So you haven't taken a holiday in quite a while. You're in such a rush to leave behind the daily grind that you forget to pack one of the most important pieces of equipment that a contact lens wearer needs: your contact lens case.

By the time you realize your error all the stores are closed and you're sitting in the hotel room pondering what to do with those two little discs that mean so much to you and your vision.

This scenario has happened to many people over the years and many innovative solutions have been tried, however, not all these ideas are a healthy choice for your eyes.

Keeping your contact lenses clean and sterile is extremely important for good eye health and so where and how you store them makes a difference.

Why Is It So Important To Store Contact Lenses Correctly?

When you first get your contact lenses your eye care professional goes through a list of care instructions with you. These instructions detail what kind of solutions to use for your particular kind of contact lenses, how to clean your contact lenses properly and how to store them overnight.

You know that you have to keep your contact lens case clean and replace it every 1-3 months, you know you're to avoid getting tap water anywhere near your contact lenses or your contact lens case but do you know why this is such important advice?

Three reasons: Acanthamoeba keratitis, Fusarium keratitis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

- Acanthamoeba keratitis is a naturally occurring parasite found in tap water (and other water sources). It can infect the eye and destroy the cornea. Permanent vision loss is usually associated with this type of keratitis.

- Fusarium keratitis is a fungus that can aggressively attack your cornea and cause blindness. This infection is also associated with poor contact lens hygiene.

- Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterium that lives in soil and water and can contaminate any area that has contact with soil or water. In rare cases it can cause the loss of your eye.

This is why proper sterilization of your hands, contact lenses and contact lens cases is paramount to keeping your eyes healthy.

How Should I Store My Contact Lenses?

If your proper lens case is not available then the first thing you have to find is a container that is clean and that can be sterilized.

All hotels usually have two small drinking glasses covered with lids for you to use. All hotels usually have a kettle to boil water for tea or coffee.

- Boil the water and then pour it into the drinking glasses, rinse the glasses a couple of times and then immediately pour the water out. Leave the glasses to air dry.

- Once the glasses are completely dry then put your normal contact lens solution into each glass.

- Put the glasses on your nightstand or table and put your left contact lens into the left positioned glass and your right contact lens into the right positioned glass. This way you won't mix up your contact lenses.

- Gently tap the bottom of the glasses on the table so your contact lenses become submerged in the solution properly.

- Put the covered lids back on the glasses to prevent anything from falling into them while you sleep.

- Clean your lenses thoroughly in the morning and then buy a new contact lens case first thing.

NEVER use a homemade contact lens solution or plastic containers. If you forget your solution wear glasses until you can properly disinfect your contact lenses.

Vision problems can occur in anyone. If you suspect you are having vision problems then you will want to seek an eye doctor. The eye doctor you go to will recommend a course of either glasses or contacts depending on your vision needs. Contact lenses are usually recommended when you step above the level of needing glasses for reading or driving. Contact lenses correct refraction problems whether you are near sighted or farsighted. Contact lenses are far more comfortable than wearing glasses and will actually conform to your eye. They are also more affordable than eye surgery.

There are many companies that manufacture contact lenses. Johnson and Johnson make one of the most comfortable contacts on the market. Acuvue contact lenses are made by Johnson and Johnson. They have many options regarding contact lenses from colored contacts to those correcting astigmatisms.

When you need day- to day contact lenses Acuvue are the most comfortable. In fact as a contact wearer myself I have always used Acuvue. They were suggested to me by my eye doctor when I first started wearing contacts. Whether you have disposable contacts or year- long contacts you will need to clean your contacts on a regular basis to remove protein build up depending upon your eyes. The Acuvue contact retains the moisture your eyes produce during the day so you should never have to use rewetting drops. This moisture helps keep your eye comfortable for hours. For more info see http://www.onlinecontactlenseshelp.com/Bifocal_Soft_Contact_Lens/ on Bifocal Soft Contact Lens

Acuvue also has astigmatism correction. Most individuals with astigmatism need to have weighted or torque lenses. If you are still experiencing blurred vision after seeing an eye doctor you might ask them about Acuvue's astigmatism corrective lenses. You will find more comfort with Acuvue astigmatism corrective lenses because they allow for more moisture to reach your eye.

