We are in the midst of the fifth season – the carnival, where imaginative costumes can be seen everywhere. Especially with the accessories, wigs, glitter make-up or even colorful contact lenses can crown the costume. The colourful coloured lenses in particular are available in various designs and price categories. Whether zombie or big cat lenses, or simply lenses in bright colors, these costume contact lenses should be used with care just like normal contact lenses!
In general, the following applies: The costume contact lenses are available with or without prescription; they can therefore also be used by people who are short-sighted or farsighted. However, all types of contact lenses are the same in terms of handling: it is important to maintain a very high level of hygiene, otherwise eye infections can develop.
Extensive hand washing should be a matter of course, as should professional storage of the contact lenses in appropriate containers and cleaning solutions. Mindful cleaning is due to the fact that proteins and germs are deposited very quickly on the contact lens surface. These can cause, among other things, the following complaints:
However, thorough disinfection can prevent these complaints. You can rinse the contact lenses again with an appropriate detergent shortly before insertion. These special contact lens solutions are available from your optician or pharmacist. When choosing the solution, pay attention to high quality. But the most important cleaning part takes place after removing the contact lenses.
The lenses should be stored overnight in the appropriate cleaning solution, this is the only way to permanently kill viruses and bacteria that are on the contact lens surface. You should always pay attention to this cleaning process. Soft contact lenses also dry out without being stored in the cleaning fluid. In general, you should also make sure that the contact lens containers are also clean. Every now and then you should replace the containers completely.
However, not only thorough cleaning must be taken into account when using contact lenses, but also the wearing time and general condition of the contact lens. Since the contact lenses rest directly on the cornea, they act as a kind of barrier and can then interfere with the important supply of fluid and oxygen to the cornea.
This undersupply is usually accompanied by swelling of the cornea, which in the worst case can lead to clouded vision. However, this swelling often goes unnoticed by the contact lens wearer themselves and can lead to chronic metabolic disorders in the eye. Despite corrective glasses, the affected person’s vision is then only milky and blurred.
But not every eye is the same. And each person has an individual oxygen and fluid requirement of the eyes. Therefore, there are a variety of contact lens offers and manufacturers, which is also reflected in the different material properties. Ophthalmology roughly distinguishes between two types of lenses: the dimensionally stable (hard) and the soft lenses.
Although the former are more complex to adapt, they are also suitable for the correction of severe refractive errors due to their material properties. In addition, these types of lenses are better for the eyes, as they only float on the cornea and do not get stuck like the soft contact lenses. In other words, the dimensionally stable contact lenses allow better oxygen and fluid supply and are therefore better suited for contact lens wearers who want to use lenses daily.
At the same time, dimensionally stable contact lenses are very complex to adjust, as they are precisely adapted to the individual corneal surface – which is different for every person.
The soft lenses, on the other hand, are more suitable for wearers who do not want to wear lenses every day and for the correction of mild to moderate visual impairments. They are primarily perceived as more comfortable, which is why over 80% worldwide wear these types of contact lenses. The costume contact lenses mentioned at the beginning for the carnival season are also soft lenses.
The coloured lenses are usually offered as daily disposable lenses and should also be disposed of in the garbage after a single use. However, the soft lenses had a much lower gas permeability than the hard lenses for many years. For several years, various manufacturers have increased the gas permeability of soft lenses with so-called silicone hydrogel lenses. Furthermore, hard lenses will always ensure a higher gas permeability than soft lenses.
Despite all the innovations in the contact lens field, we recommend removing the lenses overnight and not leaving them in the eye for more than 8 hours at a time. Also, if you do not use daily disposable lenses, you should never use your monthly disposable lenses for more than a month. Especially at the end of the month, it is important to clean the lenses particularly thoroughly, as the deposits additionally limit the gas permeability.
In addition, we recommend that all contact lens wearers have their eyes checked regularly. Ideally, you should have your eyes checked by the ophthalmologist every 6 to 12 months in order to be able to detect any damage to the cornea early enough. And occasionally give your eyes a contact lens break so that the cornea can “breathe” enough again.
We are happy to advise you in our Bányai Laser Eye Centre regarding contact lenses, also in our special contact lens consultation hour. Professional and ophthalmological adaptation of contact lenses is essential to avoid contact lens stress for your eyes. In our contact lens consultation, we will be happy to inform you about the different types of lenses and analyze with you which lens best suits your individual eyes and vision needs.
Hat Ihnen dieser Beitrag gefallen? Teilen Sie ihn mit anderen!
