Healthy
contact lenses with more oxygen review
Times when people had to wear unsafe contact lenses are
gone. A decade ago conventional lenses were thick, with
low oxygen permeability and tricky to care for.
Not any more - contact lens industry
improved dramatically over the recent years. However,
not all modern contacts are equally healthy for your eyes.
The healthyest contact lenses with more oxygen for your
eyes are silicone hydrogel lenses, biocompatible lenses,
daily
disposable contacts and RGP
(rigid gas permeable) lenses. In this article we will
talk about silicon hydrogel contact lenses.
New contact lens materials
New contact lens materials used in silicon
hydrogel lenses and RGP lenses
make the lens much more gas permeable. Oxygen flow to your
eye is very important for your eye health. A few years ago
people who slept in their lenses were at great risk of eye
infection, because their eyes didn’t get enough oxygen.
With new materials this is no longer a problem. Silicon hydrogel
lenses are the only contact lenses you can wear for a few
days in a row.
Most successful silicon hydrogel lenses
Focus
Night and Day by Ciba Vision - soft contact lenses which
you can wear for as long as 30 days in a row. They have the
highest Dk/t among hydrogel contact lenses. Dk/t is used to
compare oxygen transmissibility between different contact
lenses on the market. Higher it is – more oxygen can
get through the lens – better for your eyes. Since Focus
Night and Day hardly blocks the oxygen your eyes receive,
they are safe to wear for many days without removing.
Even though Night and Day contain only 24%
of water, they don’t make your eyes dry. The secret
is silicon hydrogel material. Actually low water percentage
helps the lens to feel comfortable in your eye – the
lens simply doesn’t dry, unlike traditional lenses with
higher percentage of water. This is extremely important for
people who work in dry conditions. Computer users would greatly
benefit from this lens as well, because when working on the
computer, people blink 25% less and blinking is very important
for rewetting your eyes.
Acuvue
Advance is another successful silicon hydrogel contact
lens. They also have very high oxygen permeability and low
percentage of water. Patented material Hydroclear, helps the
lens to retain moisture. It is recommended to wear Acuvue
Advanced for two weeks taking them out at night, or for
a week continuously.
Both Focus Night and Day and Acuvue Advance
are very comfortable contact lenses. Focus is a bit more expensive.
Acuvue Advance cost less, which makes them more popular. However,
all silicon hydrogel lenses cost more that ordinary monthly
or weekly disposable lenses.
Manufacturers claim that the reason to develop
silicon hydrogel contacts was to improve contact lens safety
and comfort, not to introduce lenses that are more expensive.
Whatever their motivation was, silicon hydrogel lenses are
a relief for your eyes.
Many people complain that at the end of the
day, contacts feel dry and uncomfortable. Is this is your
case, you should ask your doctor about silicon hydrogel contacts,
they might be just the right thing for you.
