What are the type of contacts that can correct astigmatism? This is a very common question asked by people who are suffering from this refractive eye error.
It has to be noted that astigmatism is not a disease and is often hereditary. It keeps changing over a person’s lifetime. Sometimes, it can also be a result of eye surgeries or injuries.
Contacts that Can Correct Astigmatism: Astigmatism is mainly classified into two types, namely, regular and irregular.
Regular astigmatism is the most common form of astigmatism that exists among people. Regular astigmatism can be easily corrected with the help of contacts or glasses.
Let us look at the different types of contacts that can correct astigmatism.
Gas Permeable Lens: Gas permeable lens are the most used lens to correct irregular astigmatism. But, they can also be used to correct regular astigmatism too.
A gas permeable lens is smaller than a soft contact lens and is a rigid piece of plastic.
Advantages of Gas Permeable Lens: These lens are the most stable and the clearest, when it comes to correcting regular astigmatism.
- They are very economical and can last a person’s lifetime. The initial pair would cost you more, but once purchased, you can use them on a regular basis for several years.
- They are much more durable when compared to soft lens and are also tear resistant.
- They are highly unlikely to develop any kinds of deposits on them, unlike their softer mates.
- They are easy to use and putting them in and taking them out of the eye is easy.
- Near-sightedness in children can be improved with the use of these lenses.
The only disadvantage it offers is, it’s hardness can be a bit tough to get used to. Once your eye gets accustomed to it, it is fine to use.
Soft Toric Lens: A soft toric lens has to stay stable in the eye if they are used for correcting astigmatism. For this to happen, the doctors use a specific design called as the prism ballast which holds the lens in it’s place without rotating(blinking causes the lens to rotate).
Advantages of Soft Toric Lens: The prime advantage associated with soft torrics is their easy adaptability.
- The comfort associated with these lens is very high.
- You can even use different colours to change your eye colour.
- They are often cheaper than a pair of glasses.
- Soft torics are disposable lenses which need to be changed on a monthly or yearly basis. This is a very healthy method than using the same lens for several years.
- Easy to handle and clean them.
Despite designed to stay stable in the eye, soft torics can often rotate providing the user with a fluctuating vision. This can be very uncomfortable to the user.
Other lenses: There are also other types of lenses like, the hybrid lens and orthokeratology lens which can help correct astigmatism.
These are the various types of contacts that can correct astigmatism. But you have to be careful, as wearing contacts regularly can cause eye infections.
