Contact Lens Examinations
Optometrists/ Eye Doctors in Wetaskiwin, Alberta
No Spectacles. Same Spectacular Vision.
Do you want to see clearly without having to rely on traditional glasses? Contact lenses might be the answer for you. By visiting our incredible eye care team, we can help find the right contacts for you and your eyes.
Please book an appointment with us, and we can help you start seeing clearly without the specs!
GETTING CONTACT LENSES
If you are interested in trying contact lenses, you will need to have an eye exam to determine if they are right for you.
Contact lenses are not for everyone. A variety of different eye conditions may prevent you from using contact lenses to correct your vision. We will determine if contact lenses are right for you during your contact lens focused eye exam.
Some conditions that could prevent you from wearing contact lenses may include:
- Living or working in dusty, dirty, or smoky environments
- Experiencing severe allergic reactions
- Having had repeated eye infections
- Dry eyes
- Requiring special spectacle lenses
- Specific vision problems
If you have one of these conditions or find contact lens wear difficult for another reason, speak with your eye doctor. As technology improves there are more and more options for hard to fit contact lens patients to benefit from the comfort and convenience of contact lens use.
Once we have determined if contacts are right for you, we can move on to the fitting.
Fittings involve taking detailed measurements of the shape and size of your eyes. This helps us determine which type of contact lenses will be right for you, ranging from simple conventional contact lenses to specialty ones.
We will teach you how to properly insert, remove and clean your contact lenses. You will take the trial contact lenses home and wear them for about a week before returning to the office for a check on the fit of the lenses. Trial lenses allow us to monitor how well your eyes are adjusting to wearing contact lenses, and to catch any issues or irregularities that could lead to more severe problems.
If you experience any discomfort while wearing your new contact lenses, please remove them and Contact us as soon as possible.
CONTACT LENSES FOR THE HARD TO FIT PATIENT
It is not uncommon for patients to have difficulty wearing contact lenses for a number of reasons. Due to the individual eye shape, certain conditions or impairments or the aftermath of surgery, some patients are considered to be “hard to fit” as contact lens wearers.
For hard to fit patients there are options available that can provide comfortable and effective contact lens wear. This will require a specialized fitting and speciality contact lenses. You may be considered a hard to fit contact lens candidate if you have one of the following conditions:
- Dry eyes
- Astigmatism
- Very high prescription
- Keratoconus
- Presbyopia (reduced near vision common in people over 40)
- Corneal scarring
- Post LASIK
DRY EYES AND CONTACT LENSES
Dry Eye Syndrome causes your eyes to feel dry, gritty, burning, red, and irritated. Dry Eye Syndrome can also cause blurred vision. Often these symptoms get worse with the use of contacts. In fact, many people who do not normally suffer from chronic dry eyes, will experience some of these symptoms when wearing contact lenses. If you have chronic dry eyes, you should see us for treatment and relief before you think about contact lenses. Once your dry eyes are treated, it is safe to try contacts and there are a number of options that can be considered.
The Contact Lens Consultation
Many brands of soft contacts and products such as disinfectant and cleansing solutions are made with ingredients that are designed to be more comfortable for individuals with dry eyes. Your optometrist will recommend some of these brands and products to you.
Additionally, your doctor might recommend a specific wearing schedule such as limiting the time you wear your contacts throughout the day or replacing your contacts on a more frequent basis.
TORIC LENSES FOR ASTIGMATISM
Astigmatism occurs when your eyes incorrectly bend light on both the horizontal and vertical axis, resulting in blurry vision at all distances. Toric contact lenses are specifically designed to correct astigmatism and are specially weighted to keep them rotationally stable throughout the day
Scleral Lenses
Scleral contact lenses are larger than regular contacts and sit on the sclera (whites) of your eyes instead of your cornea. These contacts are specially designed for people who have trouble wearing regular contacts, including those with corneal conditions like keratoconus.
MULTIFOCAL CONTACT LENSES FOR PRESBYOPIA
Presbyopia is a common condition in people over 40 years old where the eyes ability to focus on close objects is impaired. Many people keep a pair of readers or multifocal glasses on hand for times when they have to read menus, newspapers, books, and other objects that require near vision. For those that prefer contact lenses over eyeglasses, multifocal contact lenses are an option.
For some patients that have presbyopia and need correction for distance vision as well, multifocal contact lenses are usually the best option. In this contact lens fitting process, both eyes are fit for distance vision and near vision at the same time. Another option for some patients is monovision. Monovision is a contact lens fitting process in which you wear a contact lens in one eye for distance vision and a contact lens in the other eye for near vision. Both contact lens fitting options usually take about one week for the brain and the eyes to adjust.