Most individuals who have not had eye problems their entire life may need corrective lenses, as they get older. A common eye problem is presbyopia. Presbyopia requires a bifocal lens to correct the problem; you might be thinking that you can no longer wear contacts or that contacts are not an option. Ask your eye doctor about correcting presbyopia with contact lenses.

Johnson and Johnson Acuvue contacts are recommended by eye doctors everywhere because they are one of the most comfortable contact lenses available. They believe in listening to their patients and making sure their patients are satisfied; therefore if your eye doctor has recommended them you probably want to try them. Contact lenses are important to sight and easy to maintain. Acuvue comes in a variety of colors as well as daily wear versus monthly wear.

Contacts lenses are evolving with technology we know have contact lenses that allow more air to reach our eye so we are not restrictive the oxygen to our eyes and causing blood clots. We also have special contact lenses for those who need bifocal vision and corrective lenses for those who need astigmatism correction. The best technology surrounding contact lenses are the colour contact lenses. We can now have multi coloured eyes, or something as simple as violet eyes.

Colour contact lenses are properly called Plano lenses. We have seen an increase in demand for colour contact lenses through magazines, Hollywood, and other suggestive avenues. This interest for those who do not need corrective lenses or those who do have increased the colours available to the common individual and helped reduced the price as the production increased.

Are you interested in getting this optical enchantment? If you are, you need to know about a few guidelines regarding the wear of these special contact lenses.

There are hazards with wearing any type of contact. First you will always want to wash your hands before getting anywhere near your eye with a contact lens. You hands can have natural bacteria that are harmful to your eye or you could have some lotion or other agent that will irritate your eye. You also want to wash your face before inserting the contacts. Most often you are just waking up in the morning and have eye build up that can get on the lens and make your eyes feel gritty all day. Allergies are another problem you may experience. If you had allergies before, but wore glasses you may not have realized how badly your eye was affected. When you put in a contact with a flair up of allergies you probably experience pain and watering. This can be eliminated with allergy drops prior to putting your contact lenses. Follow the directions on the bottle before using these eye drops. Colour contact lenses need to be treated the same as an other contact as far as proper care. For more info see http://www.onlinecontactlenseshelp.com/Buy_Contact_Lenses_Online on Buy Contact Lenses Online.

You also need to have prescription for colour contact lenses because you can risk blindness without a professional consultation telling you of the risks like not having enough oxygen flow to your eye. There has been concern about colour contact lenses in several recent studies that individuals just wanting to change their eye colour without needing corrective lenses do not know how to properly take care of their eyes and are damaging their eyes when wearing these lenses for extended periods of time. Therefore it is very important to speak with an eye care professional.

Contact lenses are often touted as being far better than glasses and in many ways they are. However, it's a good idea, like anything, to know enough about contact lenses before buying them to make an educated decision.

Types of Contacts

There are three main types of contact lenses, hard, soft and disposable. Hard contact lenses are rigid and can be more irritating to the eye, but they do last a lot longer, up to three years. Soft contact lenses are easier on the eye and can be worn for longer periods of time. They are usually replaced after a year or so of use. Disposable contact lenses are becoming very popular these days, since you can just use them and dump them. These are the cheapest types of lenses, but they are usually not specifically made for your eyes, which can cause issues.

In addition to disposable contacts, you can get 1 week or even 1 month contacts which are designed to stay in your eye for longer periods of time, but need to be tossed afterwards. Many people prefer disposable contact lenses because they eliminate the need for cleaning and saline solutions, etc. which can get confusing and messy, not to mention they are rather time consuming.

