Want to Get Contacts? Steps to Take

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Contact lenses allow you to enjoy accurate, clear vision without eyeglasses. Contacts are preferred by many people. If you’ve never had contact lenses before, you may have questions about how to get contacts. Your eye doctor in Champaign, IL, can help. At Champaign Eye Professionals, we help patients who want contact lenses.

Get a Checkup

The journey to getting contact lenses starts with an eye checkup to ensure your eyes are healthy. If it’s been a long time since you had a comprehensive eye exam, your eye doctor may recommend this type of eye exam.

If you’ve had a comprehensive eye exam recently, your eye doctor may recommend a less comprehensive vision exam. During the vision exam, the eye doctor will see if your prescription has changed.

Make a Contact Lens Exam

In addition to the vision exam, your eye doctor will also recommend getting a contact lens exam. During the contact lens exam, your eye doctor will check the curvature of your eye, how many tears your eyes produce, and other factors. This will help your eye doctor determine whether you are a good candidate for contact lenses, and if so, what kind.

Return for a Fitting

After the contact lens exam, the eye doctor will order contacts. When they come into the office, you’ll return for a fitting. During the fitting, the eye doctor will show you how to put your contacts on and take them off. The eye doctor will also tell you how to take care of your contacts.

Are you interested in contact lenses in Champaign, IL? Call Champaign Eye Professionals today to make an appointment.

What’s the Safest Contact Brand?

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If you’re looking for a contact lens in Champaign, IL, your first thought is likely about safety. After all, these objects will touch your eyes day in and day out, so it’s important that they enhance and protect your eyesight rather than scratch your cornea or otherwise impair your ability to see. We’ll look at which brands stand out on the market and how to select one.

The Best Contact Lenses on the Market

One particular type of contact lens is safer than the rest. The most well-known brands have a good track record for wearers, but their performance is affected by various factors. Before you settle on one over the other, here are a few tips:

  • Doctor-prescribed: You can purchase contact lenses from overseas, costume shops, etc. However, if you’re buying a lens that wasn’t either made by a reputable manufacturer or fit for your eye, you can end up causing damage to your eye health or vision.
  • Regular cleaning and replacement: If you’re purchasing multi-day contacts, you must follow a relatively strict cleaning and care regimen. Storage and replacement have much to do with your contact lenses’ safety, particularly if you wear them for more than two weeks.
  • Checkups: Your eyes can change over time, so regular checkups with an eye doctor in Champaign, IL, ensure that your contact lenses are still the best choice for you.

Get Fitted for Contact Lenses in Champaign

Contact lenses are an excellent choice for many people who want to see clearly without glasses. If you want to learn more about the best brand, the staff at Champaign Eye Professionals can give you all the recommendations you need to find a lens that protects your eyes.

 

New To Wearing Contacts? How to Take Care of Them

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Contact lenses are completely different from eyeglasses, which require their own maintenance regimen. When you get your first pair of contact lenses, your eye doctor in Champaign, IL, will tell you what you need to know about caring for them. It’s important to follow all the care instructions provided to ensure that your contacts last as long as possible. Here’s what you need to know.

Tips for Taking Care of Your Contacts

The most important thing you can do to care for your contacts is to follow all instructions from your eye doctor when you are first given contacts. Following your eye doctor’s instructions will help you avoid damaging your contacts or getting infections in your eye. Other tips include:

  • Always wash your hands with soap and water, then dry them before touching your contact lenses.
  • Never use homemade saline for your contacts.
  • Never reuse your contact lens solution.
  • To clean your contact lenses, rub your contacts with newly cleaned fingers, then rinse the lenses with a sterile contact lens cleaning solution. Soak the lenses in water.
  • Never store your contacts in tap water.
  • Never put contacts in your mouth to wet them.

Store your contacts in a clean contact lens case. Rinse the case with sterile contact lens solution, then leave it to dry in the open air. Replace your contact lens case every three months.

Have Questions? Ask Your Eye Doctor

Your eye doctor at Champaign Eye Professionals can tell you what you need to know about caring for your contact lenses in Champaign, IL. If you have questions, call us today to make an appointment or to speak to one of our professionals.

Woman with soft lens on her fingertip

Are Colored Contacts Safe?

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Colored contacts change the color of your eyes, giving your face an all-new look. Changing your eye color can be exciting, but it’s important to do it safely. Are colored contacts safe? This is a common question that patients ask. Here’s what you need to know before you purchase colored contact lenses.

Prescription-Grade Contacts Are Safe

Prescription grade contact lenses, including colored contacts, are safe to wear. In order to obtain a prescription for colored contacts, you must see an eye doctor. During the visit, your eye doctor will give you a contact lens exam.

In the exam, the eye doctor will determine whether your eyes make enough tears. Your eye doctor will also measure the shape and size of the eye. After the exam, your eye doctor will be able to order a custom-fitted set of contact lenses for your eyes.

Contacts Sold Without a Prescription Are Not Safe

Some online companies sell costume-grade colored contacts, but these products are available to anyone without a prescription. They are not fitted for the wearer. Because these contacts were made available without a prescription, they can cause damage including eye injury and blindness.

