Contact Lens Fitting and Assessment

 

 

 

Additional tests, which are not part of your regular eye examination, allow your optometrist to make sure that you are getting the best possible vision with your contact lenses while ensuring that your eyes stay healthy.

Renfrew Eye clinic provides contact lens assessments for current wearers, as well as fitting and training for new wearers.  

 

Contact lens services include:

• • • Contact lens examination, lens fitting and follow-up visits
    • Prescribing corrective lenses
    • Replacing defective or torn contact lenses at no charge
    • Exchanging unopened boxes
    • Sample lenses while you wait for a supply

 

We fit many different types of contact lenses:

• • • Daily disposable
    • Biweekly disposable
    • Monthly disposable
    • Toric (for astigmatism)
    • Multifocal (for presbyopia)
    • Monovision (for presbyopia)
    • Rigid gas permeable
    • Coloured

 

We provide contact lenses from many different manufacturers such as: Acuvue, Bausch & Lomb, Coopervision, CIBA/Alcon.  

 

Additional Information: Contact Lens Care and Maintenance

 

We’ll help you with the basics of contact lens wear and care to help keep your eyes healthy and comfortable. As a reminder, regular check-up examinations by your optometrist are an important part of wearing contact lenses.

 

Understanding Your Replacement Schedule

Contact lenses are designed for specific wearing times.  It is really important to follow the replacement schedule given by your optometrist.  It tells you when you need new lenses and will help keep your eyes healthy and feeling comfortable.  Depending on what the best option is for your eyes, your optometrist may recommend the following:

• • • Daily disposable contact lenses – the contact lens is discarded after each removal
    • Planned replacement (Monthlies/bi-weeklies) – the contact lens is cleaned, rinsed and disinfected each time it is removed from the eye.  It is discarded after the recommended period. For example, a monthly lens must be disposed of 30 days after opening the contact lens package.

 

Lens Case Care

Contact lens cases can be a source of bacterial growth.  Lens cases should be emptied, cleaned, rinsed with solutions recommended by the lens case manufacturer, and allowed to air dry each time you remove the contact lenses from it.  Lens cases should be replaced at regular intervals as recommended by your optometrist.

 

Handling contact lenses

Cleanliness is an important aspect of proper contact lens care and handling of your new lenses. Your hands should be clean and free of any foreign substances when you handle your lenses:

• • • Always wash your hands thoroughly with a mild soap, rinse completely, and dry with a lint-free towel before touching your lenses.
    • Avoid the use of soaps containing cold cream, lotion, or oily cosmetics before handling your lenses, since these substances may come into contact with the lenses and interfere with successful wearing.
    • Always use fresh, unexpired lens care solutions
    • Always remove, clean and rinse your contact lenses according to your replacement schedule
    • Do not use saliva, tap water, or anything other than the recommended solutions for lubricating or rewetting your lenses.
    • To store lenses, disinfect and leave them in the closed/unopened case until ready to wear

 

Inserting Contact Lenses

Inserting and removing contact lenses takes practice, but after a few tries, you will be a pro!  Here are some tips to help you out:

 

The Two-Hand Placement Technique

• • • With the lens on your index finger, use the middle finger of the other hand to pull the upper lid against the brow
    • Use the middle finger of your placement hand to pull down the lower lid
    • Place the lens centrally on your eye
    • While holding the lids, look around
    • Slowly release your eyelids

 

TIPS (These tips will help guide you, but always follow the advice of your optometrist):

• • • If you accidentally place an inside-out lens on your eye, don’t worry! Simply remove the lens and re-orient it.  The following signs may indicate that the lens was inserted inside-out:
      • Less than usual comfort
      • The lens is folding on the eye
      • The lens seems to be moving around a lot
      • Blurry vision
    • If the lens flattens or drapes across your finger, the lens or your finger may be too wet.
    • If the lens seems to stick to your finger during insertion, thoroughly dry off your index finger before placing the contact lens on it

 

Removing Contact Lenses

• • • Wash, rinse and dry your hands thoroughly
    • Always be sure that the lens is in the correct position on your eye before you try to remove it
      • A simple check of your vision, closing one eye at a time, will tell you if the lens is in the correction position
    • Look up and slowly pull down your lower lid with the middle finger of your removal hand and place your index finger on the lens.
    • Drag the lens down towards the bottom of the eye
    • Squeeze the lens lightly between the thumb and index finger and remove it

 

Adverse reactions:

Regular check-up exams are important when wearing contact lenses.  

 

If you notice any issue with your contact lenses such as eye stinging, burning, itching, eye pain, an abnormal feeling of something in the eye, excessive watering, unusual eye secretions, redness, reduced vision/blurred vision, rainbows or halos around objects, sensitivity to light or dry eyes you should:

• • Immediately remove your lenses
  • If the discomfort or problem stops, take a closer look at the lens.  If it is in any way damaged, do not put the lens back in your eye. Place the lens in your case and contact your optometrist.
  • If the lens has dirt, an eyelash, or another foreign body on it, thoroughly clean, rinse, disinfect and then reinsert the lens.  If after reinsertion the problem persists, immediately remove the lens again and contact your optometrist. Keep the contact lenses off your eye until your optometrist can identify the problem.