Contact Lenses: Colored, Soft, Hard, Toric and Bifocal

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Contact lenses have come a long way lately, and offer some exciting options for the consumer. You can bat a pair of baby blues one day, then flash golden tiger eyes the next. You can toss your disposable lenses in the trash each night. Or you can leave in your extended wear lenses for an entire month.

For people with vision problems, contact lenses remain an effective, almost invisible tool. The thin plastic or glass lenses are fitted over the cornea of the eye to correct vision problems such as nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. These days you can wear contact lenses even if you have presbyopia and need bifocals.

You have so many options, how do you choose? Check out your choices of contact lenses here. Then talk with your eye doctor about the contact lens that may work best for you.

They're hip and they're fun, but colored contact lenses can also be quite practical. There are four types of colored contact lenses, each offering a slightly different benefit:

• Visibility tint. These colored contact lenses are lightly tinted so you can find your lens if you drop it. Visibility tints don't affect the color of your eyes.
• Enhancement tint. These colored contact lenses have a translucent tint that's meant to enhance your natural eye color. Enhancement tints are slightly darker than a visibility tint.
• Color tint. Darker, opaque tints that change the color of your eyes. Color tints come in a wide array of specialty colors, including amethyst, violet and green. The center of this colored contact lens is clear so you can see.
• Light-Filtering tint. These colored contact lenses are designed for athletes and sports fans. They enhance certain colors and mute others to make balls stand out. For instance contact lenses for tennis players would enhance optic yellow, the color of tennis balls.

Remember, never share colored contacts lenses with anyone. Clean and care for them just as you would any prescription contact lens.

Soft Contact Lenses

Soft contact lenses are made of a soft plastic and are more comfortable than hard contact lenses because they hold more water. Many soft contact lenses also provide UV protection. They are usually disposable and can be thrown away after a short period of use, generally every two to four weeks or daily, depending on the type of contact lens prescribed. Being able to have a fresh pair of soft contact lenses means less chance of infection, less cleaning, and more comfort, especially for people whose eyes naturally produce more protein that clouds contact lenses.

While most people choose soft contact lenses because of their benefits, there are also some disadvantages. Soft contact lenses easily absorb pollutants like lotion or soap from your hands, which can irritate your eyes. Soft contact lenses are also more fragile than hard contact lenses and can rip or tear easily.

The most recent type of soft contact lenses to hit the market include Daily Disposables and New Silicone Extended Wear Disposables.

• Daily disposables. These soft contact lenses are only worn once and then thrown away. The benefits of Daily Disposables include never having to clean your contact lenses, convenient replacement schedule, and reduction of dry eye and irritation related to contact solutions. If you are an allergy sufferer, these are the contact lenses for you.
• Silicone Extended Wear Disposables. These soft contact lenses are made with a new material that can be worn for up to 30 nights and days. The new silicone material also prevents deposit build up and reduces dry eye irritation.

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