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 »
“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 »
In general extended-wear patients follow similar instructions concerning adaptation and wear as outlined on conventional soft contact lenses. The slight discomfort some experience at first usually disappears in a very short time; vision may fluctuate until the eye adjusts and the lens “settles in.
Other than that there’s almost no adaptation time to speak of. Patients usually go on an extended-wear regimen after one week of daily wear.
Minor symptoms to be on the lookout for are excessive tearing, redness, stinging, burning, itching, blurry vision, halos around lights, and light sensitivity. If any of these occur, remove the lens for at least three hours. If the problem ceases, your lens may be the source of the problem and you should check to see if cracks or chipped or ripped edges are present. Do not reinsert the lens if it is damaged. Put it back in its case and return it to the doctor, who will order a replacement. If you see dirt or an eyelash (or any other foreign matter) use the enzyme solution, clean, and disinfect the lens. Then you may reinsert it. If any of these problems persist, consult your doctor. Read the rest of this entry »
Contact lenses that you can wear while you sleep—this earth- shattering concept arouses no less interest and excitement than the Pill did when it was first introduced. This is the glamour lens that everybody wants to know about and have, and is probably the lens of the future. Like the Pill, which forever altered our sexual standards, the extended-wear contact lens promises to usher in a new era and change our attitudes toward visual correction. But the similarity doesn’t end there: Though this lens seems to be the answer to every contact lens wearer’s prayers, it has not yet been perfected. It is definitely not for everyone, and some practitioners are reluctant to prescribe it at all.
Canada, Australia, and Europe enjoyed several types of extended-wear contact lenses several years before we did. However, there is no Food and Drug Administration in those parts of the world, and because of this lack of strict monitoring control and quality, these lenses have posed a health problem, especially as related to corneal complications. Read the rest of this entry »
You should expect to pay about 30 to 40 percent more for soft contact lenses than for conventional hard lenses. Besides a higher initial expense for the lenses themselves, there are additional costs in the maintenance of soft lenses. For one thing they’re less durable: the average life span of a soft lens is one to two years, compared with approximately ten years for a hard lens. Though relatively tough, soft lenses can tear if handled indelicately, and the lens must be replaced. They also tend to accumulate deposits from eye secretions and absorb other substances such as aerosol sprays, cigarette smoke, eye drops, makeup, creams, oils, etc. Most of these can be removed if you clean your lenses as directed, but not always. Eventually the lens clouds up, absorbs water unevenly, permits less oxygen to pass through, and must be replaced. In addition, the cleaning, rinsing, soaking, disinfecting, and enzyming solutions used to keep soft lenses in tiptop condition can add up to a sizable investment–about one hundred dollars a year. Finally, the prescription of a soft lens can’t be altered in the manner of a hard lens. On the contrary, you will have to buy a whole new lens whether the prescription change is major or relatively minor. (Of course, contact lens insurance plans are available to reduce the cost of frequent replacement.)
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Surprisingly, all soft lenses are classified as drugs by the FDA because of their ability to combine chemically with medications placed in the eye. (Hard lenses do not.) The FDA must approve every new lens or lens modification as well as the solutions used in their care. Unlike hard lenses and their solutions, which have been around long enough to have been standardized, soft lenses have no established standards because the FDA insists that insufficient information still exists that would provide reasonable assurance of their safety and effectiveness. Every type of soft lens now on the market has been tested first on laboratory animals (which are “sacrificed” so their eyes can be removed and thoroughly examined), and then on a minimum of four hundred human “guinea pigs” for six months (whose eyes—thank goodness—are examined in situ). Read the rest of this entry »
Contact Lenses Care .
