All you need to know about Contact Lenses
This article covers what a contact lens exam fitting entails and the importance of annual checkups.
Contact Lens Fitting and Evaluation:
During your appointment with your optometrist, the doctor examines the health of the anterior segment (or front of the eye) to check for candidacy for contact lens wear. Some of things the doctor checks for includes the curvature of the cornea, health of the inside and outside of the eyelids, signs of bacterial infection, scars from possible infection, corneal neovascularization, and dryness. There are a lot of different contact lens brands that can be fitted on a patient. Every brand and type of contact lens is made with different materials and base curvatures. All are important factors when choosing the right lens for the patient. Our optometrist prescribes FDA approved contact lenses only.
Our Contact Lens Fitting Policy
The payment for the contact lens fee for services provided will be charged on the date of service. If for some reason the contact lens trial is not available on the day of your exam, the office will order the patient a set of trials which normally arrives within a week. The patient may book a follow up appointment within the next week. For patients who start the contact lens fitting process on the day of the routine exam, they must complete their Contact Lens Fitting with a final prescription from the doctor within 30 days of their routine eye exam. For patients who need a second trial order, the period gets extended to 40 days. Postponing your final fitting beyond the grace period will result in a late fee of $50 per visit. Beyond 60 days of the routine exam will result in termination of the contact lens exam. The patient will have to book another routine exam and contact lens fitting if they would like a valid contact lens prescription.
How long does the contact lens prescription last?
Contact lens prescriptions are valid for 12 months. It is recommended to be seen once every 12 months for a routine eye exam with a proper contact lens fitting and evaluation for a new contact lens prescription.
Types of Contact Lens Modalities
Soft contact lenses come in the form of daily disposable and reusable contacts to be disposed biweekly or monthly. Reusable soft contact lenses can be cleaned with a contact lens multipurpose cleaning solution and/or a hydrogen peroxide cleaning system such as ClearCare. Sometimes soft contact lenses does not work due the curvature of the cornea. Alternative options are Rigid Gas Permeable lenses (RGP’s) which are reused for 12 months and require a different cleaning method. Scleral contact lenses are available for dry eye patients and patients with keratoconus. Misight Contact Lenses are specialty contacts designed for myopia control which are daily disposable soft contact lenses.
Possible side effects of wearing Contact Lenses
While most patients have no issues wearing contact lenses, occasionally a patient may suffer from Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis, protein deposit build up, dry eye, Contact Lens Acute Red Eye or a bacterial infection. Giant papillary conjunctivitis (GPC) is when the inside of the eyelids become swollen from allergies to the chemicals of the contact lens solution or make of the lens, environmental allergies, ocular mechanical irritation, or protein deposits on the lenses (1). GPC should be addressed right away by your eye doctor as it can cause scarring to cornea and damage your vision. Long term contact lens wear can cause dry eye symptoms due to friction of the lens between the ocular surface and contact lens (2). If your eyes ever become red, painful and irritated during contact lens wear, remove your contact lenses immediately and discontinue contact lens wear. If symptoms persist and worsen over the next couple of days please make an appointment with your optometrist as soon as possible. Patients can also develop bacterial infections or corneal ulcers if unwanted bacteria gets on the eye due to poor hygiene and/or fungal contamination contracted from a dirty environment. Corneal infections can cause permanent scarring and damage one’s vision.
Contact Lens do’s and don’t
Wearing daily disposable contact lenses is the most hygienic option compared to reusable contact lenses. When wearing reusable soft contact lenses, be sure to take them every night before going to sleep and clean them either with a multipurpose contact lens cleaning solution or a hydrogen peroxide cleaning system such as, “Clear Care.” Do not wear the contact lenses in the shower, or get tap water in the lens. Do not swim in the pool or go into the pond or ocean water with them. The reason is to avoid the risk of contracting a protozoa called, “Acanthamoeba,” which is a devastating ocular infection that is present in air, soil, dust, drinking water, and also sea water. Acanthamoeba causes severe eye pain, inflammation, and defects of the epithelium and stroma resulting to loss of vision (3). Also, if you plan to wear makeup, be sure to insert your contact lenses before applying makeup to avoid makeup debris getting underneath the contact lens.
Is the contact lens fitting covered by medical insurance?
Usually medical insurance plans do not cover soft contact lens fittings or evaluations. The exception is when a patient has a medical condition such as dry eye or keratoconus where the contact lens serves as a medical device to aid a person’s ability to see when glasses cannot. At Northeast Optometry the soft contact lens fitting fees depend on the type of prescription needed: spherical, toric, monovision or multifocal. The fee covers the contact lens fitting during the exam with the doctor, trials, and necessary follow ups.
Author: Josephine Ko, OD, FAAO
References
1) Sarah E. Kenny, Cooper B. Tye, Daniel A. Johnson, Ahmad Kheirkhah, Giant papillary conjunctivitis: A review, The Ocular Surface, Volume 18, Issue 3, 2020, Pages 396-402, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtos.2020.03.007.
2) Maria Markoulli & Sailesh Kolanu (2017) Contact lens wear and dry eyes: challenges and solutions, Clinical Optometry, 9:, 41-48, DOI: 10.2147/OPTO.S111130
3) Fanselow N, Sirajuddin N, Yin X-T, Huang AJW, Stuart PM. Acanthamoeba Keratitis, Pathology, Diagnosis and Treatment. Pathogens. 2021; 10(3):323. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10030323