LensPriceCompare Blog

A contact lenses prescription is an important document when you have finally decided to switch from eyeglasses to contact lenses.  You cannot buy prescription contact lenses from an accredited supplier if you do not have a contact lenses prescription—the law prohibits the sale of medical devices to people who cannot present a prescription.  Also, without a contact lenses prescription, you will not know which contact lenses to get in the first place.  So how do you interpret a contact lenses prescription?

Before we get to the interpretation of contact lenses prescription, you need to understand that a contact lenses prescription is different from an eyeglasses prescription.  You cannot use an eyeglasses prescription to buy contact lenses.  The basic contact lenses prescription will contain several vital details such as:

• PWR. Power, or the amount of vision correction you need from the contact lenses.
• BC. Base Curve, or the amount of curvature in your eyes.
• DIA. Diameter, or the diameter of the contact lenses that will fit your eyes.  This is very important if you want the contact lenses to stay on your eyes, and colored contact lenses to look natural.
• CYL. Cylinder.  This information is important if you are suffering from astigmatism.
• AXIS. This information is important if you are suffering from astigmatism
• ADD. This information is filled when the patient needs bifocal contacts.
• OS. The left eye
• OD. The right eye

Contact lenses prescription need to be updated every six months or so, to make sure that you are getting the right vision correction that your eyes need.  You can also request contact lenses prescription from your former eye doctor if you have moved away from his or her office—the doctor will be legally obliged to send you this information given that you have consulted with him or her for the last two years.

Before anything else, you might want to get proper contact lenses information once you have decided to switch from eyeglasses to this more liberating form of vision correction.  One of the first contact lenses information you should know is the history of contact lenses.  For many years, there was just one kind of contact lenses: the hard kind.  However, not a lot of people were pleased with this option, and soft contact lenses were introduced to the market with almost instant success.  These soft contact lenses were made of a special polymer that is flexible and able to retain moisture for a long time.  Recently, hybrid contact lenses are being introduced to the market, which combines the gas permeable center of hard contact lenses and the comfortable ring of polymer that soft contact lenses have.

Another important contact lenses information that you should know is about the care and maintenance of the lenses.  All kinds of contact lenses should be cleaned religiously and regularly disinfected.  Contact lenses, unlike eyeglasses, will sit directly on your eyes—it is important to keep them clean to avoid further complications with your vision problems and infections such as sties and pink eye.  Tap water should never be used with contact lenses at all costs—they contain minerals and microorganisms that can cause damage to both the material of the contact lenses and your cornea.

One of the best places to look for contact lenses information is at your eye doctor’s office.  Often, they have literature regarding the benefits and advantages of different contact lens brands, and they will be happy to provide you with them.  You can also get more contact lens information at the official websites of contact lens brands.  However, you might want to take everything with a grain of salt as their main goal is to sell you their products.

Conventional contact lenses are often sold in vials, and they can be used for up to a year before replacement.  Conventional contact lenses are often used during the day, and removed in the night before going to bed.  The most common kind of contact lenses used by millions of lens wearers is conventional contact lenses—which is perfect for people who have a fixed routine of regular working and sleeping hours.

This kind of contact lens is made out of comfortable polymer that can be worn for hours, but definitely not for days.  Conventional contact lenses are not made of a special silicone and hydrogel combination, so it is important to take them out before going to sleep to allow the eyes to breathe properly.  If the eyes do not get enough oxygen, the corneas might exhibit swelling, redness, dryness, and itchiness.  All of this can get very uncomfortable, and this is why conventional contact lenses are not recommended and prescribed for people with sensitive eyes.  Recently, there are more options in conventional lenses with hard and soft varieties that can fit your preference, vision correction needs, and lifestyle.

Not all conventional contact lenses are made equally, so you will have to make sure that the lenses you will choose will give you the same amount of clarity from the first day you have put in on your eyes until the last day of use.  Daily disposables might be a good idea if you do not like the fussy care routine, but they can get more expensive.  Conventional contact lenses that will last for a year is recommended for people who can take good care of the lenses, while monthlies are perfect for just about anyone.  You will need to take meticulous care of your conventional contact lenses to make sure that your eyes will stay healthy and free from infections.

Contact lenses might seem like an unnecessary expense for someone who has been wearing eyeglasses as their main vision correction method.  However, contact lenses can allow you a lot of freedom once you have decided to switch from glasses to this method of vision correction.  But contact lenses are not particularly cheap—especially if you check out the prices at the eye doctor’s office or an optical supplies store.  A great place to find cheap contact lenses is over the Internet, but there are a lot of people who are apprehensive about such online transactions.  Even if there are a lot of establishments offering online shopping services, buying cheap contact lenses online can still get tricky—especially when you consider that there are a lot of frauds out there.  Here are a few tips to ensure that buying cheap contact lenses online will be a safe transaction for you:

• Always make sure that the seller you are buying from is asking you to provide them with a valid prescription all the time.  It is illegal to sell a medical device such as contact lenses without a prescription, especially when you intend to use these lenses for vision correction.
• There are a lot of cheap contact lenses online, but make sure that you know the price from the eye doctor’s office or the optical supplies store.  If the prices are too good to be true, they probably are.
• When entering into a transaction to buy cheap contact lenses online, make sure that the address of the page begins with https:// and not http://.  The additional “s” means that the connection is secure and will not endanger your credit card information.
• Make sure that the seller you wish to buy cheap contact lenses online from only distributes original products—you do not want to endanger your eyes with fake contact lenses.

Buying contact lenses online is a good idea for people who value their time, effort, and money.  You will only have to log in on the Internet, purchase the contact lenses with your credit card, and wait for the package to be delivered to your door.  Compared to the regular method of getting your vision prescriptions filled, buying contact lenses online is a lot more convenient and will save you plenty of time.  But not a lot of people are familiar with the process of buying contact lenses online.  Many would also think that it is not safe and a bit impersonal.  Here is a short step-by-step guide on buying contact lenses online.

• First, secure a valid prescription with your eye doctor.  The doctor might update your prescription or not, but always make sure that you have a current prescription when buying contact lenses online.  Reputable online sellers of contact lenses will require your prescription before they sell you anything.
• To get better value when buying contact lenses online, go to a price comparison site first.  Not only will you save more time browsing through different listings of contact lenses, you will also be able to really compare the prices of the different sellers in just one page.
• Make sure that the contact lenses you are ordering will match your prescription to the very last detail, including the size of your eyes.  You do not want to pay for something that you will not be able to use.
• Check if the online seller you wish to buy from charges shipping and handling fees.  Sometimes, the shipping and handling fees are not included in the list price; so make sure that you know this information before paying for the items.
• Check the delivery dates to make sure that they match your needs.