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We hope that we can answer your questions to help you in the care of your eyes.
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EXTENDED WEAR CONTACT LENSES: Extended wear contact lenses follow the same basic principles of fitting that normal daily wear contact lenses do. Not all contact lens wearers are suitable for extended wear lenses.
As a result of advertising and by word of mouth reporting, many patients requesting extended wear lenses arrive at their eye care practitioner's office with preconceived ideas.The best suited patients for extended wear contact lenses are patients who are successful daily contact lens wearers.
The worst suited patients are those who insist that they have difficulty in handling daily wear lenses, and that they want to avoid daily cleansing.
The information provided on the topic dealing with contact lenses is applicable to extended wear lenses too. There are a few points which need to be stressed with regard to extended wear lenses.
Many patients have eyes which are just not going to tolerate the lens for the entire period for which they have been manufactured. A lens designed to be worn 30 days at a stretch may be irritable to the eye after only a week. It must then be removed and cleaned before inserting it again. Infections with these lenses must be treated aggressively by an eye-specialist.
If you experience pain on removing contact lenses from the eye, then it should be regarded as a sign that the lenses are not being tolerated very well and might be causing damage to the eye. Extended wear lenses are thinner than daily wear lenses and some people may have difficulty in handling them.
It is important to stress that extended wear lenses can cause sight-threatening eye infections if not properly worn and properly cared for.
There are some 13 million soft contact lens wearers in the USA of which almost one quarter wear extended wear lenses. In the United Kingdom, less than 5% of soft contact lenses are extended wear lenses.
You might discover that your eye care practitioner does not approve of extended wear contact lenses and often this might be due to his or her experience with them.
There are other considerations too, which your eye care practitioner will take into account when fitting you with extended wear contact lenses.
If you are an established contact lens wearer and you are well motivated, and take great care to look after your eyes , you will in all probability do very well with extended wear lenses.
If you have any further questions regarding extended wear contact lenses, please consult your eye specialist.