Miacare™ Contact Lens Blog

Things You Need To Know Before Buying Silicone Hydrogel Lenses

A silicone hydrogel contact lens is an advanced soft contact lens that allows more oxygen to reach the cornea through the lens compared to regular soft lenses. Silicone hydrogel lenses help 5x times more oxygen to get to the cornea than standard hydrogel lenses. Although both of these contact lenses are from plastics that get hard when they are dry, they can absorb water easily and become gel-like and soft when hydrated. Soaking silicone hydrogel contact lenses in lens solutions for a couple of minutes can efficiently make it pliable and soft. In 2014, regular soft lenses accounted for 24% of contact lens orders in the US, while the other 68% was for silicone hydrogel contact lenses. Only 1% was for hybrid lenses and 6% was for rigid gas permeable lenses. Silicone is often confused with silicon hydrogel lenses. The name silicone is used for describing plastic materials that have a gel-like consistency, including carbon, oxygen, and other elements. There are various types of silicone hydrogels that are used for manufacturing contact lenses these days. They come with a wide range of technical names like enfilcon, comfilcon, senofilcon, and galyfilcon.

Silicone Hydrogel Lenses: Benefits
Contact lenses do reduce the oxygen amount that reaches the eye to a certain extent. When the oxygen supply to the cornea is significantly reduced, the patient develops a condition known as hypoxia. This condition can cause various problems like eye discomfort, blurred vision, corneal swelling, and red eyes. Especially in the case of contact lens wearers, hypoxia can even increase the risk of getting various eye infections. During the 1990s, the extended wear contacts first gained huge popularity which further increased the number of hypoxia-related eye issues. Since the number of contact lens wearers who would wear their contacts overnight for several days, the number of eye infection cases also increased.

To deal with this situation, silicone hydrogel contact lenses were launched in the market with hopes that it would decrease hypoxia-related problems while increasing the safety of using both extended and daily wear contact lenses. When the quantity of oxygen reaching the eye is increased it is extremely beneficial for every lens wearer as most of them do not follow the instructions given by their eye doctors regarding proper lens wear as well as replacement. Moreover, Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lens Price is affordable and one can even use it for a long period. Therefore, most people can opt for a better lens and say goodbye to their eye problems. Traditional soft hydrogel materials are not fit for specially designed contact lenses which can be easily made with silicone hydrogel contacts. These include any kind of design that requires a greater lens mass like custom contact lenses, lenses for hard-to-fit eyes, bifocal contact lenses, toric contacts, and even lenses for keratoconus.

Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses: Allergic Reaction
There have been cases where contact lens wearers have experienced an allergic reaction from wearing silicone hydrogel contact lenses. The symptoms included redness, lens discomfort, itchy, and dry eyes. However, this is not regarded as a distinctive sign of eye allergies or infections as the symptoms are very common while wearing new lenses, using new contact lens care products, and more. However, silicone hydrogel lenses can reduce the moisture content of the eye’s surface that can cause itching and dryness. This might not happen to all silicone hydrogel contact lens wearers but can be seen in people who have pre-existing symptoms of itchy, dry eye, or people who are prone to allergies. Nonetheless, there are different lens care solutions available that have been specially formulated for maintaining the hydration level in the eye throughout wearing the lens. Lens wearers should strictly follow the lens care programs and keep track of the expiration date of their lens to avoid increased sensitivity or any related eye problems.

Is Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lens Fit For You?
Almost every ophthalmologist and optometrists agree that the utmost benefit of using silicone hydrogel contact lenses is reducing the risk of hypoxia-related problems that are linked with soft lenses that are made from regular hydrogel materials. With the introduction of silicone hydrogel contact lenses, there are fewer cases of contact lens problems such as serious keratitis, discomfort, and red eyes which were previously caused by wearing contacts for a long time. Moreover, with increased oxygen transmissibility, these lenses have provided lens wearers with the opportunity to wear their lenses comfortably for longer hours which they could not do in case of regular hydrogel contacts. In addition to that, silicone hydrogel materials have also enabled lens manufacturers to develop a wider range of contact lens designs while simultaneously enabling a healthy quantity of oxygen reach to the cornea for comfortable and safe wear.

As there are both advantages and disadvantages to every type of contact lens design or material, the perfect way to understand whether the silicone hydrogel contact lenses are a good option for you is by discussing it with an ophthalmologist during the consultation. There are thousands of brands with e-Commerce websites that offer huge discounts on contact lenses, but one should always be careful to buy only those lenses that are approved by the FDA in the US in terms of evaluation of wear aligned with replacement schedules to prevent any risk of getting eye infections.

And if you want to check out some sophisticated and top-notch quality silicone hydrogel lenses, try Miacare, a Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lens Brand that offers state-of-the-art contact lenses at jaw-dropping prices.

So, if you are thinking of buying a new pair of contact lenses, visit :- Miacare Amazon Brand store now.