Contact Lens

Is the world really getting smaller everyday? Oh well it is frequently said that big things come from small beginnings. Big companies have to start small before they become big corporations. Big universities began as a small college barely offering few programs.

But that is not always the case. Huge computers before have become portable laptops nowadays; those big and bulky cellular phones are now slimmer and pocket-sized. Big-rimmed eyeglasses were long ago challenged by contact lens. Even the thick contact lens is now made thinner.

With the help of science and technology, today’s contact lens, which is also called “contacts”, has made the life of almost 38 million Americans easy. Contact lens has paved a better way to providing better vision to those experiencing refraction problems.

During the 50s contacts is made of glass material causing relative inconvenience to the users. With the introduction of the hard contact lens that was made of polymer-based material wearing contacts had become comfortable. The disadvantage of the material though, is that it blocked the passage of oxygen to the eyes, which posed another confounding eye problem.

At the close of the 20th century ‘silicon hydrogel” was made as the base material in the manufacturing of the now so-called soft contact lens. Today’s contacts is much thinner, seemingly weightless, and eye friendly. Out-of-this-world colors and designs have been added to contacts and are making it more colorful and giving it more aesthetic value while maintaining its functionality.

Contact lens is a personal thing. It is not supposed to be shared with anybody. Though we are taught that sharing is good, however it is not with contacts. Shared contacts could be disastrous to one’s eyes as this will make anyone prone to eye diseases. No matter how many times you clean the contact lens, it is just not proper to let anyone other you to use it. Speaking of cleaning, contact lens needs thorough cleaning before and after using. Since it is so soft and thin, careful handling in cleaning, rinsing, and disinfecting is necessary.  A particular brand of cleaning solution may not be compatible with your contact lens so it is a must to look for the one that suits your contact lens best.

Before anyone decides to wear contact lens, eye doctor must be consulted so that a thorough examination is performed and that the right prescription is given. In the US a patient can ask for his or her prescription. In any case that the patient does not want to order the contact lens from the prescribing doctor, the patient can freely seek the assistance of another eye care professional to have his or her contact lens made.

The revolution of eye care health practice is continuously improving to the benefit of the consumer. A time will come that another feature of contact lens will be introduced which is something to look forward to. Who knows?