·        Daily Disposable

·        1-2 Week Disposable

·        Monthly Disposable

·        Toric Lenses

·        Colored Contacts

·        Novelty Lenses

·        Conventional (Vial)

·        Bifocal Contact Lenses

·        RGP Lenses

·        Lens Cases

Contact Lenses Brand

Bausch & Lomb

Johnson & Johnson

Calaview Color Lenses

Magic Lenses

Acuvue

Biomedics

Freshlook

Freshkon

Ciba vison

Polylite 38

Igel UV Blue

Sun Lens UV

Ey-Art

Focus

Acme

Source :-www.SoftTouchLenses.com

Contact Lenses 

A contact lens (also known simply as a contact) is a corrective, cosmetic, or therapeutic lens usually placed on the cornea of the eye. Leonardo da Vinci is credited with describing and sketching the first ideas for contact lenses in 1508, but it was more than 300 years later before contact lenses were actually fabricated and worn on the eye. Rigid ones were produced and marketed first. Modern soft contact lenses were invented by the Czech chemist Otto Wichterle and his assistant Drahoslav Lím, who also invented the first gel used for their production.

Some soft contact lenses are tinted a faint blue to make them more visible when immersed in cleaning and storage solutions. Some cosmetic lenses are deliberately colored to alter the appearance of the eye. Some lenses now have a UV protection surface treatment to reduce UV damage to the eye’s natural lens.

It has been estimated that 125 million people use contact lenses worldwide (2%), including 28 to 38 million in the United States and 13 million in Japan. The types of lenses used and prescribed vary markedly between countries, with rigid lenses accounting for over 20% of currently-prescribed lenses in Japan, the Netherlands and Germany but less than 5% in Scandinavia

People choose to wear contact lenses for many reasons, often due to their appearance and practicality. When compared with spectacles, contact lenses are less affected by wet weather, do not steam up, and provide a wider field of vision. They are more suitable for a number of sporting activities. Additionally, ophthalmological conditions such as keratoconus and aniseikonia may not be accurately corrected with glasses.

Source :- http://en.wikipedia.org

Want to change something about your appearance? How about your eye color? You would be amazed how eye color affects your image. Find out what color contacts can do for your appearance and see how to get the best out of them

Color contact lenses options

Enhancement contact lenses are designed to enhance the color of light eyes. They don’t change your color, but give your eyes a light blue, aqua or green tint. Enhancement color lenses make your eye color brighter and more defined.

The most popular enhancement color contacts are Acuvue 2 Colors Enhancers by Johnson & Johnson and Freshlook Dimensions by Ciba Vision. Freshlook Radiance is also a very interesting design; these lenses create an illuminating effect. Enhancement color contacts only work on light eyes; on dark eyes they will not have any effect at all.

Opaque color contacts completely change the color of your eyes. They work equally well for light and dark eyes. Even if you have a very dark brown eyes, opaque color contacts like Freshlook Colorblends can transform your color into sapphire blue or jade green.

The color of an opaque color lens isn’t solid – it has an imprinted pattern that simulates the natural pattern of a human eye. High quality opaque color contacts like Freshlook Colorblends look very realistic. People would be amazed by what beautiful blue, green or amethyst eyes you have.

Costume color contacts are always Halloween favorites. While the contacts mentioned above are designed to give your eyes a different but realistic looking color, costume lenses can give you cat’s eyes or werewolf eyes, while complete whiteouts are perfect for the effect of blind eyes. And who said that you can only wear costume color contacts for a costume party? It can be a real fun to wear them when going to the club, or just at school or work with otherwise ordinary clothes. With a pair of cat’s eyes, you are guaranteed to be noticed.

Most costume contacts only cover the color area of your eye. However, there are also scleral color contacts that cover the visible portion of your eye. Scleral lenses can produce unbelievable effects. The most popular costume contacts are Crazy Lenses by Cooper Vision and Wild Eyes by Ciba Vision.

