As Halloween is approaching and cosmetic (vanity) contact lenses are often in high demand, it is important to remember that a contact lens is a medical device and requires a prescription. Even though you may consider contacts an accessory or part of your costume, you should not disregard the fact that the health of your eyes may be at risk. Any contact lens that is not FDA approved may not be safe for use. In addition, it is imperative to understand and comply with the proper disinfection routine, the correct insertion and removal technique and the recommended wearing schedule.  Not following proper care and handling guidelines can potentially lead to serious, sight-threatening eye infections.  Another important fact to remember is to not share contact lenses with anyone else.  Occasionally you will see fashion or costume contact lenses advertised online or on TV.  Be cautious of any contact lenses advertised from a non-trusted source. 

The potential dangers and risks of non-prescription contact lenses far outweigh any fashion benefit. Remember – to ensure the safest wearing experience, contacts require a prescription from a licensed eye care professional as well as the necessary wearing instructions and follow up care. Always consult an eye doctor before considering any type of contact lenses.

To find an eye doctor near you, please click here. Have a safe and happy Halloween!

A new trend in cosmetic contact lenses has caught a lot of attention in the media lately due in part to a recent music video debut from pop phenom Lady GaGa.  A ‘Circle Contact’ is a specific type of cosmetic contact lens that is manufactured in South Korea, in which the iris appears larger due to the opaque design of the large diameter contact lens covering a portion of the sclera (the white part of the eye).  This trend is modeled after Japanese anime cartoon characters, in which the eyes (and in particular, the pupils) of characters are enlarged to make the appearance of doll-like eyes. While Lady GaGa’s look from her “Bad Romance” video is reportedly computerized, the trend of purchasing the non-FDA approved contacts is growing.

Watch this clip from ABC News detailing the dangers of this trend.

‘Circle Contacts’ are not FDA approved and are not approved for purchase in the US as sales of lenses without a valid prescription have been banned since 2005.   While the cartoonish-look may be desirable to some, the potential dangers and risks outweigh any fashionable benefit.

Contact lenses are a medical device. To prevent potential eye problems, some of which may be serious, contacts need to be fit properly, require a prescription from a licensed eye care professional and the health of the eye needs to be monitored periodically.   Always consult an eye doctor before considering or using any type of contact lenses.  To find an eye doctor closest to you, please click here.

What do stents, catheters, and contact lenses have in common?  As one is metal, one is rubber and one is made from a combination of water and plastic, there wouldn’t appear to be any similarities.  So, what exactly do they have in common?  To perform properly, they all need protection from protein deposits.  Stents and catheters need protection against proteins found in blood plasma and contact lenses need protection from deposits formed by protein in tears.

There are two things to which all contact lens wearers can relate – dryness and discomfort due to deposits on lenses and lenses becoming dryer as the day progresses.  Fortunately, there is a contact lens material that is very resistant to both protein deposits (the most common type) and dehydration.   The material is PC hydrogel and CooperVision’s PC hydrogel material is the only one that has FDA clearance to be labeled as ‘may provide improved comfort for contact lens wearers who experience mild discomfort or symptoms relating to dryness during lens wear (non-Sjorgen’s only)’.

Interestingly, this material was not developed by a contact lens company, it was created by a biotech company that was looking to develop a material that was very resistant to protein deposits for devices associated with cardiology (stents, catheters, guide wires, etc.).  Those devices come into contact with blood plasma which contains a significantly higher amount of protein than do tears.  A material was created by incorporating PhosphorylCholine (hence ‘PC’) which is a part of the human cell membrane.  Protein does not stick to our cells in part because of PC.  When incorporated into these medical devices there was a significant reduction in the amount of protein deposits that formed.  The biotech company started looking for other objects that needed protection from protein deposits and realized that contact lenses were an ideal choice.  A new material was developed that incorporated PC and was called PC hydrogel.

Not only did PC hydrogel lenses have excellent resistance to protein deposits, the lenses were found to be very resistant to drying out.  Although this was not why the material was developed, it has become the main advantage.  

PC hydrogel lenses are available for virtually every vision correction.  Even with the increasing popularity of silicone hydrogel lenses, PC hydrogel lenses are still a viable, and often preferred, option.  The material is unique because it attracts and binds water to keep lenses moist all day, translating into long wearing comfort for you. 

PC hydrogel lenses are not approved for overnight wear.  If you do not plan on sleeping with your lenses on and want a lens that does not dry out easily, has minimal deposits and provides long wearing comfort each day, ask your eye care provider for lenses made with PC hydrogel material, such as the line of Proclear lenses from CooperVision. Welcome to the biotech world!

