Contact lenses are nothing like a normal consumer product that all one has to be concerned with might be color or size. Contact lenses are more like ordering a custom set of clothing where one has to account for arm, leg, waist and inseam measurements correctly; miss one and you may as well have ordered a paper sack, get it right and your contacts will fit like a fine suit!

We’ll start with the “Quantity” of lenses. Quantity, although is sounds simply is a primary concern; order quantity incorrectly and you may find you’ve ordered a lifetime supply of lenses! A quantity of 1 is usually 1 BOX of contact lenses. Most contact lenses are packed in a box of 6 lenses and are called a 6 pack. Vial lenses come as single lenses and in boxes of 4 lenses. Daily wear lenses are packed in boxes of 10, 30 or 90 lenses. In every case when you order a quantity of 1 you are ordering 1 vial or box of contact lenses; both our “Overview” and “Description” on our individual product ordering pages list the quantity the contact is available in.

All contact lenses are boxed in the IDENTICAL prescription. Whatever quantity you order, one vial or one box, they will all be exactly the same prescription. If you wear a different prescription in each eye you will need to order AT LEAST one vial or one box for each eye to complete your prescription. The most common size is a box of 6 identical lenses called a 6-Pack. One 6-Pack of 2-week lenses is enough for a three month supply for ONE eye. Since thankfully you most likely have two eyes please order two 6-Packs for a three month supply, four 6-Packs for a six month supply and eight 6-Packs for a one year supply.

The image shown above is a typical prescription found on a box of contact lenses. The most important values for ordering correctly beside quantity are the Power and Base Curve as most contact lenses come in only one diameter.

POWER is the strength of the vision correction and can be in either Plus or Minus. They are not interchangeable and care must be taken when ordering. ORDERING PLUS OR MINUS POWERS INCORRECTLY IS THE NUMBER ONE MISTAKE. If you are nearsighted (can see near objects) order minus powers, if you are farsighted (can see distant objects) you would correctly order plus powers. Power is sometimes called Sphere (Sph) and is measured in Diopters (D). If you are unsure what to order please do not guess, please call us at (800) 536-7327.

BASE CURVE has to do with the shape of your eye and almost everyone has the same BC for both eyes. Many contact lenses come in only one base curve, many others come in only 2 base curves, some come in multiple base curves so again care must be taken when ordering. If your box or prescription says MEDIAN instead of a number for base curve choose 8.5, 8.6 or 8.7 only, again if you are unsure it’s easy to call for the correct information.

DIAMETER is the size of the lens in millimeters. Common diameters are 13.8, 14.0, 14.2, 14.4 but more complicated soft contact lenses can be other sizes as well. Many disposable contact lenses are available in only one diameter; if you see only one choice for diameter you may select it. Diameter can be abbreviated as Dia or Diam.

Toric prescriptions have two additional parameters; Cylinder (Cyl) and Axis (Ax). Cylinder is always a negative decimal (ie. -0.75) and Axis is usually expressed in increments of 10 from 10 to 180. Multifocal (bifocal) lenses can include a numeric “Add Power” (ie. +2.00) or simply “Low” or “High” power for magnification and often a choice of D (dominant eye) or N (non-dominant eye) option. Both these lenses can be complicated to order, please call us and we can help place the order correctly.

Many lenses have similar names such as Frequency 55 and come as regular Frequency 55, Frequency 55 Multi-focal, Frequency 55 Toric and Frequency 55 Toric XR. If you cannot find the numbers on your prescription that match the choices we have it is likely are you are trying to order the wrong lens. Any time you have a question please do give us a call at (800) 536-7327 and we’ll be happy to help. Of course should you find you have incorrectly ordered your contacts we have a 30 day return policy during which we will accept your resalable condition contacts back in exchange for the correct contacts and as our way of saying thank you we’ll ship replacements back to you at our expense.

