Contact Lenses
Prior to getting contact lenses, a comprehensive eye exam is performed. During this exam, your doctor will determine the glasses prescription that gives you the best distance and near vision. The health of your eyes will also be checked to ensure there are no problems that might interfere with successful contact lens wear.
Contact Lens Consultation and Fitting
Contact lenses are medical devices that require fitting by an eye doctor to ensure a proper fit.
Since there are so many different types of contact lenses, the first step in getting fit for contact lenses is finding out more about your lifestyle to determine what type of contact lens is right for you.
Measurements of the shape of your eye will then be taken to help determine the best contact lens design for your eyes. Your doctor may take a picture of the surface of the eye with an instrument called a corneal topographer. The corneal topographer produces a detailed map of the shape of your eye. This map is helpful in the initial fitting of the contact lenses and can also be used in future visits to monitor for changes of the eyes due to contact lens wear.
Trial Contact Lens
Once you and your eye doctor have decided on a contact lens design, contact lenses are placed on your eyes. Your eye doctor then uses a microscope to evaluate how the lens fits and moves on the eye as you blink and look in different directions.
If the lenses fit well and provide good vision in the doctor's office, you will receive training on how to handle, insert and remove your contact lenses. You will also be instructed on some of the do’s and don’ts of contact lens wear.
Follow-up Contact Lens Checks
After a week or two, you’ll need a follow up visit with your eye doctor. This is your opportunity to let the doctor know how the lenses work for you. In addition, your doctor will re-evaluate the contact lenses on your eye to ensure they are still fitting properly. If either you or the doctor feel changes need to be made, different contact lenses can be tried.
Yearly eye exams
Contact lenses require a visit to your eye doctor to ensure that the contact lenses are still fitting well and that your eyes are responding well to the contacts.