Contact Lenses: Applications & Health Benefits

Contact lenses, like eyeglasses, belong to the visual aids and correct visual defects. They are placed with the help of the fingertips on the eye or on the tear film on it and can thus compensate for all common refractive errors. Wearing glasses can be avoided in this way, which also gives contact lenses a practical and fashionable aspect.

What are contact lenses?

Unlike glasses, contact lenses are worn directly on the eye and are therefore almost invisible from the outside. Contact lenses, like eyeglasses, are among the optical aids that are intended to improve human vision and compensate for visual defects such as nearsightedness or farsightedness. Unlike glasses, however, contact lenses are worn directly on the eye and are therefore almost invisible from the outside. For this reason, they are very popular with athletes and fashion-conscious people. For the latter, there are also so-called cosmetic contact lenses on the market, for example, in reptile or feline look, which serve less of a medical purpose, but as an “eye-catcher”. The cost of contact lenses in Germany is usually not covered by health insurance.

Forms, types and types

Who wants to wear contact lenses, can choose between dimensionally stable (“hard”) or soft models. The former are made of a non-flexible plastic and are placed on the thin tear film on the cornea of the eye. They have a diameter of approximately 10 mm. After the maximum wearing time, they must be removed from the eye and cleaned with the help of a special liquid or placed in it. Soft contact lenses are flexible and adapt better to the eye; for this reason, with 12 – 16 mm, they are significantly larger than the dimensionally stable models. They do not require cleaning, but are disposed of after wearing. Meanwhile, soft contact lenses exist that can be worn in the eye for several months to a year.

Structure, function and mode of action

Contact lenses are made of plastic and are thereby permeable to oxygen, regardless of the particular model. They are ground in according to the refractive error that is to be corrected and can thus obtain different dioptric values. In most cases, either nearsightedness or farsightedness is corrected by the use of contact lenses. Nowadays, very complex models of the thin plastic lenses are already possible. For example, so-called alternating contact lenses can be used, which combine two different optical zones. Multifocal lenses enable the wearer to see sharply both near and far. This is equally possible with both hard and soft lenses. Special night lenses, worn overnight, can correct vision for several days. Compared to the use of glasses, contact lenses provide a much less reduced or magnified view of objects because they are worn directly on the eye. Also, the field of vision is not restricted, unlike the vision through eyeglass lenses. To ensure proper function of contact lenses and avoid damage to the eye, contact lenses should always be fitted by ophthalmologists or opticians.

Medical and health benefits

The primary purpose of contact lenses is to compensate for vision defects in one or both eyes. Most common visual defects can be corrected with their help. Unlike glasses, this correction takes place visually inconspicuous and can often not even be noticed by the counterpart. This is particularly practical for people who are active in sports. Contact lenses can also be used in certain work areas where wearing glasses is prohibited for safety reasons. Fashion-conscious people also see a clear advantage in wearing contact lenses, because glasses are often perceived as annoying. However, in contrast to the corrective models, cosmetic contact lenses hardly fulfill a medical or health task, but are primarily used to attract attention by changing the color or even the shape of the eyes. However, wearing contact lenses can also cause problems for sensitive people, in that the foreign bodies on the eye are perceived as annoying or scratchy. Negligence in hygiene or wearing them for too long can cause conjunctivitis, among other things.Contact lens wearers should therefore always follow the exact instructions.