Are Contact Lenses Right For You?

By Jeffrey W Anderson

Eyeglasses are a necessity to many individuals of all ages. If you are tired of being shackled to a pair of specs, consider opting for a light and comfortable pair of contact lenses of instead. With contact lenses, sports, activities, and every day is made a great deal easier, since you do not have to worry about damaging your glasses or put up with glasses slipping down your nose.

Contact lenses are made of super high tech materials that allow the lens to attach directly to your eye. Since you are seeing through an optical aid at a much closer distance than eyeglasses, individuals usually experience better sight with contacts. Furthermore, this material allows moisture to naturally pass through the barrier so that your eyes will not feel irritated or dried out by their presence.

When determining if contact lenses are right for you, first speak with your optometrist. He or she will be able to further inform you of the pros and cons of wearing lenses, as well as if the lenses are the right choice for you. Furthermore, when you speak with your optometrist, you may need to request a specific eye examination for contacts in addition to the routine examination for traditional eyeglasses.

If you are into sports, consider opting for contact lenses instead of cumbersome glasses. Often, if you are involved in an activity that includes a great deal of running or contact, glasses can make the event often impossible to which to participate. Consider choosing a pair of contact lenses that will allow you to remain mobile without the possibility of losing or breaking your glasses.

Many individuals choose to wear contact lenses because they are unsatisfied with the appearance of glasses. Furthermore, some individuals choose to wear specialty lenses that can change the color of their eyes or display a unique symbol. Such specialty contact lenses can make a wearer’s pupil appear to be a vertical slit like a cat or display a pattern directly on their eyeball. These lenses are usually not prescription and will not affect your sight.

Before you decide to purchase a pair of contact lenses, consider asking your optometrist for a loan pair to try them out. Many individuals will enjoy the way the lenses feel in their eye, as well as the direct benefit to their sight. However, there are individuals who dislike the feel of contact lenses. You will only waste money if you purchase lenses and not wear them, so make your decision carefully.

There are a variety of contact lens companies on the market that offer different styles, shapes, and sizes of lenses to fit different sizes and shapes of eyes. You may need to try several different brands until you find the brand that best fits the contour of your eye and feels the most comfortable. Your optometrist will be able to ensure the lenses fit properly and suggest possible brands that may work well for your situation.

Some individuals will not be able to successfully wear contact lenses, due to a problem with their vision or the eye. Others will need a specific type of contact lens to correct any vision problems. Such problems include astigmatism, which before left individuals unable to wear contacts. Now, there are a specific styles designed for individuals with this condition that will enable them to successfully wear contact lenses.

If you are wondering if contact lenses are right for you, make an appointment with your optometrist today. He or she will be able to discuss all your options and set you on the path to tossing your glasses aside and enjoying perfect vision without the fuss!

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A Look at Eyeglasses

By Frankie Goh

ARE you reading this with the aid of eyeglasses? Well, you are by no means alone.

Wearing glasses has thus become so commonplace that if your friends make any comment on them, it is probably because you have changed your style of frames or have decided not to wear them at all. Most of us get so accustomed to our spectacles that we put them on and take them off with hardly a thought-unless they start slipping down our noses or steaming up.

Most eyeglass wearers, though, would probably prefer 20/20 vision to stylish frames. Eyeglasses can be a nuisance. Nevertheless, people with poor eyesight have never had it so good.

Early Vision Aids

Roman emperor Nero, in order to see the gladiatorial games better, is said to have had a lens made from emerald-a rather expensive and inefficient way of improving failing eyesight. In ancient times lenses were similarly made from crystal glass, quartz, amethyst, beryl, and topaz. However, about the year 1268, English monk Roger Bacon described how a segment of a glass sphere could be used as a reading aid. About this same time, the first eyeglasses-frames with crude lenses fitted in them-started to appear.

Who invented them first-the Italians or the Chinese? This is a matter of dispute, as the device appeared to emerge in both lands almost simultaneously. On the one hand, a tomb in Florence, Italy, bears this epitaph: "Here lies Salvino d'Armato of the Armati of Florence. The inventor of spectacles. God forgive him his sins." No one is sure when he died-1285, 1317, or 1340. On the other hand, the great Italian explorer Marco Polo recalled seeing many people in China wearing eyeglasses when he first arrived there in the late 13th century. Indeed, legend has it that eyeglasses were worn in China from as early as 500 C.E.

