subject: Benefits Of Extended Wear Contact Lenses [print this page] Extended wear contacts are a special member in the contact lens family. This type of contact lenses was initially designed to offer particular benefits to wearers. Regular contact lenses require daily cleaning and rinsing. The wearers have to put on their contacts every morning and remove them every night. It is commonly reported that lens insertion and removal are skill-needed and sometimes time-consuming.
Compared to eyeglasses, daily care of contact lenses needs more time and patience. With extended wear lenses, wearers can leave the lenses in their eyes overnight and they can always wake up with clear vision. Extended wear contact lenses require less care and provide added convenience. Sometimes they are considered as a non-surgical alternative to LASIK surgery.
Extended wear contact lenses perform in a special way because they are made from a new material named silicone hydrogel. It is well-known that contact lenses must allow adequate oxygen to reach the eyes in order to maintain eye health. The lens material silicone hydrogel allows approximately 6 to 7 times more oxygen to reach the cornea. This is the exact reason why extended wear lenses can last several days without removal.
In the 1980s, extended wear lenses were approved by FDA to last continuously two weeks. Several years later the term was reduced to only 7 days due to the ever wide spread of eye infections among those wearers of extended contact lenses.
Currently, extended wear contact lenses are available in different replacement schedules that the maximum period is 30 days approved by FDA. For some people, lenses that can last continuously 30 days are quite exciting. In addition, extended wear lenses are provided by various brands now, most of which are disposable types.
As mentioned above, extended wear contact lenses have aroused wide spread eye infections during one period. Candidate evaluation is necessary if a person is considering extended wear contacts.
