If you have astigmatism – a common condition where the eye isn’t perfectly round, but more football- or egg-shaped – then you’ll need a special design of contact lenses called “toric” lenses for clear vision.

Toric contact lenses are available in both soft and rigid gas permeable (RGP or GP) lens materials. Most contact lens wearers who need toric contacts choose soft toric lenses.

How do toric lenses work?

When you have astigmatism, different meridians of your eye need different amounts of correction for nearsightedness or farsightedness. Imagine the front of your eye is like the face of a clock: A […]

Orthokeratology, or “ortho-k,” is the process of reshaping the eye with specially-designed rigid gas permeable (GP) contact lenses. The goal of ortho-k is to flatten the front surface of the eye and thereby correct mild to moderate amounts of nearsightedness and astigmatism.

How ortho-k works

The GP lenses for ortho-k are applied at bedtime and worn overnight. While you sleep, the lenses gently reshape the front surface of your eye (the cornea) to correct your vision, so you can see clearly without glasses or contact lenses when you’re awake. The effect is temporary – generally enough to get you through a day […]

Not everyone is an ideal candidate for contact lenses. If you have one or more of the following conditions, contact lens wear may be more difficult:

• astigmatism
• dry eyes
• presbyopia
• giant papillary conjunctivitis (GPC)
• keratoconus
• post-refractive surgery (such as LASIK)

But “difficult” doesn’t mean impossible. Often, people with these conditions can wear contacts quite successfully. Let’s take a closer look at each situation – and possible contact lens solutions.

Contact lenses for astigmatism

Astigmatism is a very common condition where the curvature of the front of the eye isn’t round, but is instead shaped more like a football or an egg. This means one curve is […]

Gas permeable (GP) contact lenses, also known as rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses, are hard contact lenses made of silicone-containing compounds that allow oxygen to pass through the lens material to the eye. Though not as popular as soft contact lenses, GP lenses offer a number of advantages over soft lenses.

Advantages of gas permeable lenses

• GP lenses allow your eyes to “breathe” better. GP lenses allow more oxygen to reach the front surface of the eye. This reduces the risk of eye problems caused by hypoxia (reduced oxygen supply). Gas permeable lenses provide a better oxygen supply than most soft lenses […]
  

Bifocal and multifocal contact lenses are designed to give you good vision when you reach your 40s. Beginning at this age, you may need to hold reading material – like a menu or newspaper – farther from your eyes to see it clearly. This condition is called “presbyopia.”

Bifocal and multifocal contact lenses are available in both soft and rigid gas permeable (GP) materials.

Bifocals, multifocals – What’s the difference?

Bifocal contacts lenses (like bifocal eyeglass lenses) have two powers – one for seeing clearly far away and one for seeing clearly up close. Multifocal contact lenses, like progressive eyeglass lenses, have a […]