contact lens question

[TooPatient]

FI needs to get new glasses or contacts. The best thing for him (ease of use, best correction) would be to get contacts and then just use reading glasses with them as needed. (lasik is NOT an option due to the shape of his eyes -- he will eventually have to have a different surgery done, but that will not be for several years or more)

He has moderate - severe astigmatism so regular contacts won''t work for him. What he needs is something called a "bitoric contact lens". These are usually (always?) rigid gas permeable but I saw one website make reference to a soft bitoric lens.


Does anyone know about bitoric lenses (soft or RGP)? The opthalmalogist is very good with exams, glasses, and surgeries but did not seem to be as current on contact lens information.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

TP, there are many, many soft contacts designed for astigmatism. DH has a severe case and has had great success with these. I wish I could remember the name, but they''re advertised on TV all the time.

 

[Puppmom]

TooPatient, there are tons of options for toric lenses now. I have an astigmatism in both eyes and have been wearing soft, toric lenses for years. I like Acuvue and Frequency 55. The key to 20/20 correction with lenses is a good exam. If you''re not measured properly you will NOT be able to see well out of your lenses. If your husband can''t see well through them or has a discrepancy between the vision in his eyes (this drives me NUTS), he was probably measured poorly.

 

[redfaerythinker]

I have astigmatism and I can''t remember what type of lenses I use but there are lots of types out there. My doctor gave me a couple of samples and let me pick the type that worked best for me. The trick is that they are weighted at the bottom so that they don''t spin, cause if they spin you go blind! But they are comfortable and work really well for me.

 

[KittyGolightly]

I wear Acuvue Oasys for astigmatism. They''re soft contacts that you throw away every 2 weeks. I''ve been wearing them for a couple of years, and am happy with them so far.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Also, re: getting a good fit. While a lot of people wear their contacts for long periods of time, be careful about doing this because over time your lenses can change the shape of your eye which can cause the contacts to not work as well. DH went in for a screen because he thought he needed his RX changed, turns out he was just having trouble when he changed lenses because he wore the old ones for too long.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 4/19/2010 1:24:17 PM
Author: KittyGolightly
I wear Acuvue Oasys for astigmatism. They''re soft contacts that you throw away every 2 weeks. I''ve been wearing them for a couple of years, and am happy with them so far.

Glad you chimed in KGL, these are the ones DH wears as well.

 

[mrssalvo]

I use Bausch and Lomb SofLens For Astigmastism. Acuvue doesn't make a pair that would work with my prescription.

 

[TooPatient]

Acuvue makes good products. I had looked at the Oasys for astigmatism this weekend and it looked like they will not work for his prescription. After digging out their detailed specs, it looks like they might be a possibility.

I''ll certainly look into them further. Wear for 2 weeks and toss is FAR better than the extended wear things they were suggesting.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

TP, I suggest giving their customer service number a call and asking them directly about it.

 

[TooPatient]

Great idea. I''m sure that either they or Bausch and Lomb have something that will work for him.

Date: 4/19/2010 2:12:33 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
TP, I suggest giving their customer service number a call and asking them directly about it.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Date: 4/19/2010 1:18:36 PM
Author: puppmom
TooPatient, there are tons of options for toric lenses now. I have an astigmatism in both eyes and have been wearing soft, toric lenses for years. I like Acuvue and Frequency 55. The key to 20/20 correction with lenses is a good exam. If you''re not measured properly you will NOT be able to see well out of your lenses. If your husband can''t see well through them or has a discrepancy between the vision in his eyes (this drives me NUTS), he was probably measured poorly.

Ditto. I used to wear toric lenses because of astigmatism in one eye and they were soft lenses. Honestly, if it came down to glasses v. rigid lenses, I would choose glasses. I had rigid lenses when I was in 7th grade and any little dust particle made it feel like someone shoved a poker into my eye - plus I was terrified that it was going to get stuck under my eyelid or in the back of my eyeball. Ugh, I hate rigid lenses.

I would definitely try to see what the soft toric lens options are first.

 

[somethingshiny]

A bitoric lens is different from a regular toric in that it is usually a rigid gas permeable lens with basically a double correction. The front is shaped a certain way and the back is shaped a certain way to reach optimum correction. Also, an RGP is able to be shaped much more than a soft lens. A soft lens is available in a few different base curves and diameters, but that's as far as they go. An RGP is really custom made to the eyeball. Since you said that LASIK isn't an option due to the "shape of his eye" I'm assuming that a standard soft lens will not fit properly. Also, when cylindrical corrections rise above 3 diopters, and RGP generally offers better vision. (the cylindrical correction is used to correct astigmatism and is the second number in a written RX)

I would get a second opinion from an optometrist though. Opthalmologists are medical doctors who generally diagnose/treat medical conditions, optometrists are specialized in refracting and have a much better grasp on current availability and manufacturing of lenses.

Your DH may still be able to wear a soft lens that your opthalmologist is unaware of or hasn't refracting him for.

If you want more info, let me know.

 

[marcy]

I have a similar problem. My astigmatism is bad enough I cannot wear soft lenses at all. I wear the RGP and have great vision with them but they are not very comfortable. They burn my eyes and I have problems getting them out at night (my eyes get too dry). I also have bad hay fever which gives my eyes fits. Lately I wear my glasses more often than not but have really bad distance vision with the glasses. I also have to wear reading glasses over my contacts so sometimes I think what''s the point in wearing the contacts?

When I wore them every day I didn''t have much trouble so if he wears them every day he will probably get used to them and do fine. Once you quit wearing them tho - well that is another issue.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

I have an astigmatism in one eye and I have soft contact lenses, daily wear. I did not get the lenses for an astigmatism because they were twice as much. I only wear my contacts once in a while, so it really doesn''t bother me.