Contact Lens Fitting and Ordering in East Greenwich, Rhode Island

Patients can conveniently order their contact lenses by text messaging or calling THE EYE DOCTOR and have their contact lens supply shipped directly to their home or workplace.

Contact lenses are an excellent choice for nearly anyone who needs vision correction and doesn't want to wear eyeglasses full time. THE EYE DOCTOR is happy to see patients who are new to contact lenses, established contact lens wearers, and patients who have been unsuccessful wearing contacts before.

Here are the basics you should know about contact lenses before seeing THE EYE DOCTOR if you are interested in wearing contacts.

Contact Lens Materials

CONTACT LENS MATERIAL

• Soft lenses are made from gel-like, water-containing plastics called hydrogels. These lenses are very thin and pliable and conform to the front surface of the eye. Introduced in the early 1970s, hydrogel lenses made contact lens wear much more popular because they typically are immediately comfortable.

• Silicone hydrogel lenses are an advanced type of soft contact lenses that are more porous than regular hydrogel lenses and allow even more oxygen to reach the cornea. Introduced in 2002, these lenses are now the most popular lenses prescribed in the United States. These lenses are able to correct distance vision, near vision, astigmatism, and people who need reading glasses.

• Gas permeable lenses — also called GP or RGP lenses — are rigid contact lenses but are porous and allow oxygen to pass through them. These lenses are able to correct distance vision, near vision, astigmatism, and people who need reading glasses. GP contacts often provide sharper vision than soft and silicone hydrogel contacts — especially if you have astigmatism. It usually takes some time for your eyes to adjust to gas permeable lenses when you first start wearing them, but after this initial adaptation period, most people find GP lenses are as comfortable as soft lenses lenses.