The upcoming holiday season will inspire many people to experiment with their appearance for a fun and festive celebration. One of the most popular and convenient ways to accomplish this is by using colored contacts!
Colored contacts are no different than traditional soft contacts, but they include pigment in the lens to help mask the eye’s natural color, making them a fun and functional way to change your look.
The pigment in these lenses doesn’t obstruct your vision because the center of the lens where it covers the pupil is clear.
All About Colored Contacts
Contact lenses are thin, curved lenses placed directly on the eye’s surface to correct issues like nearsightedness and provide clear, sharp vision.
Unlike glasses, contact lenses move with the eye, providing a natural field of view with less visual distortion. Improvements in contact lenses have made them increasingly comfortable, soft, and breathable, offering long-term wear.
Colored contact lenses are no different from traditional ones, except that they come with the added benefit of changing the appearance of your eyes. They accomplish this by using pigment to mimic the natural look of an iris, allowing you to experiment with different eye colors.
Types of Colored Contacts
Colored contacts come in several varieties, each with varying pigment intensity. Understanding the differences can help you choose the right type for your ocular needs and preferences:
- Visibility Tints: These don’t affect eye color but make it easier to see the lens during application and removal. Visibility tints are mainly for those who need a little extra help handling their lenses.
- Enhancement Lenses: These lenses are translucent and slightly darker than visibility tints. They enhance the eye’s natural color, providing a subtle yet noticeable change.
- Opaque Lenses: These are designed to completely change your eye color. Whether you want to go from brown to blue or green to gray, opaque tints provide the most significant transformation.
Seeing Through Colors
A common concern for those looking to experiment with colored contacts is whether the color of the lens affects vision.
The pigment in colored contacts is incorporated into the lens material, so it doesn’t touch your eyes directly. The center of the lens, where it aligns with your pupil, also doesn’t have pigment, allowing you to see without any colorful visual obstruction.
These design features are consistent across different colored contacts. Meaning that, even while you’re wearing the most vibrant and opaque lenses, you’ll experience the same visual clarity as traditional lenses.
However, it’s important to consider that some minor visual disturbances may occur.
Our pupils constantly adjust in size to regulate light entering the eyes. In bright light, our pupils constrict to limit the amount of light entering the eyes, and they expand in dim or low-light conditions, to allow more light into the eyes.
Therefore, when wearing colored contacts in dim or low-light conditions, your pupil may expand, and potentially overlap with the colored portion of the lens.
Are Colored Contacts Safe for Daily Wear?
Despite the additional pigment in the lens, colored contacts are safe for daily wear, provided they are well-fitted and maintained.
Safety concerns commonly arise due to improper handling and care of contact lenses, such as wearing them beyond the recommended duration, not cleaning them properly, or buying from unverified online sources.
Because of their fashion-forward nature, colored contacts are sometimes sold without valid prescriptions, usually from costume or beauty supply stores. This is where the risk lies.
These lenses may not follow safety and quality standards and can lead to discomfort because of incorrect sizing and subpar materials. In some cases, these lenses may even cause severe complications.
Choosing to purchase contacts from your trusted optometrist allows you to support a small business while safeguarding your vision, comfort, and ocular health.
Proper Contact Lens Care
Following proper contact lens wear and care is key to maintaining good vision and eye health, regardless of whether you’re wearing prescription, nonprescription, colored, or traditional lenses.
This helps avoid unnecessary irritation, discomfort, and complications associated with poor contact lens wear. Basic rules for contact lens care include:
- Wash and Dry Your Hands: Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before handling your contacts to prevent transferring any germs or debris to the lenses.
- Clean Lenses Properly: Use the recommended contact lens solution to clean, rinse, and store your lenses. Avoid using tap water or saliva, as these can contain harmful bacteria. Replace your saline solution every 90 days.
- Follow Wear Time Recommendations: Adhere to the prescribed wearing schedule advised by your optometrist. Never wear your lenses longer than recommended.
- Replace Lenses as Instructed: Stick to the replacement schedule for your specific lens, whether daily, bi-weekly, or monthly.
- Avoid Sleeping in Contacts: Unless they’re designed for overnight wear, remove your lenses before sleeping to reduce the risk of infections and discomfort.
- Avoid Sharing Lenses: Never share your colored contacts with others, as this can lead to eye infections or transmission of bacteria.
- Proper Handling and Storage: Store your lenses in a clean and sterile contact lens case, replacing the case every three months to avoid contamination.
- Regular Eye Exams: Visit your optometrist for an annual contact lens exam and fitting to confirm that your lenses still fill properly and that your eyes are healthy enough to continue wearing contacts.
- Be Aware of Signs of Eye Problems: Contact your optometrist immediately if you experience redness, irritation, or discomfort, as these could be signs of an eye issue, and remove your contact lenses if possible.
Schedule a Visit
Colored contact lenses offer a fantastic way to express yourself and enhance your appearance while maintaining clear vision.
Connect with our team in Rancho Bernardo to schedule a fitting for your colored contacts.