Your eye care professional is the best person to help you choose the right type of contact lenses for you. Different eye conditions require different types of contact prescriptions which may only be available in one type of contact. Also, your daily activities may dictate the need for a specific type of contact lens.

Wear and Care of Contact Lenses

Many people find that the first few times putting their new contact lenses in is a bit scary. You need to overcome the natural instinct to keep foreign objects out of your eye in order to insert them and this is more difficult for some people than for others. Usually this is just something you have to do a few times in order to get over it.

There are other issues with wearing contact lenses. For example, you shouldn't wear them in the pool or while showering, since they could be flushed out of your eyes or get water trapped behind them. Water that has chlorine in it is particularly irritating, but even regular tap water can contain bacteria that can be caught behind the contact lens and cause an infection. The easiest way to prevent problems like this is to simply remove your contacts while you shower or swim.

Looking after your contacts can be simple or complicated, depending on what type you use. Disposable contact lenses don't require any cleaning, you simply toss them when you are finished using them. Other, reusable contacts will need more care. You will have to soak them in a cleaning solution and rinse with saline. In some cases, more drastic measures need to be taken to remove protein or calcium deposits, including special tablets that dissolve in the regular cleaning solution. If your eyes are sensitive, you may have to experiment with various brands of cleaning solution to find one that doesn't irritate your eyes.

Contact lenses offer a freedom from glasses, but they aren't completely hassle free. Knowing what to expect is the best way to make a good decision as to whether contact lenses are for you or not. Talk to your eye care professional as well to get more information, since he or she will know your specific case and is in a good position to recommend the type of contacts necessary.

 

Before we get to the invention bifocal contact lens, we need to go back a bit further to see the evolution of contact lenses. The idea of the general principal of a contact lens was made my none other than Leonardo Di Vinci in 1508, yes the famous artists who painted Mona Lisa!! Not only was he a painter he was also a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer. That is a story for another article (a whole book even), so let us get back to the invention of contact lenses.

It wasn’t until the 1800’s that the contact lens made another leap forward. In 1827Sir John Herschel an English astronomer, proposed the idea of making a mould of the wearer's eyes so contact lenses can be made to conform perfectly to the front of the eye. His idea was slightly ahead of the manufacturing techniques at the time.

Not until 1887 was the idea made into reality by German glassblower F.A. Muller, who made the first glass contact lens. In 1888 Swiss Physician Adolf Fick and Paris Optician Edouard Kalt used Muller’s invention to fit the first glass contact lenses to correct nearsightedness and farsightedness. These lenses were heavy and could only be tolerated for a few hours.

The next significant leap forward came in the 1930s when the first contact lens containing both glass and plastic was introduced by New York Optometrist William Feinbloom. This was the beginning of the modern hard contact lens era. In the late 1940s marks the beginning of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) plastic contact lenses manufactured by California optician Kevin Tuohy. The PMMA evolved, getting smaller and thinner and are still available on the market today.

It wasn’t until the 1950s saw the evolution into the soft contact lens by Czech chemist Dr. Otto Wichterle. His experiments using spinning parts from his son’s bicycle led him to produce the first soft contact lens.  The first commercially produced soft contact lenses were made by Bausch & Lomb in 1971. Over 90% of the contact lenses on the market today are soft contact lenses. Due to their ease of handling and disposable convenience, these lens are perfect for those who no longer want to wear glasses.

The first commercially available bifocal contact lenses (daily wear) were introduced in 1982 and the disposable versions in 1999.

As you can see contact lenses were more of an evolution, with each inventor building and advancing from a previous idea. It took over 500 years to get where we are today but I am sure glad we have this amazing invention that many of us can benefit from.

More on Bifocal Contact Lenses

These lenses are for people who have a condition called presbyopia or the inability to focus on things in close range. If you have to hold that menu at arms length to read it, you might have presbyopia. Some physical symptoms might include blurred vision, headaches, eye strain or eye fatigue. If you are tired of wearing bifocal glasses, bifocal contact lenses might be the perfect solution for you.

