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Below are Educational Animations to help you understand more about contacts lenses and glasses. Click on the title to view the animation.

RGP’S
Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) lenses are made from hard plastics. They offer vision correction for many conditions including near-sightedness, far-sightedness, and presbyopia. They are especially ideal for patients with astigmatism or keratoconus (a corneal disorder). They sit on the eye’s cornea (clear membrane), and have a smaller diameter than soft lenses. The rigid material of RGP’s can provide clearer, crisper vision. These lenses are very durable, easy to care for, and can last for years. Allergic problems and toxic reactions are rare as RGP’s provide more deposit resistance than soft contact lenses.

Initial fitting of RGPs, however, is a more timely and precise procedure than fitting soft lenses. A"custom" fit is required for each eye. There is also an adjustment period during which the wearer will feel the contact in the eye. Most motivated individuals will quickly adapt to the lenses, but some patients are unable to tolerate this initial discomfort.

Soft Lenses
Soft Contacts are made from hydrogel or silicone hydrogel materials, both of which"hold water". This property allows the lenses to remain soft and flexible when worn. Soft lenses are capable of correcting a variety of refractive errors, including near-sightedness, far-sightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia. Soft lenses drape over the entire cornea (clear membrane) and extend onto the sclera (white part of the eye). The chief advantage of soft lenses is that they are readily accepted by most patients and are instantly comfortable from the initial fitting forward.

Soft lenses are flimsy, and for many people can be difficult to handle at first. They have a tendency to develop a build-up of deposits that can irritate the eye, and so require relatively frequent replacement and daily cleaning. Dependent on your lens type, soft lenses may be discarded daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly and exchanged with a fresh pair. Some soft lenses can be worn while sleeping, although this is known to increase the possibility of complications, including corneal ulcers, and is not recommended by our practice. Daily disposable lenses (discarded after one day of use) are currently one of the healthiest lens options. Inserting a new lens everyday greatly reduces the risk of infection and the build-up of lens deposits.

Hybrid Contact Lenses
The SynergEyes lens has a rigid gas permeable (RGP) center with a soft skirt, combining the clear vision of an RGP with the comfort of a soft lens. This innovative design is ideal for patients with astigmatism or keratoconus seeking sharper vision and more comfort in a contact lens.

Contact Lens for Astigmatism
Astigmatism is a very common vision problem that occurs when the cornea is more football shaped than round. Astigmatism can be corrected by glasses or contacts.

Soft Toric Contact Lenses vs. Rigid Gas Permeable
Either a soft toric lens or a rigid gas permeable lens can be used to correct for astigmatism. Toric soft contact lenses must remain stable on the eye to produce good vision. If there is too much rotation of a toric soft contact lens a patient will not have clear vision. Toric soft contact lenses are available in both hydrogel and silicone hydrogel material. There are also multifocal toric lenses available which correct for both astigmatism and presbyopia (normal aging process in which a patient’s near vision becomes blurry).

For patients with a high amount of astigmatism, an RGP lens is usually a better option.

An RGP lens will provide crisper vision because it does not rotate like a soft lens and is made of a stiffer material. Rigid gas permeable lenses are less comfortable than a soft lens and do take some time to adjust to. We can decide which lens choice is the best for your astigmatism.

Keratoconus
Keratoconus is an eye disease in which the cornea thins and begins to bulge like a cone. This produces high amounts of irregular astigmatism. A special rigid gas permeable lens or a hybrid lens(rigid gas permeable center with soft skirt) is the best option for keratoconus. Dr. Shelly Cutler, our keratoconus specialist, will decide the most appropriate lens for you.

Bifocal wearers must decide how their different distance and near visual correction demands will be met with contact lenses.

Distance Contact Lenses with Readers
One option is to wear contacts that correct only for distance, and use a pair of reading glasses whenever needed. This option provides the sharpest distance and near vision, but you will still need glasses whenever you are doing any close work.

Monovision Contact Lenses
The next option is called monovision, where one contact lens corrects for distance and the other corrects for near. This option is well accepted by many patients, but not all. It can decrease depth perception slightly, and it does take a short period of adjustment.  This option is good for people with astigmatism, and also for people who don't normally need any distance correction.

Multifocal Contact Lenses
The final option is multifocal contact lenses. Multifocal lenses can be fit in either RGP or soft contacts.  They are also available for patients with astigmatism. These contacts focus on near, intermediate, and far objects at the same time.  Your brain learns to select what part of the lens you should be using and tunes out the other part.  There is still a period of adjustment with multifocal contacts, but most patients find them to be a convenient alternative to wearing reading glasses. 

Not all people are good candidates for contact lens wear. A thorough medical examination of the eye is essential before contact lens fitting can be considered. If the doctor determines that you are a candidate for contact lenses, then a trial fitting can be scheduled. Your glasses prescription cannot be converted into a contact lens! Each person must be individually fit for their contacts.

If you have previously or are currently wearing lenses, your old lens specifications will be helpful. This may allow us to make adjustments to improve the fit or vision without starting from scratch.

If a complete contact lens fitting is needed, please realize that this can be time consuming. Our doctors are dedicated to making certain that each patient is fit with the best lens for their eye, helping to assure the highest likelihood of good vision and comfortable lenses. Trial lens fitting may take 1 to 2 hours.

Initial fitting and follow-up appointments are provided at a package price. This includes the fitting, trial lenses, instructions on care and insertion/removal, and follow-up visits during the first 3 months following delivery of the lenses. Prices vary depending upon the type of lenses, and a price list is available from our office. Because we are committed to spending as much time as needed with each contact lens patient, the following payment policies have been established:

• Because trial fitting may take 1 to 2 hours, there is a charge if the fitting is done but no lenses are ordered.
• When the lenses are dispensed, training in the use and care of the lenses requires an appointment that may take up to an hour. Patients are encouraged to schedule another training appointment if after a few days of practice they still are uncomfortable with any aspect of contact lens insertion/removal or care. Our doctors want you to feel confident in your contact lens usage.
• If either the doctor or the patient decide within 2 weeks from the time of delivery of the lenses that they are unsuitable for any reason, the patient may return the lenses and be refunded the total price paid less the fee for the fitting and training sessions.
• A prescription for contact lenses will not be issued until the fitting and training fees have been paid in full and the patient has been seen for follow up after wearing the contact lenses daily for at least one week.
• Lenses will not be dispensed until they are paid in full.