All brand-name color and costume contact lenses are available with corrective powers as well as in plano (no correction) This means that if your eyesight isn’t perfect and you wear corrective contact lenses anyway, you can get color lenses with corrective powers and kill two birds with one stone.

Color contact lenses wearing advice

·  You should follow the same rules as for regular contact lenses – wash your hands before putting color lenses in, clean the lenses each time you use them and store them in a contact lens case in a special solution.

·  Color lenses are like your tooth or hair brash, and should not be shared with other people

·  You should put your make-up on after the lenses are in. If you use hairspray, do it before you put the lenses in, or shut your eyes very tightly while spraying.

·  Use only a mild multipurpose solution for cleaning your color contacts; never use

peroxide based solutions. And don’t rub the lenses – it can damage the color

·  If you don’t wear your lenses often, change the solution they are stored in at least once a week

·  Don’t wear your color contacts for longer than 8 hours at a time

Your eyes and your hair are probably the two things most people notice first. And with color contacts you can have any eye color you want. Try them, and I am sure you will see many men turning their heads when you pass.

Articles Source : fresh look contact lenses

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Leonardo da Vinci is cited as the first individual to develop the concept of a contact lens based on certain sketches. It is suggested, however, that the sketches dealt with the concept of image reversal and not the concept of a contact lens.   LATE 1880S

Adolf E. Fick, Eugene Kalt, and August Müller all produced glass scleral shells. Fick called them “Contactbrille” or contact spectacles, while Müller called them “Hornhautlinsen” or Corneal Lenses. Kalt was later the first to treat keratoconus by utilizing a glass shell approximating the radius of the normal cornea.    1886

Xavier Galezowski introduced using “plaquettes” to cover the corneal surface. These were gelatin squares soaked in mercury chloride and designed to reduce the possibility of infection after cataract surgery. This was considered the first use of a “therapeutic” contact lens.    EARLY 1900S

German companies Carl Zeiss and Müller led the optical industry in advanced usage of scleral contact lenses. In 1931, Joseph Dallos determined that tear flow beneath the contact lens was important and published the results of his study of 120 fittings. He later added fenestrations at the corneoscleral junction of the lens, which provided the flow of oxygenated tears to the underlying cornea.   1934 – 1960 S

In 1934, Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) was the first plastic used for corneoscleral lenses. In 1948, Kevin Touhy was granted a patent for a corneal contact lens using PMMA that fit only on the cornea and not on the sclera, and became the contact lenses of choice throughout the 1950s and 1960s.   1954 – 1971

The first synthesis of a “soft” contact lens material, hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA), by O. Wichterle and D. Lim (Czechoslovakian scientists) occurred in 1954. This was followed by the development of spin-casting of HEMA by Otto Wichterle, (Christmas night in 1961 using his son’s erector set). Spin-casting became an ideal way to manufacture soft contact lenses. Soft contact lenses were first introduced in the United States in 1971 by Bausch and Lomb who acquired the rights to spin-casting and HEMA in 1966 from the National Patent Development Corporation.   1971

20/20 Optical Group estimates that the wholesale contact lens market was approximately $800,000.   1979

20/20 Optical Group estimates that the wholesale contact lens market was approximately $480 million.   1981

First contact lenses for overnight wear were introduced.   1982

The first bifocal soft contact lenses were introduced (BiSoft® by CibaVision).    1984

Enhancement tinted soft contact lenses were released (SoftColors® by CibaVision). Introduction of hydrogen peroxide care systems also occurred.   1987

A major development occurred with the introduction of disposable soft contact lenses (Acuvue® by Vistakon).   LATE 1980S

A formulation of fluorosilicone acrylate material for rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses became available; disposable soft contact lenses were introduced, along with soft contact lenses to change eye color.   1990S

Direct contact lens distribution to patients through companies or eye care practitioners who provided this option as a value-added service increased significantly. Daily disposable lenses were introduced along with RGP lenses with low silicone content and high Dk fluorosilicone acrylates.   2001