Bifocal contact lenses are also known as Multifocal or Progressive contact lenses. They all pretty much serve the same purpose, allowing you to see clearly near and far and all distances in between.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, I hope you enjoyed it.

Happy contact lens hunting.

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If you've ever seen a movie about vampires or monsters where people have oddly colored eyes, cat eyes or other types of eyes, you've seen special effects contact lenses in action. These contact lenses, rather than correct sight (though some are actually prescription as well) create a special effect in the eye.

These lenses come in a wide variety of types and are available to the general public. While certain special effect contact lenses are designed especially for a movie, you can also expect to find similar ones on the public market within a few months after the movie is released.

Styles of Special Effects Contact Lenses

There are so many different types of these contact lenses that you can really get any look you want. For some people, this means simply changing their eye color. Light eyes can easily become any color you like, from green to blue to brown or even purple. Dark eyes are more limited in the options, but can usually go with black, dark green and sometimes a dark blue or purple.

For more zany effects, there are plenty of other options. Everything from the very scary cat eyes or red hellish eyes to more benign smiley face contacts can be had. There are circuit board contacts, zebra or tiger stripes, and just about anything else you can imagine. There are even images available to place in your eyes, so you can have a tiny flower or mountain scene actually placed on your eye.

Not every special effects contact company will provide all of these options, but you'll find that the catalogs of effects are quite surprising.

Why Use Special Effects Contact Lenses

For some people, it's a matter of feeling better about themselves. If you don't like your eye color, for example, being able to change it to something you feel is more acceptable can be a good boost for your self esteem.

For others, it's about conveying who they are inside. Science fiction fans, for example, might want to use eye color and styles that represent their favorite sci-fi characters. Those who are fascinated by vampires may prefer vampire style eyes while those interested in technology might want to surprise their friends with circuit board eyes.

Special effect contact lenses are usually only used a handful of times. Some are actually one use only and they are completely disposable. This type of contact lens is ideal for Halloween parties or other disguises. If you are in need of a costume for a play, special effect contacts can also come in handy, as with role playing activities.

Should You Use Contact Lenses for Effect?

Not everyone is interested in using contact lenses. If you have eye problems, you might want to talk to your eye doctor before trying special effects contact lenses. They usually aren't meant for long term use and if you aren't accustomed to wearing contacts, it is better not to leave them in for very long. Two or three hours is the recommended period for beginning contact lens wear.

If you already use glasses or contact lenses, you can get special effect lenses as prescriptions, too. So, they would just replace your regular contact lenses. Otherwise, glasses can be worn in combination with the contact lenses, though some people find this ruins the effect they are going for. For simple color changes, however, it works fine.

Special effects contact lenses can be a lot of fun to play around with, but they are also very practical if you need a new look. Check out the different options available and choose the ones that suit you.

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Earlier when eye vision needed to be corrected, people preferred glasses. But glasses often can't be worn while playing sports, as they slip on nose.

Then came contact lenses which are easy to use and manage, and almost undetectable. The contact lens is made up of thin plastic discs that are curvy at the inside so as to fit easily on the eye surface. The lenses are shaped externally so as rectify and better poor eye sight.

This contact lens is also used to bandage the eyes after surgery. There are also cosmetic benefits of lenses like covering eye's white scarring with them or changing the color of the eye according to the dress for fashion.

Types of Lenses

Disposable lenses: The disposable contact lens is used for a limited time period that might be a day, a week or a month depending on the type of lens. The disposable lens is good for the people who cannot care and clean the contact lens regularly. The disposable contact lens comes in different colors and according to eyes also.

Gas Permeable lens: The gas permeable lens transmits more oxygen to the eyes so as to provide clarity of vision. These lenses are durable and easy to clean so last up to a year. These lenses are made of semi rigid material with no water so the wearer takes some time to adapt to them.

