Contact Lens Types

There are several different types of contact lenses, each has its own characteristics. For instance, the corneal contact lens is a lens whose diameter is equal to or less than the diameter of the cornea and who sits primarily on the surface of your cornea. Also, more rigid gas-permeable lenses have also been made of special types of plastics that allow oxygen to pass through the lens material. This helps keep your cornea clear and free of pain. Older contact lenses might cut off oxygen from your eye, limiting how long you can wear them during the day. But the gas-permeable contact lenses can mean you can wear your contacts for longer periods of time.

Types Of Contact Lenses

Other contact lens types include a water-loving hydrophyic contact lens. This is a soft contact lens that is larger than the corneal diameter and that covers both the cornea and a small portion of your sclera. This type of lens is highly popular, as well.

Another of the contact lens types is tinted and colored soft contact lenses. These are slightly more expensive than the clear lenses and are available in extended, daily, or disposable varieties. A tinted contact lens is slightly colored to help in locating it either on or off your eye. This is particularly important if you have a high refractive error or are aphakic. The tint to these lenses is so light, it doesn’t really have any effect on your eye’s appearance, and the light absorption is so low that it doesn’t decrease light transmission.

Different Types Of Contact Lenses

Colored lenses have cosmetic tints to them that change or enhance the appearance of someone’s iris color. The greatest advantage to having a colored soft contact lens, as opposed to a colored RGP lens is that the center portion of the contact lens is clear so as not to dim light or change colors, unlike uniformly colored RGP contact lenses. The color portion of the soft lens covers your full iris, giving it more of a natural cosmetic appearance. Colored soft contact lenses don’t really change your color perception.

Another of the contact lens types is the cosmetic soft contact lens. These lenses can enhance the iris color, but they can be quite valuable psychologically in instances of ocular disfigurement or other abnormalities. Colored soft lenses can have the greatest enhancement effect on your eyes.