A bandage lens, also called a therapeutic lens, is a special soft, very thin, high-water-content contact lens. In 1974 this hydrophilic lens was the first type to be used on an extended-wear basis, but without incorporating a prescription. It has a wide variety of uses before ocular surgery, after ocular surgery, and sometimes instead of surgery. It can also be therapeutic in conditions that do not respond to any other form of treatment.
The lens functions basically as a protective shield and prevents a damaged or ailing cornea from coming into contact with the eyelids and the air. Healing is thereby accelerated and pain is alleviated for as long as the lens is worn, which is on an extended basis (more than twenty-four hours). Read the rest of this entry »
Conventional soft contact lenses cannot be used to correct moderate to large amounts of astigmatism. Their pliable nature causes them to conform to irregularities in the shape of the cornea and thus duplicate the astigmatic refractive error. Hard contact lenses are firm and hold their shape; they are able to correct high amounts of astigmatism because the spherical undersurface of the lenses and the tears beneath them create a new, smooth optical surface. Read the rest of this entry »
The first step in restoring vision is to remove the cloudy lens surgically. This is one of the safest, most successful, and widely performed operations. Of the 400,000 to 600,000 cases performed annually in this country, over 90 percent succeed in helping to restore vision, thanks to improvements in surgical techniques and in the skills of ophthalmic surgeons. Read the rest of this entry »
Contact lenses are, in most cases, a far better solution once the aphake is convinced that the “newfangled” device is worth trying. Advantages are the normal appearance of the eye and crisp visual acuity. Since only 6 percent magnification of objects occurs, the images appear to be of normal size, fusion can take place, and excellent peripheral vision and depth perception will result. Therefore life can go back to normal, the cosmetic effect is far better, and most observers can’t tell that there’s ever been a cataract extraction. Read the rest of this entry »
“I know it must sound crazy, but few things in life have ever looked so good to me as the pattern of paint cracks in my bedroom ceiling. That was the very first thing I saw when I opened my eyes the morning after I’d slept while wearing my new extended-wear contact lenses. Seeing those mundane little cracks meant that I really could wear the lenses overnight. It was a dream come true and, in a sense, my life hasn’t been the same since.
Just before I got my new extended-wear lenses, the near-constant presence of big-city dirt and dust under my hard contact lenses had brought me to the verge of giving up lenses completely. I’d been wearing them for over ten years and was mighty tired of the old nightly and morning ritual too. At my next annual exam my doctor realized how unhappy I was and mentioned the availability of a new type of lens that was safe to wear while sleeping. He thought I’d be a good candidate; I nearly swooned with the good news . . . nearly fainted when I heard the price tag. But I decided to make the lenses a birthday present to myself. Read the rest of this entry »
Contact Lenses Care .
