked the “sparkle effect” he was looking for. He found his inspiration, oddly, through cosmetic dentistry: Chawan’s wife had diamonds planted on her teeth at her last dentist visit, and he realized that people loved jewels anywhere and everywhere.

Chawan believes its “only matter of time” before his creation is a hit, but the public has its doubts.  Internet critics called the product everything from cringeworthy to “freaky ugly” to downright demonic-looking. “It’s as if someone saw the Swarovski crystal contacts and thought those weren’t extravagantly dumb enough” wrote tech site Gizmodo.

“We should not introduce harmful foreign objects, however shiny they may be, into our eyes,” said Dr. Rajesh Khanna, a cornea and refractive surgeon, who worries that such lenses require substantial maintenance. Khanna says Boston Scleral lenses are generally prescribed for people with severe eye disease who have no other option.

But Chawan does not see any harm with the lenses. While acknowledging that the sparkly lenses are a luxury – not a necessity – for those who want to “show off” and attract attention. “We always talk eye to eye,” he told TODAY.com, “and if your eyes are sparkling with diamonds, no one can look away; their eyes will be glued to you and your personality.” In fact, Chawan sees a future in which his prized lenses replace our dependency on traditional jewelry.

In the past, Optometrists have always known that all eyeglass lenses had distortions and aberrations as an innate characteristic of the lens.  These distortions would cause blurry vision at various points on the lens.  As a whole, the optical industry was unable to do anything about correcting these visual distortions.

Valuvision carries the highest quality eyeglasses

Now we can!  The scientists from Essilor Optical Laboratory have developed a way to remove the unwanted distortions and aberrations from eyeglass lenses.  This discovery has lead to the development of an eyeglass lens personalized for each individualized wearer.   Resulting in clearer, sharper vision, no matter what point of the lens you gaze through.

High Defnitiion vision at Valuvision           

These new lenses increase the contrast in your vision, thereby, giving you a high definition (HD) effect.  Essilor’s personalized lenses are for patients who demand the ultimate in vision correction and will not settle for anything less.  Val-Uvision is committed to offering you the best optical products available, because we believe you and your eyes deserve the best.  Check out www.valuvision.com to contact your nearest Valuvision office.

Wearing contact lenses can allow a person freedom from wearing lasses every day or just during social or sports events. However, contact lenses are by no means a replacement for glasses completely. A back up pair of glasses is always necessary for those times when the contact lenses are removed. Up-to-date eyeglasses should be kept alsoin the event that a person’s eyes are bothered by seasonal allergies, a cold, or other irritant. Contact lenses can be safely worn by most people whose eyes are healthy enough for contact lens wear, which can only be determined by your doctor. Contact lenses should never be purchased in beauty supply stores, salons, or flea markets. A contact lens is a medical device, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and always requires an eye health evaluation in order to be safely worn. Read more »

Acuvue Contacts for Presbyopia
Presbyopia is defined as a condition where the eye exhibits a progressively diminished ability to focus on near objects as we age. When we hit that magic age of 40, most of us begin to notice a difficulty focusing on our computer or reading. Read more »

Do you wish you could wear contacts without the hassle of taking them out every time you go to sleep?

If you answered yes, you might just be a right fit for Jacksonville’s Valuvision’s AIR OPTIX Night and Day brand contacts. AIR OPTIX provides an FDA-approved contact lens to allow you to leave your contacts in for 30 days, night and day. AIR OPTIX provides a variety of benefits for anyone with an active lifestyle. Read more »

Benefits of Contact Lenses
As a contact lens wearer for almost 20 years and an optometrist for almost 12 years, let’s just say I love contacts! After wearing glasses for years, contact lenses can liberate you from the feeling of heavy and thick glasses. Contact lenses provide greater peripheral view. This is important especially when driving. Choosing the color of your eyes is a cosmetic benefit that many people will not go without. For those who play sports and live active lifestyles, contact lenses are an excellent option which provide more freedom of motion and remove the risk of losing or breaking a pair of glasses during activity. Read more »

Contacts for Astigmatism
At ValuVision, we strive to find you the best vision correction for your vision needs. Sometimes, the better option is contact lenses over glasses, although we always recommend having a back up pair of glasses. Instances where this is the case includes keratoconus (a cone-shaped cornea), a large degree of difference in prescription between the eyes, and for sports. Specially designed contact lenses are usually needed in these cases. Also, for cosmetic or corrective reasons, a special contact lens may need to be designed for a patient. Read more »

Order Contact Lenses Online
When soft contact lenses do not correct a patient’s vision to an acceptable point and they have a moderate degree of astigmatism, rigid gas permeable(or RGP) lenses are a much better option. First and foremost, any patient suspected of having keratoconus, and not simply astigmatism, should have a mapping of the corneal surface done, which is a corneal topography. This locates all of the irregular areas on the front of the eye which would prevent a contact lens from fitting well. Knowing where these areas are is crucial for the doctor to design a contact lens to properly fit the patient’s eyes. Read more »