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 • What's right for me? • Solutions • Disposables • Other Lenses |
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What's right for me? Many factors influence this decision such as LIFESTYLE, HEALTH, ASTIGMATISM, CORNEAL CURVATURE, ALLERGIES, DRY EYES, HYGIENE, PREVIOUS OVERWEAR, FREQUENCY OF USE Seeing your 20/20 Optometrist will help you determine the best type of contact lenses for your eyes.LIFESTYLE: Your lifestyle often determines your sight correction requirements, which in turn influences the type of contact lens suitable, as well as frequency of use. For example, you may work in an office and use the computer all day, for which you wear spectacles; perhaps you play golf, or football once per week and find that your spectacles “steam up”? A limited supply of daily disposables just for sport would be your best option rather than monthly disposables, which require cleaning and will not be used often enough to make them worthwhile. If you are a rugby player and require good side vision in order to perform optimally, full-time contact lens wear is probably your wisest option. For those who wish to wear contact lenses socially in order to see the restaurant menu without needing reading glasses, a daily disposable progressive lens, or monovision system may be best. Constant jet-setters may prefer spectacles as contact lenses inevitably dry out whilst flying. Whatever your lifestyle, at 20/20 your contact lenses will be tailored to suit. HEALTH: Your eye health must be good in order to wear contact lenses. If it is, you will want to keep it so. The healthiest type of lens is the daily disposable soft lens. These lenses are always sterile when inserted into the eyes as they are never kept overnight. This means that no dirt, bugs or tear proteins can accumulate which all have the potential to cause problems. Fortnightly and Monthly disposables are also available which still require daily cleaning and overnight storage with contact lens solutions. ASTIGMATISM: This is when your eye is shaped like an egg and is not perfectly round like a tennis ball. At a certain level of astigmatism the contact lens prescription needs to be “tailor-made” in order for you to see clearly. Lenses that cater for this are called Torics and are available in both rigid and soft form. With lower levels of astigmatism it is often possible to fit a normal rigid contact lens and correct the problem without the need for a Toric. If you have mainly short or long-sight with very little astigmatism, a normal soft contact lens is generally fine. CORNEAL CURVATURE: This tells us how steep or flat the front of your eye is and allows your 20/20 optometrist to decide on a suitably curved contact lens to match. Contact lens curvatures are described with the term 'base curves' or BC. Two different lens types with the same base curve will not necessarily fit your eye in exactly the same manner. Ideally, the best way to assess the fit of your contact lens would be to have it checked after 4-5 hours of wearing time. As a 20/20 contact lens customer your check-ups are provided at no charge for 12 months after the date of your last eye exam with us. ALLERGIES: Hayfever, eczema or asthma sufferers may find contact lenses more uncomfortable than most people. Allergies can create an over-sensitised eye, rendering increased lens awareness. Also, the eye reacts to dirt and proteins on the lens much more and may cause the upper eyelid to develop bumps. This is called contact lens related papillary conjunctivitis. The best solution for those with severe allergies is to wear lenses infrequently (up to 3 times/week) and to use daily disposables. If your lifestyle requires you to use lenses constantly, then disposables are still the best option. Occasionally some individuals are allergic to a certain lens material or a certain lens solution. Your 20/20 optometrist will change you over to a more suitable brand if this is the case. DRY EYES: Some individuals suffer from chronic dry, smarting eyes. This may cause increased lens awareness after some hours of lens wear. Your 20/20 optometrist will prescribe an alternative lens with a different water content, fitting or material, in order to improve the comfort. Preservative-free contact lens comfort drops are also advised. HYGIENE: If your lifestyle leaves your hands and fingernails dirty or you smoke, then daily disposables are the best lenses for you. Occasionally, we have prescribed overnight lenses for those whose lifestyles demand it. Examples include