Types of Contact Lens
What are the contact lens types?
- Planned replacement lenses (monthly lenses)
- Daily lenses
- Toric Lenses (for astigmatizm)
- Far and near vision lenses
- Lenses that can stay in the eye at night
- Aphakic lenses (pediatric)
- High diopter and long wear lenses
What is a spherical contact lens?
They are soft contact lenses that correct a spherical refractive error without astigmatism.
What is a toric contact lens?
They are soft contact lenses with an astigmatic component that correct astigmatic refractive errors in the eyes.
What is a multifocal contact lens?
Soft lenses that correct the nearsightedness error (presbyopia), which occurs after the age of 40 and develops due to age, are called multifocal contact lenses.
Gas permeable lenses (hard lenses)
Hard lenses are lenses that have high oxygen permeability as well as optical quality and durability. It is suitable for correction of corneal astigmatism and in people with keratoconus, that is, corneal sharpening.
Hybrid contact lenses
They are lenses used in eye disease called keratoconus, in which the transparent corneal layer in front of the eye becomes thinner and sharpens forward. The optical (central) part of the lens is made of hard lens material, and the haptic (peripheral) part is made of soft lens material.
Since people with keratoconus disease usually have high astigmatism, sufficient vision cannot be achieved with glasses and soft contact lenses. So, these patients see clearly with gas permeable hard contact lenses, but this hard lens is difficult to get used to, and not every patient can use it. Hybrid contact lenses are lenses with a hard center and soft edges.
Colored contact lenses
Colored lenses are cosmetically preferred contact lenses to change eye color. Also, people with refractive errors can benefit from colored lenses.
Chromogen lens
The chromogenic lens is suitable for patients with color vision impairment and reading difficulties. Chromogen haploscopic filters are specially colored and can be used as intraocular lenses or glasses. It was developed to help people who are colorblind.
How does chromogen work?
Chromogen haploscopic lenses provide color perception and color discrimination by changing the level of each color to the non-dominant eye, in some cases to each dominant and non-dominant eye. For many people, improvements in color perception and discrimination can be very dramatic. The brightness of each color increases as they become richer and stronger, including the colors they perceive correctly.
Purposes of chromogen lenses:
- To strengthen the overall color perception
- To make colors appear clearer and brighter
- To differentiate shades of colors
- To name the colors
- To increase safety (eg. traffic and brake lights)
- To increase the ability to see in color vision tests
This lens is not effective for patients whose color vision is subsequently impaired due to retinal or optic nerve disorders.
What is a therapeutic contact lens?
Therapeutic contact lenses are used to increase epithelial healing in the cornea, prevent epithelial erosions, or control pain on the corneal surface.
What is a prosthetic contact lens?
If one eye color has a different color from the other eye, you can achieve your desired eye color with prosthetic lenses. The soft lens, which eliminates the color difference between the two eyes, has the feature of being painted according to the color you want.
Prepared by the Dünyagöz Hospital Editorial Board.
*The content of this page is for informational purposes only. See your doctor for diagnosis and treatment.
Last Update Date: 10.03.2022
