UK Contact Lenses

If you wear glasses and are wanting to try contact lenses, you probably have lots of questions, including where to buy contact lenses, how to get the best price and if buying online or buying a private label lens is a good idea. Maybe you should just stick with you local eye doctor for your lenses?

1- Did you know that you have the right to have your contact (and glasses) prescription copied so that you can shop around for eyewear? The legislation, in Feb. 2004 gave that right to consumers in all 50 states. This means that you do not have to buy contact lenses only from your eye care practitioner. You can shop around anywhere that contacts are sold. Doing this gives you a better selection at a better price.

2- You may be starting your search for contacts with preconceived notions as to which are the best source to buy contact lenses, throw those out! Do not discount any place that sells contacts, look into what they have to offer and what their prices are; you might be surprised at where you will find the best quality and price.

3- When you buy contact lenses, you need to focus on value and not on price alone. The overall value includes the availability of the contacts that you use, if they accept your insurance (and if you need to do paperwork or if they do it for you), ease of getting the contacts (do they deliver), their customer service department and price. Taking all of these points into consideration will help you to find the absolute best value for you.

4- You may be tempted to buy another brand of contact lens to save money. If you are thinking of doing this, you must be aware that by law, retailers must sell the exact same lens as prescribed. However, there is a loophole to the law that could allow you to buy contact lenses that are the same quality, but at a much better price. The loophole is that some manufacturers sell one type of contact lens under more than one brand name. For example, the same contact lens sold under a brand name and under a private label.

5- The best places to start your search are, of course, your eye doctor, the internet and wholesale retailers as well as mail order houses. Be sure that you know exactly what type of contact lens you need to purchase before you agree to anything. Ask about their return policy if you receive a contact lens other than what you ordered.

John Mancini has been writing about Contact Lenses online and offline for a long time. Visit http://find-contact-lenses.info or http://contact-lenses-home.info to read more about matters like contact lens online and cheap contact lenses.

Are you tired of wearing those rose-tinted spectacles on your nose all the time? Then you should start wearing the contact lens to see the world in a different way. Contact lenses are thin, curved plastic disks that are designed to cover the cornea, the clear front covering of the eyes. These delicate objects cling to the film of tears over the cornea because of the surface tensions. So try out contact lenses as a great alternative to those monotonous eyeglasses.

Who wears contact lenses?

Contact lenses are medical devices that need to be properly fitted by an eye care practitioner. So you should visit an optician before you want to wear a contact lens. Contact lenses are wonderful items that are used to correct eye conditions like:

 Myopia [nearsightedness]
 Astigmatism [distorted vision]
 Hyperopia [farsightedness]
 Presbyopia [need for bifocals]

Contact lenses are also used in therapeutic cases where an uneven cornea blurs vision, such as scarring or keratoconus.

Types of contact lenses

Many types of contact lenses are available to suit particular occasions. Whether you want to wear contact lenses for fashionable purposes or for medical purposes, you can wear any of the following types:

 Gas-permeable lenses – are lenses made of silicone and fluoropolymers that allow oxygen in the air to pass through the lens.
 Soft contact lenses – are plastic materials that incorporate water. The water makes the lenses soft and flexible, which allows the oxygen to reach the cornea.
o Extended wear contact lenses – last for continuous 2-4 weeks.
o Daily disposable lenses – carry a very low amount of infection risk
o Toric contact lenses – available in soft and rigid materials, they correct moderate astigmatism.
 PMMA lenses – one of the old lenses that are very durable and allow oxygen from air to directly reach the cornea.

You should remove contact lenses at bedtime due to risk of infection.

Benefits of contact lenses

For those who lead an active style, contact lenses promise complete convenience and durability.
Following are the benefits of using contact lenses:

 Provides close to natural vision with no side effects
 Provides excellent peripheral vision for driving, and sports
 Contact lenses provide complete ease, comfort and convenience to eyes
 Contact lenses change the eye color to baby blues, heavenly hazels, gorgeous green and other different colors.
 Contact lenses make your eye power stable and prevent it further from increasing.
 Contact lenses are perfect for those who want to avoid laser surgery and its risks.

How to care for your contact lenses?

You should take proper care of your contact lenses to enjoy their best uses.
Following are the ways you can care for your lenses:

 Contact lenses must be cleaned, rinsed and disinfected to remove dust and dirt.
 Contact lenses should never be dissolved in homemade saline solutions.
 Do not sterilize your contact lenses; just throw them away when they become useless.
 Do not take your lenses in and out repeatedly for the whole day.

In case of any inflammations or irritations you should always consult your optician for best results.

Sharon Albright is the owner of Contact Lens Site. Read more articles on Contact Lens and visit her recommended resources.