At any rate, by the 16th century, the optical trade was flourishing in Venice, as well as Nuremberg and other European centers. Eyeglasses became sought-after ornaments, sold in many cities by street peddlers. But alas, the vendors offered no vision test with their wares. So the buyer may have had his looks improved but not necessarily his sight!

Spectacles Today

Eyeglasses steadily improved. They were attached to the ears by ribbons or to the nose by means of a spring clip. By the early 18th century, someone came up with the idea of supporting eyeglasses by means of rigid earpieces. This is still the most popular method.

Lens manufacture also improved dramatically. High-grade optical glass eventually replaced transparent crystalline substances. Sir Isaac Newton's 17th-century experiments with prisms led to an understanding of light refraction. Precision lenses could thus be made with scientific accuracy.

In 1784, American statesman Benjamin Franklin invented an ingenious solution to a problem he had with his eyeglasses. His reading glasses interfered with his distant vision, and those he had for distant vision were not suitable for him to read with. So instead of continually switching two different pairs of eyeglasses, he reasoned, why not combine the two sorts of lenses in one pair of eyeglasses? Thus bifocals were born. However, it was another hundred years before an efficient means of manufacturing them was developed.

Different forms of optical glass are also available to meet specialized needs. Laminated or toughened lenses can be fitted to safety glasses so that workers' eyes are protected from flying particles. Some lenses are photosensitive: When exposed to bright sunlight, they darken, and when in the shade or indoors, they become clear again. Yet other lenses are plastic, reducing the weight of eyeglasses considerably and allowing people with thick lenses to wear them without discomfort.

'Me? Spectacles?'

Perhaps, though, you are one of the fortunate few who are endowed with perfect sight. Probably not for long.

'Are you saying that I might have to wear glasses someday?' you ask. Yes, the odds are that you probably will, even if right now the world is in sharp focus. Why? Well, for one thing, by the time you are 45 years old-or older-you will probably notice the effects of presbyopia. Now, don't be frightened by that word. All it means is that the lenses in your eyes will not shift focus from close-up to far away as efficiently as they did in your youth. Spectacles are just one of the prices paid in the aging process.

Do your parents wear glasses? Many feel that vision problems are genetic. If so, your having to wear glasses yourself one day may already have been predetermined.

In time, however, age, genes, and habits may take their toll and cause common eye ailments, such as farsightedness (hyperopia), nearsightedness (myopia), astigmatism (an imperfect curvature of the cornea), and squinting (strabismus). If you are afflicted with any of the above, a trip to an eye specialist (such as an optometrist) is in order. Then it is simply a matter of selecting a pair of frames that suits your fancy.

Caring for Your Spectacles

Eyeglasses can be quite expensive, and you may be dependent upon them to carry out your daily routine. Therefore, look after them properly. When you take them off, never put them down on the lenses. Also, make sure that you do not place them where they could be sat on or stepped on. Eyeglasses tend to get dirty quickly, so the lenses should be polished daily with a soft, dry cloth, and the frames washed in warm, soapy water from time to time. If you have young children who wear eyeglasses, you will probably find that their glasses need to be cleaned more frequently.

What, though, if your glasses go out of adjustment and no longer fit properly? Take them to your optician for repair rather than risk doing the job yourself.

With proper care, you will get good service out of your spectacles. Oh, they may still be a minor nuisance from time to time, but they do improve your vision-and perhaps even your looks. Certainly that's worth a little nuisance, isn't it?

Eyeglasses and Fashion

'Glasses will spoil my looks!' say many when told that they will have to wear eyeglasses. However, fashion designers have so effectively applied their talents to eyeglass design that a pair of spectacles can be a rather flattering article of adornment.

For one thing, frame manufacturers have taken advantage of new lightweight, durable plastics, making the choice of color and size almost endless. Too, by using high-refractive-index glass, it is possible to make strong-prescription lenses tolerably thin. And when coated with an antireflection film, they become almost invisible.