A new concept in extended wear (continuous wear up to 30 nights) was first approved by the FDA in the United States ]]> http://www.discountcontactlenses.in/history-of-contact-lenses/feed/ http://www.discountcontactlenses.in/what-are-contact-lenses/ http://www.discountcontactlenses.in/what-are-contact-lenses/#comments Sat, 15 Jan 2011 07:50:17 +0000 http://www.discountcontactlenses.in/what-are-contact-lenses/ Contact lenses are small visual devices made with curved pieces of plastic shaped in a way to conform directly to the wearer’s eye. They provide an artificial refracting surface to the human eye and are used to correct vision problems like myopia and hypermetropia. Contact lenses aid in eye focusing in the same manner as spectacles do. Apart from these corrective measures, contact lenses can also be used for cosmetic and therapeutic reasons.

There have been many modifications and improvements to the original idea of contact lenses, conceptualized first by Leonardo Da Vinci, through centuries. About 35 million people in the U.S. wear contact lenses today.

Features of Contact Lenses

The lenses are made from different types of materials – soft and rigid – and come in a variety of designs and colors. These include disposable, colored, astigmatic, aphakic, presbyopic and keratoconic lenses. The initial fitting and follow up care are important parts of contact lens usage to give maximum benefits of vision, appearance, comfort and tissue integrity.

Advantages of Contact Lenses

Contact lenses are capable of correcting most of the problems that spectacles can as well as some additional ones that glasses cannot.

People not satisfied with their appearance using glasses can opt to use contact lenses for improved appearance. Contact lenses are not in the danger of slipping off, getting wet, or fogging up, which can easily happen with spectacles.

Extremely hypermetropiac people or those who have had cataracts removed, feel better wearing contact lenses as compared to spectacles, which in these cases produce uneven vision. Moreover, contact lenses give improved vision for people with damaged corneas due to disease or injury. Also for sportsmen, wearing contact lenses prove to be more practical as in the case of those where wearing spectacles pose a problem in their jobs. In addition to all these, contact lenses provide better side vision compared to glasses.

Uses of Contact Lens

The primary use of contact lenses is to correct myopia (short sightedness). They can also be used to rectify hyperopia, astigmatism, presbyopia and aphakia. Rigid lenses are used to correct irregular corneal trauma. Soft lenses are used as bandages for conditions like bullous keratopathy, recurring corneal erosion as well as to increase comfort, vision and postoperative wound healing.

Main Types of Contact Lenses

There are two principal types of contact lenses in use today. Soft contact lenses are those that are made of hydrophilic plastics and absorb liquid and must be kept moist for softness and easier moulding to the corneal surface. They are extremely comfortable and are used by majority of contact lens users. The other type in use is the gas permeable (RPG) or rigid contact lenses, which are composed of durable and flexible plastics, which permit oxygen to pass through to the cornea and are easier to maintain. The original hard lenses, or PMMAs, used earlier did not allow oxygen to pass to the eye and have been replaced by the RPGs.

If a person desires to use contact lenses, he or she should do so only after consultation with an ophthalmologist. He/she will advise whether contact lenses would be suitable for a person to use or which kind of lenses, soft or gas permeable, should be used in a particular case. It is imperative that a yearly examination be done after the initial use of contact lenses.

The Adverse Effects of Contact Lenses

People have difficulty in using contact lenses if they have eye irritations due to allergies or dust and chemicals. Overactive thyroid gland, severe diabetes or extreme arthritis in the hands, dry eyes related to pregnancy, contraceptives, diuretics, antihistamines and decongestants and eye disease prevents a person form using contact lenses.

The usage of contact lenses may give rise to problems like eye infections, allergic reactions to lens care solutions and deposit on lenses, redness of the eyes, scratched corneas, alteration in corneal shape and structure and abnormal blood vessels growing in the apparently clear cornea. You should consult your eye specialist without delay if there is burning, extreme sensitivity or hazy vision or pain.

SoftTouchLenses dot com provides information on contact lenses and their use.