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Extended Wear Contact Lenses

Heming Scott & Donald offer a number of different options for extended wear contact lenses. The contact lenses that are right for you will depend on a number of factors, including the condition of your eyes and the kind of lens you are going to find most comfortable and convenient.

Soft, hydrophilic (water 'loving' or water attracting) lenses are the most common contact lenses worn. They are flexible and tend to be immediately comfortable on insertion.

Rigid lenses are able to replace the natural shape of the cornea with a new refracting surface. This means that a regular (spherical), rigid contact lens can provide a good level of vision in people who have astigmatism or distorted corneal shapes, as with keratoconus.

Soft silicone lenses have recently become available that have both high oxygen permeability, and the comfort and clinical performance of the conventional hydrogels. These lenses have their surface treated to make it hydrophilic.

Extended and continuous wear lenses

More commonly prescribed are contact lenses that are disposed of on a two-week or monthly basis. Extended wear (EW) lenses are designed to be worn overnight, usually for six or more consecutive nights. The development of newer materials, such as silicone hydrogels, allow for much longer wear periods-of up to 30 consecutive nights. These are known as continuous wear (CW) lenses.

EW and CW lenses may be worn for such long periods due to their oxygen permeability (typically five to six times greater than conventional soft lenses), allowing oxygen, which it requires to remain healthy, to reach the eye from the air.

Extended wear lenses are discarded after the specified length of time. Some hydrophilic, soft contact lenses are designed to be replaced every 12 months.