Flexible and extended wear contacts: These are specially designed so that the wearer can use them continuously for several days. One can also take a nap while using the lenses in eyes. This contact lens allows more oxygen to reach the eye cornea.

Annual soft contact lenses: These lenses prevent eyes from drying as its soft material aid oxygen transmission. These lens need good care, cleansing and storage as used for a complete year.

Cosmetic Lens: Four varieties of cosmetic lenses are in the market. They are light-filtering tints, visibility tints, enhancement tints and opaque color tints. The power value of the lens lies in the center so it needs typical cleaning regime daily. But there are also cosmetic lens that are without visual correction.

The contact lenses can now correct all types of visual defects like Astigmatism.

Caring for your contact lens

While wearing contact lens the person feel comfortable with his vision but proper care of lens is also required for preventing any eye infection. You should keep your contact lenses disinfected and clean as contact lenses get so many deposits on them both from the environment and the eye whilst wearing them.

Tears contain lipids, mucous, proteins and calcium that deposit on the lens. The pollutants in the environment like metal and dust particles from cars and factories embed to lens surface.

So to save contact lenses from these deposits, they should be soaked in eye solutions daily for disinfection. If these deposits remain on the surface of the contact lens, it may lead to redness in the eye and recurrent infections. So daily cleaning of contact lens with surfactant cleaner by rubbing in the palm is very important.

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How important is the health of our eyes? This might well sound like a ridiculous question we are all fully aware of how critical our eyesight is. Of course you would never deliberately do anything to hurt your eyes but if you wear contact lenses you may not realise taking the correct care of your contact lenses has a major affect on your eyes.

Here are some tips to help you wear your contact lenses comfortably and look after your eyes at the same time.

To ensure no bacteria are transferred to your eyes always wash and rinse your hands thoroughly before touching your contact lenses.

Your optometrist is the ideal person to inform you of the best contact lens cleaners and eye drops to use. It is important to read and use the instructions that you will get with your contact lenses, contact lenses cleaner and eye drops.

The case you use for your contact lenses also needs to be taken care of. Some people overlook the fact that your should clean, rinse and dry the case each time the contact lenses are removed. Ideally you should get a new lens case at 6 month intervals.

Check before buying eye makeup that it is contact lens friendly.

Be sure to remove your lenses and refer to an eye specialist as soon as possible if your vision changes, your eyes are red, your eyes are painful, you have excess tears or itchiness in your eyes.

Now that we have covered a lot of things that you should do to look after your contact lenses and eyes we will cover several things you should not do.

Never clean your lenses by spitting on them. Do not rinse or store your contact lenses using bottled water, tap water or home made salt water. All of these things can cause infections.

Don?t let creams, sprays or lotions touch your contact lenses, when using cleaning products remove your lenses and never put eyeliner on the inside of your lower eyelid.

If you use daily wear contact lenses never sleep in them not even for a short nap and do not wear them for a longer period than your eye specialist tells you to.

Finally be aware of the different kinds of contact lenses and make sure you know what type you have. Below is a summary of the various types, how long to wear them at one time and when they should be cleaned.

Extended wear contact lenses are left in even when sleeping for anything up to thirty days. They need to be taken out and cleaned after thirty days.

Daily wear contact lenses are used again and again. You can wear them for one day but take them out when you go to bed or even take a nap. They require cleaning and rinsing every time you take them out or when you have not worn them in a long time.

Daily wear contact lenses are worn all the time. You wear them during the day but take them out when going to bed or when sleeping. They need to be cleaned and rinsed each time they are taken out or if they have not been used for a long time.

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The looks of a person can be enhanced to make a world of difference in coordination with the garment worn, thanks to the color contact lenses. Color contact lenses are merely for aesthetic purposes and are cosmetic accessories and are not for medicinal values and therefore, should be used only for a limited period of time.

