What can you tell me about the new continuous wear contact lenses?

You may have recently started to see TV commercials and other advertisements about a new generation of contact lenses &endash; Silicone Hydrogels. These are 30-day continuous wear (CW) lenses. That means you put the contact lenses in at the beginning of the month, wear them around the clock, and take them out at the end of the month, putting in a fresh new pair of lenses the next day.

What makes these new lenses revolutionary is the composition of the lens material itself. Previous extended wear (EW) contact lenses people slept in were soft hydrogel lenses, a combination of water and the lens plastic. The problem with these lenses was the low amount of oxygen that reached the cornea (the clear part at the front of the eye that the contact sits on). Complications such as eye infections and ulcers occurred at a higher rate than when compared to not sleeping in the lenses. With Silicone Hydrogel continuous wear lenses, much more oxygen reaches the cornea &endash; up to 5 to 8 times as much! This provides a much healthier option for the eyes than the older lens options.

Silicone Hydrogels also offer patients a very convenient option. You don’t have to worry about inserting and removing the lenses daily. You don’t have to worry about cleaning and care of the lenses. You don’t have to worry about remembering to throw the lenses away after two weeks. All you have to remember is your once-a-month replacement of the lenses. What could be easier?!

There are two companies who currently have these lenses available. Bausch & Lomb has a lens called the Pure Vision lens, and CIBA has the Focus Night and Day. Both of these lenses are available for fitting in our clinic. Call today to set up your fitting or re-fitting appointment!

Sara Butterworth, OD
May 22, 2002