If you are fashion-conscious, you may choose eyeglass frames as wardrobe accessories. A brochure produced by the Optical Information Council recommends that you select frames that will match the shape of your face, accentuating the good features while minimizing those not so good. For example, would you like to slim down your face? Then, says the brochure, choose frames that have color concentrated on the bridge, fading to clear temples. Do you have close-set eyes? Then choose frames with a clear bridge and color concentrated at the outer edges. Try on different styles, and study the different effects. You may find that it helps to take along a good friend who can be relied upon to give an honest opinion.

If you find eyeglasses too bothersome, consider contact lenses. They may be comfortably worn all day by many people.

Frankie Goh is a full-time family counsellor and researcher.
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Will Contact Lenses Fit Your Lifestyle?

By Charles Kassotis

If you need to wear corrective vision lenses due to an eyesight problem, you may be considering the option of wearing contact lenses. These small, lightweight plastic lenses float on the fluid surrounding the eye to improve vision without being seen by others. This option allows lens wearers to eliminate the need for wearing eyeglass frames on their faces, which some people believe adds to their physical appearance. There is also the convenience factor of managing small lenses instead of bulkier framed lenses, which can be dropped, lost, or broken.

Contact lenses work well for those who don’t mind taking a few seconds morning and night to insert and remove the floating lenses. You will need to rinse each lens with cleaning solution every time you put them in or take them out of your eye. You also need to rinse out the contact lens case and let it dry before adding new fluid whenever you return the lenses to their case. Daily care, then, is a little more time-consuming than merely putting on or taking off eyeglasses. But many people don’t mind a little extra effort to be able to avoid wearing facial frames, which can be difficult to fit, steam up, and change someone’s look.

Another aspect of contact lenses is the need for more in-depth cleaning every few days or so. This requires the use of special enzymes purchased for this care. The case and lenses will need to soak for a short period of time in order to remove all eye fluid buildup. Then the lenses and case are rinsed and ready to use.

Nowadays, though, many contact lens wearers are opting for the disposable lenses that you wear a few days and then throw away. This helps to reduce the number of hours overall any lens will spend in your eye, thus cutting back on the amount of bacteria that can grow over a period of time and lead to eye irritations, inflammation, or infection. Some people used to buy extended wear contact lenses, which they would leave in for long periods of time. When these began causing problems, manufacturers came up with the disposable lens.

Contact lenses work great for professional people on the go or active people who are involved with sports, children, or other activities where eyeglasses could slip off their nose or be yanked off accidentally by kids or competitors. Unlike eyeglasses, contact lenses won’t steam up, although one could pop out if your eye becomes dry or you play around with it. Finding a lost contact lens is challenging, to say the least. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen very often.

If you have never worn contacts before, talk to your eye doctor about the pros and cons of using this vision correction approach, or browse online websites for discussion groups on this topic. Millions of people wear them and love them, so you may be one of those who will benefit from the convenience and comfort of contact lens usage.

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Types Of Prescription Lenses

By Rejina Kelis

Your preferences are the best guides for you to find the perfect prescription glasses and lenses for your needs. You could make your own decisions about the various lenses, which are accessible to you when purchasing prescription glasses. You could probably start by considering your lifestyle, and thinking about when and how you going to use it. Then, it is must to read about prescription lens features, options, and other services that are offered. After which you would be able to choose from the menu of prescription lens options the features, which would most support your lifestyle.

Types of prescription eyewear lens

Single vision lenses

Your eyes might require vision improvement only for distance, only for reading purpose, or even for both. If you require correction only for distance vision, then you probably only want single vision lenses. With single vision lenses, you could look through all areas of the lens and it is visible clearly. If you desire vision improvement only for reading and in case you do not have astigmatism, then you could even purchase non-prescription reading glasses. If you do have astigmatism, you should go for prescription reading glasses. In either case, these are only considered single vision lenses.