I Bought a Pair of Colored Contacts Without a Prescription. What Should I Do?

Wearing colored contacts can be harmful for your eyes. Don’t wear contacts that you obtained through a costume business. Instead, contact an eye doctor to obtain the contacts that are made for your eyes.

Want Colored Contacts? Get a Prescription From An Eye Doctor

If you would like colored contacts for your eyes, see an eye doctor. The eye professionals at Champaign Eye Professionals help patients like you get prescription grade contacts all the time. As your eye doctor, we’re happy to help you get colored contacts in Champaign, IL. Call today to make an appointment for a vision exam and contact lens examination.

 

Can a Contact Lens Get Stuck Behind the Eye?

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Many contact lens wearers have experienced the discomfort of a lens slipping out of place or even temporarily disappearing. This often prompts the question, of whether a contact lens can get stuck behind the eye. Although it may sometimes feel like a contact lens is behind your eye, this is actually impossible. Here’s why.

The Protective Barrier Inside Your Eye

The human eye is designed to protect it from injury. It has a protective barrier called the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva forms a pouch-like structure called the conjunctival sac, which helps to ensure that foreign objects do not slip behind the eye. This is a physical barrier that prevents objects, such as contact lenses, from getting stuck behind the eye. So, while it may feel like your contact lens has disappeared into the abyss, rest assured that it cannot venture too far from its intended position.

Minimizing Contact Lens Displacement

If you wear contact lenses in Champaign, IL, there are things you can do to minimize contact lens displacement. Number one is to make sure that your contact lenses are clean and fresh. Older lenses lose their shape and are more likely to fall out of position atop the eye. Number two is to ensure that your eyes have adequate lubrication. Give your eyes a break from lenses at the end of the day and switch to prescription eyeglasses. Finally, make sure your contact lenses are the correct prescription. Regular prescription updates help to ensure that the physical contours of the contact lens are correct for your eyes.

A contact lens cannot get stuck behind the eye due to the protective barrier formed by the conjunctiva. However, if you ever face a contact lens mishap, remember to stay calm and consult with your optometrist in Champaign, IL if needed. Contact us today to learn more.

3 Things Your Teen Should Know About Taking Care of Contacts

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There’s a lot to know about taking care of contact lenses. Lenses need to be cleaned regularly and used correctly, or the wearer could get an eye infection. If your teen has just recently obtained contact lenses from the eye doctor in Champaign, IL, then these tips can help your teen take care of their lenses and avoid eye injury.

1. Clean carefully

Keeping contact lenses clean is the key to preventing infections and other problems. Some tips to give your teen include:

  • Wash your hands and dry them before handling contacts.
  • Rub your contacts with clean fingers and rinse them in cleaning solution.
  • Do not use tap water, sterile water or saliva to clean your contacts.
  • Use new solution every time you clean your contacts.
  • Never use a homemade saline solution.
  • Don’t allow the tip of the bottle of contact lens solution to touch anything. Keep the bottle closed.

2. Care for your contact case

Your teen’s contact lens case needs to be kept just as clean as the lenses themselves. Tell your teen that the case must be rinsed with a sterile solution and then left open for the case to dry. Replace the contact lens case every few months.

3. Follow instructions

When your teen first gets their contact lenses, they should be given instructions from the eye doctor. They need to follow these instructions carefully. Make a note of those instructions and make sure your child is following those instructions as they should.

Teach Your Teen About Wearing Contacts

Teach your teenager about wearing contact lenses in Champaign IL. Bring your teen in to discuss their new contacts if they have questions. Call Champaign Eye Professionals to learn more.

Can Contact Lenses Get Lost Behind the Eye?

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If you are worried about getting contact lenses in Champaign, IL, you may be concerned about someday having your lens get lost behind your eye. There are stories of people who supposedly lost their contact behind their eye, never to find it again. Of course, these stories are false. It’s most likely that the contact lens simply fell to the floor or down the drain, and the wearer thought it was lost in the eye.

It’s Physically Impossible to Lose a Contact Lens Behind the Eye

Because of the way the eye is constructed, it’s a physical impossibility for a contact lens to get lost behind the eye. It helps to have a little understanding of the anatomy of the eye.

The part of the eye that consists of your eyelids and eyelashes is called the conjunctiva. The upper is called the palbebral conjunctiva and the lower is called the bulbar conjunctiva. From the outside, it appears as if you could slide something—like a contact lens—between the eyelid and the eyeball. But what you can’t see is that the conjunctiva folds back onto the eye, creating a kind of pocket. So even if something slides into that pocket, it can never go any farther than the fold. This is why, when you get something in your eye such as an eyelash, you can usually do an eye wash and get it to come out of the eye.

Now you know that your contact lens can never get lost behind the eye. Isn’t it time that you seriously consider getting contact lenses? They are a great alternative to wearing eyeglasses. Your eye doctor in Champaign, IL can fit you with comfortable contact lenses in just one appointment. Contact us today to book your contact lens eye exam.