The contact lens dictonary online - from S to Z

Soft Contact Lenses are largely made of water, which makes them comfortable to wear and consequently a popular choice. They come in a wide variety models, designed to suit every lifestyle (from daily disposable lenses to extended wear), however some visual problems are best treated with hard contact lenses. The best advice is to consult your eye-care professional.

Toric Contact Lenses are great news for anyone suffering from astigmatism who thought they wouldn't be able to wear contact lenses. Often mild astigmatism is best corrected with Rigid Gas Permeable lenses (as they are ‘hard' they effectively ‘reshape' the lens and cornea) while soft toric lenses tend to be prescribed for more pronounced astigmatism.

UV Protection is an increasingly popular ‘built-in' feature of today's contact lenses, especially for people who enjoy an outdoors lifestyle. However, as they do not reduce glare they must be worn in conjunction with sunglasses.

Visual Acuity refers to the sharpness of vision based on reading a standardized Snellen eye chart at a distance of 20 feet. It's expressed as a fraction, with the ‘top' number referring to the distance from the chart (in the USA 20 feet, in the UK 6 meters) and the ‘bottom' number the distance at which someone with normal vision would be able to read the chart. Hence someone with 20/20 (or 6/6) vision is considered normal, whereas someone with 20/40 (or 6/12 in the UK) would need to be 20 feet from a character to read it correctly when someone with normal vision could read it at 40 feet.

Wetting Solutions are applied to hard and rigid gas permeable lenses to increase comfort by acting as a ‘cushion' between the lens and the cornea. They may also be dropped directly into the eye while wearing lenses.

X-Colours are one of a growing number of brands of novelty or cosmetic contact lenses. In the not too distant past special effects contact lenses were more or less restricted to the film industry, however recently their popularity with the general public has snowballed. Today there's wide variety on the market, including subtle shades that enhance natural eye colour at one end of the spectrum, and anything from cat's and alien's eyes at the other.

Young Contact Lens Wearers - parents often want to know at what age it's suitable for their children to start wearing contact lenses. Medically there are no reasons why children shouldn't start wearing lenses as soon as they can walk. However in reality it's going to be quite some time until they are responsible enough to look after their lenses properly. It's best to discuss all the issues thoroughly with your eye-care specialist.

Zinc is one of a handful of minerals that are essential for healthy eyes - along with copper, manganese and selenium. Vitamins are also known to play a fundamental role in optical health, notably vitamin A (for prevention of night blindness), vitamin C (to boost visual acuity), and vitamin E (for prevention of cataracts).

© The Pink Fridge Online Magazine 2008 - Contact Lens Dictionary

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