doctors working in A&E, fire fighters, marine biologists and oceanographers. Sometimes an event like a 30-day trek to the Himalayas or 2 weeks of Regatta sailing prompts us to temporarily provide overnight lenses so that no routine handling is necessary. PREVIOUS OVERWEAR: If you have previously overworn your contact lenses, your eyes will need more oxygen and you may be told to use a higher water content, or higher Dk, lens. This may be a soft or rigid lens. At 20/20 we pride ourselves in sourcing whatever lens is necessary to suit the oxygen requirements of your eyes. Remember to give your eyes a break and use your spectacles one day per week. FREQUENCY OF USE: Perhaps you only wish to use contact lenses for a sporting activity once per week? A daily disposable will be most suitable from both a health and cost perspective. Rigid lenses are not recommended as they need to be used most days in order to achieve best comfort. Those who wear their lenses sporadically may wish to consider fortnightly or monthly disposables. Your 20/20 optometrist will be able to discuss the various options most suited to your requirements.  Contact Lens Solutions: RGP & Soft RGP (RIGID GAS PERMEABLE) SOLUTIONS:Total Care (Surfactant Cleaner and Conditioner available) Boston (Surfactant Cleaner and Conditioner available) Bausch and Lomb (Surfactant Cleaner and Conditioner available) Preservative-free Hydrogen Peroxides (Aosept, Easysept, Oxysept and 10:10) Surfactant cleaners: LC-65 and Miraflow Rinsing agent : Saline (never never never tap water!) Protein removing tablets: Ultrazyme, Unizyme, Fizzitab HOW DO I CLEAN MY RIGID LENSES? Rigid lenses have to be cleaned very meticulously as they are only changed once every 2 years on average. A surfactant cleaner is first used and then the lens is rubbed and rinsed with saline (never tap water). After this the lens can be stored in the container with the conditioning-disinfectant solution. Then after every 7 days of use the lenses must be protein cleaned. This is when a pill is popped into the container with saline and after fizzing like mad for about 20 minutes, it is rinsed re-cleaned and reconditioned again. SOFT LENS SOLUTIONS: Multi-purpose or all-in-one (Optifree Express, Renu, Focus and Complete) Preservative-free Hydrogen Peroxides (Aosept, Easysept, Oxysept and 10:10) Surfactant cleaners: LC-65 and Miraflow Rinsing agent : Saline (never never never tap water!) Protein removers: Ultrazyme, Unizyme, Fizzitab and Opticlean HOW DO I CLEAN MY SOFT LENSES? Daily disposables are the best as they never need cleaning! All other contact lenses need to be cleaned. The less the disposability of the lens system, the more the cleaning required. Cleaning can involve anything from one to four steps. Soft contact lens one-step-systems require only one solution type whereas the others use more than one. Examples of one-step-systems include: Optifree Express, Renu, Focus and Complete. All that is required is to remove the lenses from the eyes, rub and rinse them with the solution and then pop the lenses into the case and fill up with the same solution. A new generation has entered the market in the form of “no rub no rinse” solutions. At 20/20 we currently prefer to encourage rubbing of the contact lenses. Some bugs like Acanthamoeba in cystic form are better removed from the lens surface with the rubbing action. If you have sensitive eyes or suffer badly with hayfever, excema or asthma, your lenses are best cleaned with a preservative free system or a multipurpose system, such as Renu-sensitive eyes, or Optifree-express. The preservative-free systems, including the hydrogen-peroxide, varieties may be better for you, as it could be this preservative that is causing and exacerbating your sensitivity. Better still for you to use daily disposables instead. Patients on fortnightly or monthly lenses need only use a disinfectant solution as per the above. Those on 3-monthly or annual soft lenses still need to clean their lenses with a surfactant cleaner daily and perform weekly protein-removal. Disposable Contact Lenses 20/20 Disposables are divided broadly into DAILIES, FORTNIGHTLIES, MONTHLIES, THREE-MONTHLIES and SIX-MONTHLIES. Your 20/20 Optometrist may ask you to replace your lenses more frequently if necessary. In general all disposables represent the best system of contact lens wear as they combine the advantages of convenience and good eye health.DAILY DISPOSABLES What are dailies and when are they recommended? • These are thrown away after one day’s use and are the healthiest type of