Unfortunately over the years the message from the optical community has been to unfairly stigmatize extended wear lenses. True early extended wear lenses had problems but they were never as serious as the doctors made them out to be. Serious complications were more often the result of hygienic lapses on the part of lens wearers than the lenses themselves. That said a hygienic lapse is more serious with an extended wear lenses simply due to the fact the lenses remain in the eye for a longer period of time. There’s risk from any contact lens but common sense combined with knowledge can mitigate most problems.

The latest improvement in contact lens technology, silicone hydrogel, the plastic material the lenses are made from has rendered all other contact lenses obsolete. Silicone hydrogel contact lenses allow more oxygen to reach the eye resulting in greatly extended wearing times combined with much better eye health. In fact silicone hydrogel lenses allow ten times more oxygen to reach the cornea of the eye than many earlier contact lenses. They are such an improvement the FDA has approved two lenses made of this material for up to thirty days of continuous wear. Of course not everyone can wear lenses for thirty days and even people that have these lenses can’t always wear them that long due to physiological or environmental conditions. However there are many lenses made of silicone hydrogel approved for continuous wear for up to seven days and many contact lens wearers now wearing daily wear lenses can successfully transition to this type of lens without any detrimental effects whatsoever.

Imagine waking up and not having to search your room for your eyeglasses; you wake and instantly see perfectly. No more dealing with the time spent inserting contact lenses each morning, removing them each night, disinfecting and storing over and over every day. If you have seven day extended wear lenses you’ll only have to do this once a week. If you have thirty day extended wear lenses you’ll have to go through this ordeal only once a month. An added bonus for thirty-day lenses is you can throw away all your disinfecting chemicals and storage containers. You’ll only have to dispose of the lens you’re currently wearing, insert a new one and you’ll be set for another month!

Extended wear lenses are not for everyone. Not all prescriptions are available in silicone hydrogel lenses, but since they’re now available in regular, multifocal and toric that’s much less of a current concern. Environmental factors like working around chemicals, paint or dust may be a limiting factor as well. The most serious problem is infection and though infrequent does remain a concern however since you’re handling the lenses so much less an extended wear lens may actually be an improvement in this respect as well.

As with any contact lens especially extended wear lenses you must have your eyes examined regularly and always follow your eye care professional’s instructions for the proper use and care of your contact lenses. Now the common sense part: if you are having any unexplained eye discomfort, watering, vision change or redness remove your contact lenses immediately and consult your eye care professional before wearing your lenses again. Further if you have any of these symptoms or for that matter you notice ANYTHING unusual immediately take the lenses out and never attempt to wear the same lenses again. Chances are those lenses are contaminated and no amount of disinfection is going to make them safe to wear again; they are trash, throw them away.

Follow these simple common sense guidelines and there’s no reason the vast majority of current contact lens wearers can’t wear extended wear lenses. Why not give them a try? You have nothing to lose but your eyeglasses!

As of June 29, 2004 Contact lens prescriptions in the U.S. are now governed by a series of Federal Laws known collectively as the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act. Prior to the Act’s enactment hundreds of different state and local Laws defined both how long a contact lens prescription was valid and steps required to fill the prescription. The Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act was meant to resolve the many differences and specifically says, “State and local laws and regulations that establish a prescription expiration date of less than one year or that restrict prescription release or require active verification are preempted.” The Act itself is an incredible 117 pages and as you can well imagine goes into great detail; the essentials follow.

Eye doctors EVERYWHERE in the entire U.S. are now REQUIRED by federal law to give you a copy of your contact lens prescription without any additional charge and without your even asking! Furthermore the doctor cannot force you to purchase your contact lenses from the doctor doing the examination and any deviation from these policies is now illegal. In most cases your prescription is good for one (1) year and only if there is a valid medical reason can a prescription be written for less that one year; at the doctor’s discretion it can be good longer then one year. In Ohio, Minnesota, Utah, Florida, Washington, Mississippi and New Mexico again unless your doctor has a valid medical reason your contact lens prescription is good for two (2) years.