Progressive lenses

Progressive lenses are sometimes as well recognizedas no-line bifocals, which are in fact trifocal lenses without the visible lines. Progressive lenses were urbanized as many people required the convenience of not having to change their prescription glasses for reading purpose, but they did not like other people to see the visible line. Progressive lenses do have an additional benefit however, which is that you sense a soft transition when you move your eyes from far away objects to close up objects. With a lined bifocal, the transition among viewing areas could even be somewhat uncomfortable.

Multifocal lenses

If you require vision adjustment for both distance and for reading purpose, then you could use two pairs of glasses, and swap depending on what you require to see. Or, you could even choose multifocal lenses (bifocal lenses, trifocal lenses, or progressive lenses). Many people find it not convenient to swap every now and then to another pair in order to read something.

Multifocal lenses divide the lens, so that part of the lens is kept for reading and another part of the lens is kept for distance vision. Bifocal (two areas) and trifocal (three areas) lenses have visible lines, which separate the diverse areas of the lens.

Prescription reading glasses

Non-prescription reading glasses just enlarge objects that are close to us, like the letters in a book. Your eye doctor could only decide the magnification power, which is most excellent for you, or you could figure it out by yourself through test and error. A doctor’s prescription is not sometime necessary in order to choose a reading lens. Drugstore reading glasses are just eyeglasses frames with enlarging lenses pre-loaded in a range of powers with stock lens powers. It is typically less costly to buy reading eyeglasses this way, but stock lens powers hardly ever offer an optimal vision correction. For best results, reading lenses with magnification customized to your requirements could be installed in any pair of eyeglasses frames.

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Repair Tips for Fixing Those Broken Eyeglass Frames

By Tl Kleban

If you're one of the millions in the US who wear eyeglasses, then I'm sure you've had the unfortunate experience of having them easily broken or something randomly becoming loose. I know I'm lucky to have. I think that everyone who wears or has worn glasses, has gone through that. Let's face it, sooner or later our eyeglasses will break and we will need to repair them.

It's so frustrating sometimes that you just want to throw them as far as you can. Even the most expensive, well built designs don't survive the simplest of accidents. While fixing them may be annoying and frustrating, it is still pretty easy. All it takes is an inexpensive eyeglass repair kit, and you can perform minor repairs on eyeglass frames. Here are a few simple to follow steps for you the next time you are stuck fixing your eyeglasses yourself:

• Before you can fix what's wrong you need figure out what's wrong. I recommend using a nice magnifying glass to try and find the problem which is in need of repair. Most of the time, the problem is small and difficult to see such as a loose or missing screw or a broken hinge on an arm.
• Ok, let's say you found the issue and it's a stretched out hinge. To repair this, you first will get a pair of needle nose pliers and cover the tips of it to bend the hinge gently back into place. Covering the tips of the pliers prevents the lenses and frame from becoming scratched or damaged. A very small rubber band or rubber ring, found in many eyeglass repair kits, can also hold a loose hinge in place.
• Perhaps a screw is loose on your eyeglass frame. This is fixed by tightening the screw with one of those tiny screwdrivers that come in eyeglass repair kits. If you can't get your hands on one of these screwdrivers, you can get away with using the tip of a paring knife to serve the same purpose. After you have tightened the screw up in the frame, I find that dabbing a little clear nail polish on the hinge screw will hold it firmly in place. Remember to let the polish dry before putting the glasses back on.
• Let's say not only is the screw loose but it is now lost. Buy an eyeglass repair kit and replace the screw with one of the screws found in the kit. Miniature safety pins can also work by slipping into the screw hole and closing the pin. Never force the screw into the hole if it won't fit. The last thing you want to do is strip the threads.
• Often times with some eyeglasses the metal hinge will break from the frame. To repair this, you'll wash both surfaces and then try to scrape as much paint or glue away. Then using a toothpick, lightly dab on some fast-bonding glue to the break. Be sure to keep the two pieces held together for about a minute or two so the glue can dry and set.
• One final problem with eyeglass is the ear-piece slipping off the frame. Simply, re-adhere it back on with fast-bonding glue.

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What Are Bifocal Contact Lenses?

By Ken Wilssens

You may be used to regular eyeglasses, or contacts, with one special lens prescription, but a bifocal has two in one - and a bifocal contact lens is also a dual lens, so it is sort of like wearing two sets of glasses at the same time.

