Around 11% of Americans who need corrective lenses choose to wear contact lenses. At idoc Optical in Washington, DC, Nastaran Golriz, OD, provides comprehensive eye exams to identify your contact lens prescription and ensure that contacts are an appropriate corrective lens option. If you need new contacts or want to find out if they’re right for you, call idoc Optical or make an appointment online today.
Almost everyone can wear contact lenses, although you need to have a contact lens exam and fitting with an experienced optometrist like Dr. Golriz. During your exam, she provides a prescription to correct your vision and examines the shape of your eye and cornea.
At idoc Optical, Dr. Golriz offers several different types and brands of contact lenses, including:
Most patients choose single-vision soft contact lenses. They’re made from a soft, flexible, water-containing plastic or silicone. They’re usually comfortable immediately and allow oxygen and moisture to reach your eyes.
Soft contact lenses are available in a wide range of prescription strengths to correct nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), and astigmatism.
Gas permeable lenses are made from a rigid plastic that is also porous so oxygen can pass through to your eyes. Gas permeable lenses take a little longer to get used to wearing, but they provide extremely clear vision for all prescriptions, including astigmatism.
If you have presbyopia, the age-related lens stiffening that makes your close-up vision blurry, Dr. Golriz can prescribe bifocal or multifocal contact lenses, which include multiple prescriptions so you can see clearly at near and far distances.
Dr. Golriz also offers innovative ortho-k lenses, which are gas permeable contact lenses that you wear while you sleep. Overnight, the lenses gently reshape your cornea so you see more clearly when you wake up. It can slow the progression of myopia in children.
Many patients opt for disposable soft contact lenses that you replace daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Some soft contact lenses can be worn for up to a year, but they require special cleaning.
Gas permeable lenses last even longer. However, your contact lens prescription is only valid for a year, so you should have an eye exam annually to ensure your prescription still provides optimal vision.
There are many benefits to wearing contact lenses. They provide a full visual field and won’t slip or slide on your face. Contact lenses don’t get in the way of physical activity, and they won’t fog up in cold weather.
If you need new contact lenses or want to find out if they’re right for you, call idoc Optical or schedule an exam with Dr. Golriz online today.
