Some History About Contact Lenses
Are you tired and annoyed with wearing eyeglasses? Are you thinking about maybe switching to wearing contacts instead? Wearing contacts probably isn’t as difficult as you may think and there are a number of advantages as well. Find out more by taking a minute to read this short article about wearing contact lenses.
Some History About Contact Lenses
The first contact lenses actually date back to the 19th century, believe it or not. They were brown glass lenses and were hard to wear but helped people that could not wear glasses. The big breakthroughs came about in the 1940s and 50s when plastic lenses started being made. These early plastic contact lenses were made of polymethyl methacrylte, which did not allow oxygen to pass through. The new ones are rigid gas permeable and allow oxygen to pass through. Your corneas don’t get oxygen from your blood but instead get it from the air around you, so it’s important that contact lenses are breathable.
Even in the last few years there have been an increase in contact lens technology as lenses are now being made for people with astigmatism and even for people who need bifocal lenses.
Reasons for Wearing Contacts
Most people’s primary advantages for wearing contacts is for cosmetic purposes, but there are also other reasons:
* Unlike eyeglasses, the lens moves with your eye so there is no image distortion.
* The frame of eyeglassescan block your side / peripheral vision.
* Contact lenses don’t steam up like glasses do when you go from cold to warm temperatures.
* Sometimes contact lenses are the only solution for people who need vastly different lenses for each eye.
* If you need different types of lenses for each eye, contacts may be the only solution that allow your eyes to work their best.
So How Do You Get Contact Lenses?
You should go see your eye doctor and get an eye exam and consultation. You cannot order contact lenses with a prescription for eyeglasses. It’s a much different kind of prescription that you need. You’ll go through some simple vision tests which only take about 10-15 minutes usually. You should also get tested for Glaucoma, if possible – that’s the test that Rachel on Friends didn’t like because it shoots a tiny puff of air into your eye. It’s really not that bad and its an important test to get.