Contact Lens Types

Being an independent optician means we can source any lens available in the UK, and there are a lot! This means there are hundreds of different types and thousands of different fittings. During your appointments we will explain your choices and our recommendations.

There are basically two types of lenses. While the majority of patients choose soft lenses due to the speed and ease of adaptation, rigid gas permeable lenses could still be the right choice for you.

Here is a brief summary of your options:

Soft lenses

Very comfortable to wear, they are described by how often they’re replaced and when they are worn. Replacement is often daily, two-weekly or monthly, and most are worn only during the day and removed at night.

Advances in materials have led to a new generation of soft lenses called silicone hydrogels that allow much more oxygen to pass through to the eye, making them a healthier choice.

Rigid Gas Permeable lenses (RGPs)
Smaller than soft lenses and less flexible, these lenses take a little longer to get used to, before becoming comfortable to wear. Being more durable than soft lenses they are usually replaced every six or twelve months.

Like soft lenses the latest materials enable more oxygen to pass through then the previous hard lenses, and with an almost unlimited range of fittings we can find that these lenses correct vision better than soft lenses in some cases.

What happens if I have Astigmatism?
Astigmatism can be corrected with both soft lenses and RGPs. The soft lenses that correct astigmatism are called ‘toric’ lenses, and with recent advances the range of prescriptions available has never been greater.


What happens if I have separate corrections for distance and reading?

No problem? We typically have three choices:

(1)    Correct distance with contact lenses and reading with glasses.

(2)    Correct distance with one eye and reading with the other (yes, it does work!).

(3)    Use either bifocal or multifocal contact lenses.

And there’s more! 
Coloured contact lenses, lenses for overnight wear, lenses that protect your eyes from UV radiation and lenses suited to certain medical conditions.

Please call us today if you would like to find out which contact lens is right for you.