Contact Lenses

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Advances in contact lens technology have created many options in contact lens design and fitting. 

Contact lenses are relatively small plastic lenses which rest on the natural tears of the cornea.  The lens, which drapes the cornea moves slightly with blinking providing an exchange of nutriments, waste debris and oxygen.  A lens which is too tight (doesn't move) impedes the movement of tears, nutrition, oxygen, and removal of waste. A lens that is too loose may be uncomfortable.

There is a contact lens which can be designed to fit almost every eye.  To determine the optimal lens the shape of your eye, tear consistency, lifestyle must be considered.

There are New Contact Lenses Which Mold the Shape of Your Cornea While You Sleep so That You Don't Need Contact Lenses During the Day To See Clearly.

Corneal Refractive Therapy (CRT), an FDA approved procedure, molds the shape of your cornea while you sleep.  When you wake up your vision is clear.  The effect lasts throughout the day so that 90% of those treated see clearly all day. The effect is not permanent, if you stop wearing the lenses your near-sightness will return after 72hrs.  Who are good candidates?

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    If you are interested call for a free evaluation to see if you are a candidate.  Schedule an appointment with either Dr. Cooper.

Lenses may be prescribed by:

Soft lenses are larger and more comfortable than gas permeable.  Vision is not as crisp, the lenses require more care, and do not last as long.  Each brand of lenses has different fitting characteristics, similar to shoes or ski boots.  Getting the right lens requires skill, experience, time and luck. Some work better for dry eyes others for mild astigmatism. Contact lens prescriptions do not always match your eye glass prescription and the prescription in one lens design does not mean that the identical prescription will be another manufacturers design. Click here for insertion and removal techniques.

Hybrid lenses have a central gas permeable portion to give crisp vision (especially benificial in astigmatic patients and patients with high refractive errors such as myopia over 10D and hyperopia over 6 diopters.  There new lenses seem to answer the problems of former lens designs.

What is the Advantage of Ordering Contacts From My Eye Doctor?

Ease of ordering. Call the office and sign up for our new automated WEB ordering system.  All you have to do is give our staff your EMail Address, we will input your contact lens information into our WEB data base.  You will then be EMailed a password.  To order your lenses go to Coopereyecare.com   -  Click on the side bar Contact Lens Order  - Put in your EMail Address and Password  - and Order your lenses.  They will be send to your home and office.

Any time that there is a change in your prescription our database will automatically be updated.  There will never be a need to call and get a prescription.

If you need an emergency lens, or solutions we help our patients committed to our practice.  Have a problem with your lenses we will check them at no charge.

Our Prices are competitive.  ORDER CONTACT LENSES NOW

What Should I Know About My Contact Lenses Before Ordering on the WEB?

Contact lenses are medical devices and are the leading cause of corneal ulcers in the US.  The stringent FDA controls manufacturing, quality, and distribution of lenses manufactured in the USA.  There is no equivalent control of lenses made in other countries.  Thus, lenses imported from countries over seas to the USA may not be the same.  Secondly, many of the internet companies substitute different lenses for prescribed lenses, telling the patient that they are the same. This is illegal.  Each lens has many important specific parameters: prescription or power, base curve, diameter, type and brand.  Thus, where you get your lenses may make a difference.  We recognize that we must compete with the low cost internet world and we now provide a competitive prices for contact lenses as compared to Lens Express and 1 800 Contact Lenses.

Your Over 40 and Still Want to Wear Contact Lenses.  What Can You Do?  

 So you have presbyopia, your arms are not as long as they use to be.  You wear progressive lenses in your glasses and do not want to wear glasses over your contact lenses.  As an alternative to bifocal contact lenses we often prescribe mono-vision, whereby one eye wears a distance contact lens and the other a reading lens. Amazingly, 80% of our patients adapt to this type of contact lens wear. The brain automatically switches from one eye to the other depending on which type of vision is needed. mono-vision has a higher success rate than bifocal lenses. But while mono-vision is used by many people, others find difficulty in adapting. Blurred vision, headaches and a feeling of slight imbalance may last for a few minutes or for several weeks. The longer these symptoms last the less chance a patient has of adapting to mono-vision. Some people are uncomfortable in certain situations, for example, driving while wearing mono-vision contacts. mono-vision causes a decrease in stereopsis (two-eye depth perception). We may prescribe an additional lens to correct both eyes for distance for those times when sharp distance vision is required, or alternatively, we may prescribe lenses for near viewing. mono-vision is often used for LASIK refractive correction, Corneal Refractive Therapy and cataract removal. However, it important to make sure it works before performing the procedure.  Do Not Have LASIK Mono-vision Without A Trial Contact Lens Wear.

