Contact Lens Fitting - How It's Changed

How has the process of the fitting of the contact lens changed? If you're worried about contact lens fitting, here's some information that should ease those concerns. Contacts have been around for a long time, though the first contacts were not practical for everyday use. Those early contactlenses were made of glass and were very thick and heavy. The contact lenses fitting typically took a significant amount of time for several reasons. First, the contacts were so rigid that they had no ability to conform to the shape of the eye. If they didn't match the contours of the eye exactly, they didn't stay still and were uncomfortable. The technology of grinding the glass for those contacts was an inexact science at best. There were no precision machines to help with the process. All this combined with the new science meant that fitting contacts could take months to attain a good fit, or that a good fit might never happen at all.

How has the process of fitting contact lenses changed?

There have been some major advances in most health and science fields and the contact lens industry has made some major strides just in the course of the last two or three decades. One of those advances is the introduction of soft contact lenses. With soft contacts, fitting is much easier because the lens is flexible and can (to a great degree) mold itself to the contours of the eye. In fact, some contacts are so generic that they can be worn by almost anyone and no prescription is even needed for most fashion contacts that don't have corrective capabilities. But even with the hard contact lenses, the technology for both gathering the measurements and for shaping the contacts have made the fitting process much easier for both patient and technician.

How are contact lens fitted for astigmatism?

One of the newest and greatest advances in the contact industry is the advance of the toric contact lens for those with astigmatism. Naturally, these contacts require more precise consideration and your vision care specialist will likely take more time to accurately fit you for contact lenses if astigmatism is or contributes to your vision problems.

Shop for: