Contact Lens Exams are Crucial
A Contact Lens Exam is different from a Routine Eye Exam and is needed for any patient who wears contacts.
The Routine Eye Exam is meant to assess the overall health of your eyes and can detect some significant health issues. Whereas the Contact Lens Exam is specifically targeted to assess the functioning of your eyes with contacts. Contact lens wearers will need both a Routine Eye Exam and Contact Lens Exam to maintain the health of their eyes.
During a Routine Eye Exam, your current vision will be assessed. The eyes and eyelid areas are checked for proper function, abnormal lesions, infections or malpositions. Ocular motility and pupillary function are also checked. A complete assessment of the cornea, iris, and lens is performed including checking for conditions such as dry eyes, corneal lesions or abnormalities, glaucoma and cataracts. The eyes are dilated and the eyes are checked for optic nerve abnormalities, macular degeneration, or abnormalities of the vitreous humor and retina. The eyes will remain dilated for several hours so you will be sensitive to light and your up-close vision will be blurry.
Your Contact Lens Exam will determine how well your eye is suited for contact lens wear as well as your options for contacts. Our doctor will measure the overall surface of your eye to determine the size and type of contact needed. The tear film in your eye will be measured to ensure that you will be comfortable wearing contacts. You will receive instruction on the proper way to insert, remove and care for the lenses. Our doctor will recommend the best contact for you and will supply a trial of contacts for you to wear over a 1 to 2 week period of time. You will need a follow-up appointment to assess the contact lens trial. Patients must have a Contact Lens Exam each year in order to renew their contacts.
Our contact lens technology includes breathable, high oxygen transmissible lenses for patients with corneal dystrophies, severe dry eye, and other corneal diseases.
We offer a full line of lenses including:
- Daily disposable lenses- used for one day then discarded
- Daily wear lenses- contacts are removed nightly and replaced bi-monthly or monthly
- Extendable wear lenses- these contacts can be worn continuously for periods up to 1 month
- Toric lenses- correct for astigmatism
- Multifocal/Bifocal lenses- these lenses correct for both distance and reading
- Scleral lenses- therapeutic lenses designed to treat Keratoconus and other eye disorders oftentimes deemed medically necessary by insurance companies
Can children wear contact lenses?
Some children may be candidates for contact lens wear if they are mature enough to follow a strict contact lens protocol. We recommend that you schedule a routine eye exam at our office to discuss the best vision correction options that fit your child’s needs.
For more information or to schedule an exam:
Request an Appointment
Or, contact our office at 413-584-6666.