contact lens for everyone. Eg. CIBA Focus, Soflens and Acuvue. • If you are considering infrequent use of contact lenses and are worried that you may “waste” your lenses when not using them, dailies are ideal for you. They are still fresh whilst kept sealed and generally have a shelf life of up to 3 years. • If contact lens solutions cause your eyes to sting you should also consider dailies as no storage solutions are involved at all. • If you pick up a slight infection from time to time with your current lenses then dailies are definitely recommended. Small infections can lead to bigger ones if the same lens is re-inserted into the eye the next day. • If you overwear your lenses regularly you will require more oxygen to the eyes; the high water content dailies are fantastic for this. • Dirty fingernails, or smokers with nicotine stained fingers? Need we say anymore? • If you have severe allergies that cause an intense itching eye, then dailies would be best for you (if used on a part-time basis). Will my prescription be OK for dailies? • Short and Long sight can be corrected with dailies. • The latest development in dailies allows your 20/20 optometrist to correct presbyopia (reading vision blur) as well as short-sightedness and long-sightedness using the Focus Progressive Daily Contact Lens. • Astigmatism of up to 2.00 dioptres is now correctable with dailies!. Ask your optometrist if this lens is suitable for you on optician@20-20.co.uk. FORTNIGHTLY DISPOSABLES What are fortnightlies? This is where one pair of lenses is worn for two weeks and after that they are thrown away. Every evening they must be removed, cleaned and stored using the contact lens solution suggested by your 20/20 optometrist. They do not require any other cleaning. Switch UV and Acuvue are examples of this type of lens. Is my prescription ok for Fortnightlies? Our 20/20 Fortnightly Disposable Range can correct short-sight, long-sight, astigmatism and presbyopia. Your 20/20 optometrist will advise you on the best option for your eyes. Are they better than monthlies? Fortnightlies are only better than monthlies because they are disposed of more frequently and therefore, they are healthier for the eyes. The range of fortnightlies is not as wide as for monthlies so you may find that your prescription or lens fitting is not perfectly catered for with these. MONTHLY DISPOSABLES What are monthlies? These are lenses that are worn for one month and then thrown away. As with fortnightly lenses they need to be cleaned every evening and stored overnight in contact lens solution. No other cleaning should be required but your 20/20 optometrist will advise you if this is necessary in your case. Examples include the RS55 and Focus Monthly Lenses. Aren't they more expensive than Annuals? At 20/20, monthly disposables are cost-effective contact lenses that also provide a healthier modality compared to annuals. They do not require protein cleaning or daily surface cleaning and so you save on this added cost. You also have more than one pair of lenses so if anything goes wrong, you will always have a fresh pair to use. Annual lens wearers who nick a lens or pick up a slight infection tend to continue using the lens as they have nothing else at hand. Should your prescription change, at 20/20 we promise to swap any unopened unexpired boxes at no charge. If you wear monthly torics a 3 month free exchange policy applies to all unopened and unexpired boxes. Should you use our RS55, Aspheric, F55 Toric or XL Toric lenses then any unopened boxes will be swapped up to 9 nine months prior to their expiry. Is my prescription OK for Monthlies? 20/20 Monthly Disposables cater for short-sightedness, long-sightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia. Our range is so diverse that most 20/20 monthly wearers are catered for. Furthermore, our stocks are so sufficient that the lenses are usually provided straight away. Can I get coloured monthlies with a prescription? Should you wish for a prescriptive lens and a different eye colour your wish can now be granted: 20/20 offers a wide range of monthly disposable colours to chose from. Anything from a plain Hazel to a homey Honey, all the way to an exotic Amethyst or wacky Violet we've got it! See our contact lens fitting team to try out the colours. If you have never used contact lenses before and wish to see what you look like before you try them on, ask about our Coloured Lens Camera at Tottenham Court Road. For more information on coloured lenses see COLOURED LENSES below. THREE-MONTHLIES and