Passive prescription verification is now permitted. If you do not have a copy of or are unable to provide a copy of a written contact lens prescription which can be mailed, faxed or emailed but know your doctor’s name and location and/or phone number a contact lens retailer is allowed to ask your doctor to verify your prescription by voice, email, fax or computer. Once this notification is received by the doctor or a member of his staff an eight (8) business hour period begins which if there is no response by the end of the eight hour period the prescription is considered valid and can be filled. The Act specifically defines eight (8) business hours as those hours when a doctor’s office is likely to be open and unless the contact lens retailer verifying the prescription knows which weekend or holiday hours the office is open is limited to Monday through Friday. In other words if you place your order on a Monday and the verification is started Monday at 1:00 PM the prescription is considered valid if no communication to the contrary is received by Tuesday at 1:00 PM. If you place your order Friday unless the contact lens retailer verifying the prescription specifically knows what weekend hours your doctor’s office is open the verification would not be completed until the following Monday.

Although not specifically limited in the Act you are generally allowed to order up to a year’s supply of contact lenses at a time if that is how long your prescription is good for. If you find you are using contacts more frequently than the recommended period you are free to order more at any time as long as you have a valid prescription, however as part of the verification process if your doctor communicates that you are restricted to a certain amount of contacts for the year the prescription can only be filled for up to the balance of that year’s contacts. In this case if you have purchased four boxes of contacts from your doctor previously and wanted to order six more boxes, if the doctor communicates you are allowed only another four boxes for the year the contact lens retailer is only allowed to sell you four boxes.

As the law states the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act gives you many rights you didn’t have previously. If you are considering getting or renewing a contact lens prescription ask the doctor BEFORE making an appointment for your contact lens fitting if they will provide you with TRIAL lenses for your fitting, which are supplied free to doctors specifically for this purpose, and provide you with a copy of your prescription so you may purchase your new lenses from whomever you wish without being forced to buy your lenses from the doctor. Keep in mind you’re the customer and the doctor is there to help you! If you receive a negative or a response other than “YES” find another doctor. It’s your money; spend it wisely.

I wore eyeglasses for years. I still recall the absolute horror I felt after my first eye exam, not only would I have to wear eyeglasses I’d have to wear eyeglasses to SCHOOL! I have to say this was third grade and needless to say I got over all that “four eyes” stuff but never got over the thought that I absolutely hated wearing them. Of course I was reminded numerous times every day. My glasses got filthy, they scratched when I cleaned them, they broke, they fell off (always at the worst possible time), they were uncomfortable, they fogged up, and whenever it rained I was partially blind. I couldn’t see when I went to bed or got up in the morning. I needed glasses to find my glasses!

Then one day I overheard my mother discussing her friend’s new contact lenses and I thought, “Wouldn’t it just be the best thing in the world to get rid of my eyeglasses!” Of course that was the early days of contact lenses and at that time they were really little more than the lens of ones glasses ground down and stuffed on to your eyeball. Great idea, terrible execution and although they never became very popular the seed had been sown and an entirely new industry born.

I got my first set of contacts in college and it was quite an ordeal. The contact lenses were still hard but now instead of glass were composed of a “miracle” plastic. I recall the fitting process took numerous trips to the doctor and they were unbelievably expensive. Time to become adjusted to them was quite long. I had to start at an hour a day and work up to eight hours, the maximum wearing time, over the course of several weeks, but I had them and now could finally ditch the glasses! Unfortunately all it took was one evening at a smoky concert soon after and near the end of the show I blinked my eyes and both my contacts shot out into the crowd were gone forever. I didn’t even bother to look for them. I thought, “Another great idea, terrible execution.”

Today’s contact lenses have come a long way. They are inexpensive, take virtually no time to get accustomed to and when properly fitted if not for your excellent vision you won’t notice you’re wearing them. The contacts I currently wear can be left in the eye for thirty days without removing them once thus eliminating the need for disinfectant and all the other paraphernalia long associated with contact lenses. Today the most basic contact lens can be worn for a week without removing and are available to fit virtually everyone. Whether you’re nearsighted, farsighted, astigmatic or require bifocals there is a lens available to fit your prescription. I haven’t bought a new pair of eyeglasses in ten years and have to say I don’t miss the flat world invention at all.

* Ontology is a study of conceptions of reality and the nature of being.