Contact lenses are a very popular choice for corrective eyewear. Contact lenses are preferred by people who live an active lifestyle, who are bothered by the feeling of eyeglasses, or who do not like the way eyeglasses look. Contact lenses are created to be worn for varying amounts of time, with some contact lenses lasting for one month worth of wear before being disposed of, others one week, and others only every day. No matter the type you wear, you will need to ensure you are wearing the correct prescription and fit. If you are interested in getting contact lenses, you will need to visit the eye doctor for a contact lens eye exam.
Contact Lens Eye Exams
Determine Your Contact Lens Prescription
Contact lens prescriptions are actually different from eyeglasses prescriptions. Prescriptions of all kinds, for both eyeglasses or contact lenses, change the way that light bends when it enters the eye so that it can focus on the correct part of the retina. Because eyeglasses sit in front of the eyes and contact lenses are on the eye, light needs to be bent at different angles for proper vision correction.
Because contact lenses are different from eyeglasses, you will need to have a prescription that is different then your eyeglasses prescription. The actual test administered will be very similar to a regular eyeglasses prescription test, although a contact lens eye exam will have some added steps. Your contact lenses need to be fitted to the correct size, style, and eye shape.
Examine Your Eyes
Whether you are getting an eyeglasses prescription update, a contact lens eye exam, every eye exam will include an assessment of your overall eye health. This portion of the eye exam doesn’t concern your prescription and it instead looks for any potentially developing eye conditions. Your optometrist will examine the health of your retina, the blood vessels within the eye, the way light reflects off of components in your eye, the pressure of your eye, and more. This part of the eye exam is vital to your eye health, as many eye diseases develop without showing symptoms, and once symptoms do appear, vision can be permanently affected. In regards to contact lenses, the eye examination may also reveal if you have any eye conditions that might impact the comfort of your contact lenses, such as Dry Eye Syndrome. If you do have chronic dry eyes, you can still wear contact lenses, you will just need to choose contact lenses for dry eyes and follow some rules for wearing contact lenses with dry eyes.
Follow Up Appointment
Once the proper contact lens is made, you will need to try it on at the optometry clinic. The opticians will teach you how to put your contact lens in and take it out and they will do several practice rounds. Once you have determined that the contact lens is comfortable and you feel confident that you can put them in and take them out on your own, you will be able to take your contact lenses home. You will need a follow-up appointment shortly after this to determine if any adjustments to the contact lenses are needed.
Contact Lens Eye Exams In Calgary
Switching to contact lenses is great for style and convenience! If you’re ready to start wearing contact lenses, schedule an eye exam with a Calgary optometrist from Blink Eyewear for an updated contact lens prescription. Our Calgary optometrists will administer a contact lens eye exam complete with an examination of your eye health. Our friendly opticians will help you select the right type of contact lenses and will teach you how to put your contact lenses in and take them out so you are prepared to start using contact lenses regularly on your own. With three convenient locations in Crowfoot in NW Calgary, West Springs in SW Calgary, and Creekside in NW Calgary, Blink Eyewear can offer you great optometry services throughout the city. To book an appointment with Blink Eyewear, call 1-403-516-2292 or fill out the online contact form.