Contact lens examinations are far more complex than regular eye examinations, requiring additional tests and procedures. Fitting contact lenses is both a science and an art that requires a certain level of expertise.
Patients often wonder why the cost of a contact lens examination is greater than that of a regular eye exam. It’s because fitting patients with contact lenses involves several steps and additional time.
If you request contact lenses for the first time, you must have a thorough evaluation to make certain you are a good candidate for wearing contacts. You will be interviewed to determine your individual and personal vision goals. You may only want to wear contacts for sports once per week, or perhaps you’d like to wear them daily for reading and close-up tasks. Because there are so many lens choices, a good Optician will listen closely to your goals and choose the lens that best suits your lifestyle.
Our Optician will perform several tests to evaluate your eyes for contact lenses. One important test is corneal topography, a procedure that maps out all of the different aspects of your cornea. Because contact lenses rests on the cornea when inserted into your eye, corneal curvature must be measured precisely to ensure an optimal & healthy fit.
Another important test is the slit lamp examination. While this test is performed during a regular eye examination, your Optician may spend more time doing a slit lamp examination for a contact lens wearer. Occasionally, medical eye problems are identified that need to be treated before continuing with the fitting.
After discussing various contact lens options, actual diagnostic contact lenses will be placed onto your eyes. Your Optician will then perform another slit lamp examination to determine if a particular lens fits correctly, ensuring proper movement of the lens. A visual acuity test will be then be performed to determine how well a contact lens corrects your vision.
If you’ve never worn contact lenses, you will be taught how to insert, remove and disinfect them. Most optticians place extreme importance on hygiene, cleanliness and disinfection. They will probably allow you to wear the contact lenses for a week and then return for a follow-up visit. At the follow-up visit, they will reassess the contact lenses and solve potential problems. Either a new lens will be tried or the prescription will be finalized.
Additional follow-up visits may be required if your vision and comfort are not satisfactory. Some types of lenses, such as toric lenses for correcting astigmatism or multimodal lenses for correcting presbyopia, tend to take longer to achieve a perfect fit.
Fitting contact lenses is both a science and art that requires a certain level of expertise.
