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More People Using 30-day Contact Lenses

Contact lenses, like any other type of product, are constantly improving in quality. Since 1999, contact lenses have been available that could be worn about 30-days without changing them. These contact lenses were called gas permeable lenses, because air and other gasses could go through the contact to the eye. Recently, this technology has improved again. This new type of contact lens is called the silicone hydrogel contact lens. The silicone hydrogel contact lens allows six to seven times more oxygen through to the cornea than any previous long wearing lens. A new generation of "super-permeable" contact lenses can transmit unprecedented amounts of oxygen to your cornea and, in some cases, enable 30 consecutive days of wear without removal. This new silicone hydrogel contact lens keeps the cornea healthy by allowing a proper amount of oxygen to the eye. Not all silicone hydrogel lenses are available for use for 30 days. Some brands are made for use for up to 7-days.Some silicone hydrogel lenses are only for day and overnight use.

Traditional soft contact lenses are made of plastics called hydrogel polymers. The first hydrogel polymer contact lenses were made in the 1960s. That is when soft contacts, made of hydro-gel materials were introduced. These were more comfortable and didn't need to have long period of time before the wearer got used to the feel of the lens. These polymers contain water and are soft. Though the water contains oxygen for the eyes, the plastic polymers does not carry oxygen. Also, the water in these types of contact lenses evaporates somewhat quickly.

Silicone hydrogel contact lenses are oxygen permeable. This means that the silicone allows oxygen to flow through the contact lens. Also, silicone hydrogel contact lenses contain less water than do traditional contact lenses. This means that the silicone hydrogel contact lenses will not dehydrate as fast as traditional lenses do. Silicone hydrogel contact lenses feel better at the end of the day, because they do not dry out. Some patients have trouble because there is too much water in their eyes with traditional contact lenses. On the other hand, some silicone hydrogel contact lens users sometimes have problems with too much eye dryness.

Silicone hydrogel contact lenses represent a breakthrough. These lenses have some problem, however. The silicone lets much more oxygen into the cornea than previously used contact lenses. Silicone hydrogel lenses allow six or seven times as much oxygen to reach the eye. These silicone containing contact lenses are combined with hydrogels or other compounds. The problem is that, although they let oxygen, silicone is does not allow much fluid to reach the eye. So other compounds are added to the contact so enough water gets to the cornea. In ordinary hydrogel contact lenses, oxygen gets through to the cornea at a slower rate. Silicone hydrogel contact lenses allow more oxygen to get to the cornea. Oxygen is able to go through silicon, so the contact lenses have a higher rate of oxygen permeability. This makes the contact lenses more comfortable. Also, it takes very little time for the wearer to get used to the feel of silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

One of the major problems with the 30-day contact lenses developed in the 1980s was that wearers were more prone to infection than were wearers of other types of contact lenses. People who tried 30-day contacts in the 1980s sometimes got microbial keratitis. Microbial keratitis is an eye infection that can lead to blindness if not treated. Modern silicone hydrogel lenses allow much more air into the eye. The oxygen level in silicone hydrogel contact lenses keeps infection rates down, making silicone hydrogel contact lenses much safer than the older hydrogen contacts. In fact, on study showed that people wearing hydrogel contact lenses to bed have a 5 times larger incidence of eye infection than do those who sleep in silicone hydrogel contact lenses. There is very little difference in rates of infection if the contact lenses are only worn during the day, however. But for those of us who need our contacts during both the day and night, silicone hydrogel contact lenses are definitely the way to go.

Another benefit of wearing silicone hydrogel contact lenses is that these lenses may be an excellent substitute for Lasik surgery. Because silicone hydrogel contact lenses can be worn all day and night for 30 days safely, surgery is not needed. Also, some people would rather not have eye surgery, nor are not candidates for Lasik eye surgery. In these cases, 30-day silicone hydrogel contact lenses are the perfect alternative to Lasik surgery.