Basically color contact lenses are of two types, disposable and extended wear. The former type is used only for about a week or so and the latter, up to a year and longer, depending upon the usage. Although there are many varieties and colors in color contact lenses, blue is the most popular among them all. There are light filtering tinted lenses for athletes and sports persons.

But it should be ascertained whether the contact lenses come from an optical outlet that is licensed and should be safe. Also, the color contact lenses must not have a negative impact on the vision of the wearer and must not block the vision and give a hazy look.

Color contact lenses can either be color enhancers which, as the name indicates, enhance the light color of the eyes and make them look richer and deeper. Or they can be color changers which are specifically designed to work with dark eyes, that prevents the initial color and give a new shine to the eyes. There are specialty lenses also that are meant for special effects and are called novelty contact lenses. There are opaque lenses that entirely change the color of the eye.

When taking into the consideration the safety aspects, it is important that the color contact lenses are purchased under the prescription of a medical practitioner and is from a reputable manufacturer. This is due to the fact that color contact lenses do not allow oxygen to pass through them and so should not be worn for more than six or eight hours a day and must not be worn while on sleep.

Color contract lenses are manufactured to look as natural as possible, even with a series of small colored dots on the lenses but the centre is left as such for clear visibility. As always, color contact lenses should be cleaned in a contact lens solution approved by the FDA and the quality should never be compromised.

Some of the color contact lenses are available with inbuilt ultra violet radiation protection to safeguard against the harmful sun's rays. Color contact lenses have come to stay just like a facial, skin treatment or hair fashion. Color contact lenses, undoubtedly, help to change the complete look of the person and are preferred by those who want to have an adventurous life and make them noticeable and give an effective appearance.

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Soft contact lenses are flexible plastic lenses which absorb water in the eyes and become soft and hence are also known as hydrophilic. Soft contact lenses are made of plastic hydro gel polymer that consists of thirty-five percent to seventy-five per cent water.  

Soft contact lenses fit perfectly on the eye balls and are not felt by the user. They are used to correct vision and are better than rigid lenses because they fit exactly on the eye balls.  Soft contact lenses are used to correct near sightedness or far sightedness and also problems related to bifocal vision.

It is also possible to have a specialized type of soft contact lenses to reshape the cornea while wearing them during night time.  But the draw back is, they have to be worn compulsorily every night, to get a good vision the next day.  Since soft contact lenses blend well on the eye balls, the chances of dust particles entering the eyes are minimum.

Soft contact lenses are made up of a special kind of material to retain the moisture of the eyes and make the surface of the contact lens stay wet.  The main advantage of soft contact lenses over their other counter parts is that, they allow free flow of oxygen and are permeable thus maintaining healthy eyes. 

Though disposable, soft contact lenses are a little expensive, but they are preferred because they alleviate the need to clean the lenses and store them in a contact lens solution, specifically manufactured for this purpose.  Even in soft contact lenses colored lenses are available, which serve aesthetic purposes .When disposable contact lenses are used, the user has the facility of wearing them intermittently like week end or occasions.  There are extended wear soft contact lenses which are worn overnight for one week and replaced every one to two weeks.  But they have to be disposed in the prescribed time; otherwise it would be an invitation to potential disaster. 

The most common problems occurring for the wearer of soft contact lenses can be irritation of eyes and blurred vision.  These inconveniences should be evaluated in the initial stages. Upon removal of the contact lenses, if the blurred vision lasts for hours, then the medical practitioner should be consulted immediately.

The size of the soft contact lenses can vary from 13 to 14.50 mm and as they are thinner, they are almost weightless and the wearer will barely feel the presence of the soft contact lenses. Soft contact lenses tend to absorb the many kinds of pollutants like lotion or soap which may cause irritation to the eyes and are prone to be torn off. Nevertheless, it is advisable to consult the eye specialist before choosing the type of soft contact lenses.

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