Do Bifocal Soft Contact Lenses Work?

Newer bifocal designs have recently been introduced which solves many of the problems of previous lenses.  Materials and optics are better.  Custom bifocal contact lenses even correct for astigmatism.

I Have Extended Wear Contact Lenses, Is It All Right to Sleep With Them?

Probably no. Our office is against wearing current contact lenses (hema materials) while sleeping. There is over 40 times greater risk of developing a serious corneal infection in patients who sleep with lenses in their eyes. Extended wear contact lenses, originally designed for overnight wear, provide more oxygen to the cornea than standard contact lenses and might be necessary for you.  With every advantage comes a disadvantage.  Extended wear lenses are thinner, harder to handle, often deposit more easily, and tear more easily.  Also, remember that frequent-replacement contact lenses still need cleaning. Lack of cleaning with frequent-replacement contact lenses is the most common cause for later contact lens-related infection or complication.

With this said there are new lenses on the market by CIBA (Day/Night), Accuvue (Oasys), and B&L (Pure Vision) have changed our attitudes. These new lens provide from 120 to 170 units of oxygen to your cornea (you need 120 units while sleeping; traditional lens materials only allow 60 units).  Is it a surprise that extended lenses never worked.  The new silicone based oxygen permeable lenses are made with a coating which eliminates previous problems of comfort and dryness. Our five year experience with these new lenses has been good.  Eyes are whiter, un-wanted blood vessels in the cornea regress, the lenses lubricate well, and they are fairly resistant to protein deposits. Comfort is also excellent. With this said there are still a significant number of patients who develop infections while sleeping with these lenses.  Thus, it is clearly safer not to sleep with contact lenses.  If do not heed our advise and continue to sleep with lenses then you must be fitted with a silicone lens.

What Solutions Should I Use?

The best solution for soft contact lenses is AO Sept.  The lenses should be cleaned with either Pliagel or Miraflow.  The container is filled with the disinfectant which is really hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂).  If you remember from your days of chemistry H₂O₂  is unstable and breaks down to H₂O + O₂ (water and oxygen). The little gray disc is a catalyst, thus, making the reaction occur more quickly.  Once a week an enzyme tablet should be used.

This is an over kill for today's frequent replacement (disposable contact lenses), for these the one step solutions are adequate.  They are easy to use.  Despite the advertisements, we believe that you should still rub the lenses with the solution to eliminate debris, bacteria, and deposits.  Optifree,  and Clear Care are excellent. Clerz and Blink and Clean is an excellent lubricant with an in the eye cleaner. There is no need in most cases for an enzyme.

For gas perm contact lenses we recommend Boston Original Solution.  We believe that the original solutions are better than the new and improved advance solutions.  The best cleaner is Lobob, difficult to find. An enzyme should be used weekly.

What Should I Do If My Eyes Get Red With the Lenses?

Take the contact lenses out of your eyes.  If the redness is associated with either pain or blurred vision, you must see an eye doctor immediately.  There is a reasonable chance that you have a corneal infection, which is serious.  Time is of the essence.  Treatment is almost always successful when initiated early on.  Every contact lens patient should have a pair of glasses that they can wear in an emergency.

When Should I Put On My Make-Up?

How Often Do My Contact Lenses Need to Be Checked?

For greater comfort and safety, contact lens fits need to evaluated each year.  Even if you see fine and feel comfortable you need to be examined.  Approximately, ten percent of those patients whose lenses feel fine are beginning serious problems which need to be identified and fixed.