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The Truth About Contact Lens Comfort
People sometimes mistakenly infer that a soft lens will be comfortable, but a rigid lens will not. In fact, both soft and GP lenses can provide long-term comfort.
However, soft lenses do provide better initial comfort, while GP lenses require a brief adaptation period. But this is due to the size of the lens not the lens material.
Soft lenses are larger in diameter than GP lenses and tuck under the eyelids. As a result, you dont feel the lens edges when you blink. But since GP lenses are smaller, during blinking your eyelids will experience initial lens awareness.
Your lids gradually adapt so that you dont feel the lens with each blink. Once over that small hurdle, the comfort of soft and GP contacts can be comparable.
Think of it like getting a new pair of shoes. You may feel the shoes while you break them in, but if theyre the proper fit, that feeling disappears. Shoes dont have to be made of gel to be comfortable, and neither do contact lenses.
Why Are Contact Lenses So Comfortable?
GP lenses are not the same as the old hard lenses. For one thing, GP lens materials allow oxygen to pass through the lens and reach your cornea. Hard lenses are not oxygen permeable.
Watch an informational video about GP lenses shown on PBS television stations.
Secondly, GP contact lenses are custom made for each individual. Your eye care practitioner will measure the exact shape of your cornea and prescribe lenses with the curvature, size, and corrective power that suit your particular eyes.
With advances in manufacturing, GP lenses are made in thinner designs, larger diameters, and with more consistently smooth edges than ever before. As well, more eye care practitioners are using sophisticated techniques to map eye topography, enabling the back surface of the lens to better align with the cornea.
All these changes result in lenses that center well on the eye, providing good comfort and crisp vision.