We have embraced technology in every aspect of our lives – why not take advantage of the technological advances made in contact lens materials? I’d like to talk about two technological advances in contact lens material, each with unique benefits – silicone hydrogel and PC technology.

Silicone hydrogel contact lenses are the most recent development in soft contact lens materials.  Silicone is a material that is highly permeable to oxygen. By placing a contact lens on the eye, the amount of oxygen that reaches the cornea is reduced. As a certain amount of oxygen is necessary to maintain corneal health, by incorporating silicone into the contact lens material, a sufficient amount of oxygen can easily travel through the lens and reach the cornea.

The trade off to silicone in a contact lens is that silicone is hydrophobic. That means water will not spread easily across the lens surface, making it difficult to keep the lens wet.  That makes a lens uncomfortable.  Silicone in a lens also makes it a stiffer material which can reduce comfort as well as irritate the under side of the upper lid.  A lens that contains silicone is prone to get deposits on the surface of the lens thus reducing comfort yet again.  It is no surprise that the number one reason why people stop wearing contacts is due to discomfort. 

As with all technology, improvements are continually being made.  Silicone hydrogel contacts have been available since 1999.  Each successive generation of silicone hydrogel material brings improvement in the comfort of the lens and overcomes earlier limitations.  For example, in prior versions, different coatings or lubricant additives were used to try to improve the lens wettability.  The most recently developed silicone hydrogel lenses, which are made by CooperVision, utilize an entirely new silicone hydrogel material.  This new material is naturally wettable and does not need coatings or additives.  It is also a very soft material and is resistant to certain deposits both of which offer improved comfort.

Biofinity (a monthly replacement lens) and Avaira (a two week replacement lens) are CooperVision’s contact lens brands that are made with the newest silicone hydrogel materials.  They have high oxygen permeability, are very soft, are resistant to getting deposits and are very comfortable.  Ask your eye care provider if you are a candidate for Biofinity or Avaira contact lenses.

No matter your physiological profile, we have a lens for you. Stay tuned for the next post about CooperVision’s revolutionary lens materials!

“DEFENSE!! DEFENSE!!” is frequently shouted during basketball and football games. Defense, according to dictionary.com, is a noun meaning protection and resistance against attack. But what does defense have to do with contact lenses? Think of replacing your contact lenses at the interval prescribed by your eye care practitioner as your DEFENSE  when wearing contact lenses. 

Defense against what? A common misconception is that tears are made of only water. While water is the main component, there are actually hundreds of substances found in tears.  Other important components include mucins (natural lubricants), oils, electrolytes (such as sodium chloride and potassium) and proteins (that defend against bacteria and other organisms).  As soon as a lens is placed on the eye, it will start to absorb some of these components, particularly proteins and oils.  Over a short period of time, deposits can form on the lens.  Deposits reduce comfort and vision and can cause allergic-type reactions, particularly under the upper lid.  Deposits also reduce the amount of oxygen that can pass through the lens. That can cause changes to the outer layer of the cornea that may allow bacteria or other organisms to infiltrate the cornea and cause an infection. The amount of deposits will vary depending on the contact lens material and the tear composition of the individual.  For example, some people naturally have more protein in their tears than others. Some lens materials are more resistant to protein deposits than other materials.

An eye care practitioner will select a replacement schedule for a patient after a careful evaluation of the patient’s ocular health, tears, lifestyle and the contact lens material.  The idea is to replace lenses before deposits form and before any problems develop. Even if a lens is still comfortable at the end of the replacement period it should still be replaced.  Many contact lens related problems are only evident to the eye care practitioner and not the wearer.

For those of you who wear one day lenses, it is easier to remember when to replace them as you discard your lenses after each day of wear.  It is more difficult to remember to replace lenses on a two week or a monthly cycle. We suggest writing the prescribed replacement date on a post it note and placing it on the mirror in your bathroom or on your computer screen.  If you are digital, put a reminder in your Outlook or iCal calendar.  Syncing up your replacement schedule with natural habits helps maintain comfortable and healthy contact lens wear! 

Replacing lenses on the schedule prescribed by your eye care practitioner will minimize complications, maximize comfort and contribute significantly to successful contact lens wear.  Whether you replace your lenses each day, every two weeks or every month, remember to chant “DEFENSE!! DEFENSE!!” when you discard those lenses at the proper time.

If you have any great tips on how you remember to change your lenses, please comment on this post so we can all benefit from your suggestion.