The way a bifocal contact lens works is that it, like a normal bifocal eyeglass lens, has two ranges of vision, or prescriptions. For example, if you need one kind of lens to help correct your vision up close, then obviously it will make looking at a distant object more difficult and blurred, perhaps to the point that it will give you symptoms like headache and vertigo without a matter of moments.

To alleviate the need for two sets of eyeglasses, doctors long ago engineered the bifocal, so that one set of lenses did the job of two, and recently they figured out how to do the same thing in a bifocal contact lens. The lens sometimes is divided into an upper half and a lower half; and at other times it may be designed in concentric circles, with one lens on the interior and the other on the outside of that first one.

When you use a set of bifocal contact lens contacts, your eye gradually adjusts to finding the different portions of the lens that do different things, and once your eye muscles are trained and coordinated, they automatically shift to and from the corrective lens that is needed at a particular time, for a specific task. For example, if you are reading and your eye needs to look through the lens that corrects your vision for close up viewing, the pupil of your eye will direct the attention there, and the light will be refracted into your retina at an angle which will assist you in reading small print close to your face. Then, if you shift and start to look off in the distance - for instance if you are reading a map or a compass and up close and then look up to see a mountain in the distance that you are trying to hike toward - the eye's focus will slide over to look through the other lens, and you will have a crisp image of the mountain in the distance, thanks to a different prescription lens in the other part of the contacts, that refracts the light at a slightly different angle to correct your vision for another kind of viewing.

Which is right for you, a bifocal contact lens, or a bifocal lens in traditional eyeglasses? This will depend on your preferences, mostly. Some people have trouble with contact lenses, and find them difficult to put in and take out, which is a routine that people who wear contacts have to adapt into their daily life, unless they buy the special kind that you can leave in 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for a week or more at a time. Even those types of lenses, however, have to be changed eventually, so some people find it problematic to wear contacts. However, for those people, the innovations in design and manufacture of contacts may provide some hope, because there are now contacts that are much simpler to manage and much easier to maintain. If you work in some particular kinds of hazardous environments or are a sports enthusiast who likes to wear goggles or other kinds of equipment, you may find that contacts eliminate the need for trying to fit everything over a pair of bulky traditional eyeglasses. On the other hand, some environments, for example around certain types of toxic gaseous chemicals, are not suitable for contact lens wearing, so you have to check with your eye vision specialist for this and all other topics related to contacts and eyeglasses, that you might need consultation and advice about, to help you make the wisest and most practical decision regarding the health and welfare of your precious eyes.

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Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Lenses

By Thomas Morva

Lenses were first invented a thousand years ago, with the earliest being made from emeralds. The legendary Roman emperor Nero used emerald lenses to view gladiator games. Regardless of whether he could actually see better, his precious lenses became an instant, must-have fashion accessory among the upper classes.

Despite the popular belief that Benjamin Franklin invented the first bifocals, historical sources indicate that the concept of combining both distance and near lenses into one set of eyeglasses was invented earlier by at least one other man, the English optician Samuel Pierce.

Lenses cover a very broad category and include some common examples such as eye lenses, camera lenses, and astronomical lenses. Lenses help us see what cannot be clearly seen because the object is at a great distance or our eyesight is weakening.

Some of the most commonly used lenses are eyeglass lenses. When our eyesight weakens, we seek out options such as eyeglasses and contact lenses. An interesting fact about contact lenses is that, although we have achieved many improvements in contact lenses in the past few decades, many people do not realize just how far back contact lens history actually goes- the earliest pair of contact lenses dates back as early as the 16th century, beginning with none other than the great Leonardo da Vinci.

Current contact lens research focuses on improving the permeability of contact lenses, which will significantly reduce a large number of common complaints associated with contact lens wear.

Another great use for lenses is in photography, which is undoubtedly one of the most important inventions in history and has truly altered how people conceive the world.

Lenses provides detailed information on Lenses, Contact Lenses, Eyeglass Lenses, Camera Lenses and more. Lenses is affiliated with Red Eyes.

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