SIX-MONTHLIES Three and Six monthly disposable lenses are becoming less and less used as people move on to the healthier, more frequently disposable types. However, some prescriptions may not be available in daily or monthly disposables. Three monthly Torics for high astigmatism are an example of this. Other Contact Lenses Annual, Coloured, Overnight and RGP'sANNUAL LENSES What are Annual Soft Lenses? These are contact lenses that are replaced annually. They require extra cleaning agents in the form of daily surfactant drop cleaners, saline rinsing solutions (if the storage solution is not multi-purpose) and weekly protein removing tablets. At 20/20 we do not recommend the use of non-disposable lenses and only in rare cases are they prescribed. COLOURED LENSES Interested in Coloured Lenses? Coloured contact lenses are available as monthly disposables and annuals. Whether you have green, blue or brown eyes the 20/20 range of coloured lenses will suit all tastes. Should you wish to enhance your blue eyes and capture the sky in your gaze, ask about the sky blue enhancer lenses. Green eyes can be turned into emeralds using this type of lens. Enhancer lenses allow your own eye colour to be appreciated by creating a radiant yet natural appearance. If you wish for a complete change in eye colour you are in for a treat as the range of possibilities is huge. Colours include Violet, Hazel, Grey, Green, Blue, Honey, Turquoise, Aquamarine and Dark Brown to name but a few. Are you keen to stand out and really make a statement? If so ask our team about Wild Eye or Crazy Lenses! Your choices include Smiley faces, Footballs, Cat Eyes, Lightning Bolts, Hearts, Spooky white-out eyes and much more. These are only available as annual replacement lenses and so require more cleaning and extra solutions. Coloured Lenses for Astigmatic Eyes? Yes, they exist! These are soft coloured lenses, which correct your astigmatism as well. They are available as annual lenses so all the cleaning that applies to annuals is applicable to these. As they are custom-made and more time is taken to fit and produce them, a waiting period of at least 3 weeks can be expected. Examples of brands available at 20/20 These include Frequency Colours, Freshlook Colourblends and Wild Eyes. For more details see our Contact Lens Products Page. OVERNIGHT WEAR CONTACT LENSES What is extended or overnight wear? This is when you sleep whilst wearing your contact lenses. Sometimes this happens by mistake when, for example, you meander home one Friday evening in a decidedly inebriated state, collapse in a corner and awaken two days later to discover that a miracle of sight has taken place. Needless to say, this is generally not advised for most contact lens wearers. When can I sleep with my contact lenses in? Only when you are using silicone hydrogel contact lenses AND your optometrist has said that this is okay. At 20/20 you will be asked to return for numerous check-ups if you are considering extended-wear lenses. Most of these checks will need to be done in the morning soon after waking. This allows the optometrist to ensure that you have no mucus stuck behind the lenses and that your eyes have not reacted adversely. Who makes silicone hydrogels? The two silicone hydrogel lens types available at 20/20 are made by CIBA Vision (Night and Day Lens) and Bausch and Lomb (Purevision) RGPS (RIGID GAS PERMEABLE LENSES) What are RGPs? These are rigid lenses with “pores” that allow oxygen to pass through. They stem from one of the first types of contact lenses ever developed: the old, virtually obselete non-gas permeable PMMA (poly-methyl methacrylate) lens, often referred to as the “hard” lens. When would I need to use an RGP? Some individuals may have enough astigmatism or lack of oxygen in their eyes to warrant the use of an RGP lens. Sometimes visual clarity is improved through use of RGPs when compared to soft lenses. Your 20/20 optometrist will advise you of the best lens options for your eyes. How often should I replace my RGPs? As these lenses are more durable, their lifespan is greater than that of softs. However, RGPs require very careful cleaning in order to maintain the optical clarity of the surfaces and keep the eyes free of dirt and bugs. At 20/20 we recommend that you change your RGPs at least once every two years. |
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Monthly Disposable Contact Lenses | Flexible Continuous Wear Contact Lenses | Coloured Lenses | Varifocal Lenses | Astigmatic Toric Lenses |
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