Contact Lenses

Home » Contact Lenses

Colorado Eye Consultants provides the highest quality patient care for patients looking to wear contact lenses. We offer a complete range of lenses.

This includes elective contact lenses as well as specialized medically necessary contact lenses. As a medical device that touches the surface of the eye, contact lenses impact the health of the eye.

To maintain successful contact lens wear, proper preventative assessment and care are necessary.

There are two categories of contact lens patients: elective and medically necessary.

Elective Contact Lenses

Most people that wear contact lenses fall under the “elective” category. Patients in this category have chosen to wear contact lenses for cosmetic, fashion, or vocational reasons.

The team at Colorado Eye Consultants will take your eye health, refractive error, and lifestyle into consideration when recommending the best contacts for your eyes.

We offer the following types of elective contact lenses:

• Soft contact lenses
• Multifocal contact lenses
• Toric (astigmatism) contact lenses
• Gas permeable contact lenses
• Hybrid contact lenses

Specialty Contact Lenses

Some patients cannot achieve clear, comfortable vision while wearing glasses. This is due to certain eye diseases or having a higher prescription.

But these patients can wear custom contact lenses to achieve clear vision.

The Colorado Eye Consultants team specializes in fitting patients that need specialty contact lenses for conditions like:

• Keratoconus
• Corneal transplant
• Pellucid marginal degeneration
• Post-surgical reasons
• Prosthetic contact lenses
• Aphakia
• Ocular albinism

What Kinds of Contact Lenses Are There?

Soft Contact Lenses:

Soft contacts are thin and flexible, allowing them to conform to the shape of your eye. These became very popular in the 1970s.

Before this, only hard contacts were available, and they were quite hard to get used to. Now, you’ll find soft lenses made out of different materials.

You’ll often find them made from silicone. This is a porous material that feels even lighter on the eye than a traditional hydrogel lens.

Rigid Contact Lenses:

Rigid contact lenses are much less flexible than soft contact lenses. They are also called gas permeable, or GP lenses.

These lenses are hard like traditional hard lenses. But unlike hard contact lenses, GP lenses allow oxygen to pass through to the eye.

This makes them far more comfortable than hard lenses. They may still take some time to adjust.

Patients with astigmatism, they may provide sharper vision than soft contact lenses.

Hybrid Lenses:

Hybrid lenses are a hybrid of a gas permeable lens and a soft lens. They have a rigid but gas-permeable center like GP lenses and the outside is hydrogel or silicone like a soft lens.

This combines the comfort of soft lenses and the sharp focus of GP lenses. These lenses can be hard to fit and can be more expensive.

Scleral Lenses:

These large-diameter gas permeable (GP) lenses offer the same advantages that conventional GP lenses have compared with soft contacts, including:

• Sharper vision
• Greater durability
• Easier handling
• Less risk of complications

They are called “scleral” lenses because, instead of covering only a portion of the cornea (like conventional GP lenses), these large GP lenses vault over the entire corneal surface and rest on the “white” of the eye (the sclera).

Because of their size, scleral lenses are more stable on the eye than conventional GP lenses — so they are less likely to accidentally dislodge from the eye. This stability also can make them more comfortable than conventional GP lenses; scleral lenses provide initial comfort similar to soft lenses, especially for sensitive eyes or irregularly shaped corneas.

What Other Features Do Contact Lenses Have?

Besides the material that a lens is made from, lenses vary in other ways. One way is how long you wear them for. 

Some are for daily disposable wear while some contact lenses are only made to be used for weeks or months. Some you can only wear during the day while others are for extended wear and you don’t need to take out at night.

Soft lenses tend to be more disposable and last only up to six months, where GP lenses can last over a year.

Soft contacts also come in different designs. These are often only made for different refractive errors.

A spherical design can correct myopia (nearsightedness) and hyperopia (farsightedness). This will have one uniform lens.

Toric lenses have contrasting sections set to different refractive powers. They are best used to correct astigmatism as well as myopia and hyperopia.

Multifocal lenses are made of rings set to alternating refractive powers.

How Do You Choose the Right Contact Lenses?

With so many options out there, it may seem overwhelming when it comes to choosing contacts. Your eye doctor at Colorado Eye Consultants can help you make the choice that best meets your unique needs and lifestyle and can explain the benefits of each option

Part of what you need to think about when it comes to contacts is what your lifestyle is like. Is daily wear best for you?

Or would you prefer extended wear? What can you afford?

How long do you want your contacts to last? Discuss your preferences with your eye doctor.

What is a Contact Lens Fitting?

You must have a comprehensive eye exam within one year of a contact lens fitting to ensure your eyes are healthy. At your fitting, you will be examined to see if you are a good contact lens candidate.

 This examination includes the measurement of your corneal curvature, an assessment of how healthy your eyes are, and an in-office fitting with diagnostic lenses. You’ll also have the proper insertion, removal, and care of contact lenses demonstrated for you.

Contact lens fitting fees and contact lens prices vary depending on the type of lens used and the patient’s specific needs. Our team will work with youto ensure you choose the best contacts.

Ready to learn if you can wear contact lenses? Schedule an appointment at Colorado Eye Consultants in Littleton, CO today!

Order Soft Contact Lenses

If you’ve already enrolled in the webstore, please click here: http://www.yourlens.com/ColoradoEyeConsultants

If you have NOT enrolled in the webstore, please fill out the following form and we will get you enrolled. Thank you!

Ready to learn if you can wear contact lenses? Schedule an appointment at Colorado Eye Consultants in Littleton, CO today!