If you don’t have 20/20 vision, you’re probably glad you live in a time when it’s easy to get the corrective lenses you need. And we’ve come a long way from the fragile eyeglass frames of old. Contact lenses can help you see perfectly clearly no matter what you’re doing, whether you’re playing sports or heading out on a rainy day.
Whether you’re a longtime contacts wearer or just curious how contact lenses work, our team here at Benjamin Optical wants to help you understand them. Beyond offering convenient appointments for contact lenses at our offices throughout New York City and easy contacts reordering, we also want to help explain these in-eye devices.
To understand how contacts work, it’s first helpful to take a look at your vision in general.
Why some people need contact lenses or glasses
Contact lenses and eyeglasses correct a specific type of vision problem called refractive errors. These eye issues make it challenging for your eye to focus light the way it should, resulting in blurry vision. The most common types of refractive errors include:
- Farsightedness (hyperopia): Trouble seeing close up
- Nearsightedness (myopia): Trouble seeing far away
- Astigmatism: Trouble seeing clearly caused by corneal irregularity
- Presbyopia: Trouble seeing close up as you get older
Here at Benjamin Optical, we can help you find the right contact lenses for your specific needs. If you have myopia with astigmatism, for example, we can offer contact lenses that correct both issues at the same time.
How contact lenses work
Contact lenses work by sitting directly on your eye, adjusting the refraction of light as it enters your eye.
Let’s take nearsightedness as an example. You have trouble seeing far away because your eye focuses light in front of your retina instead of directly onto it, which would enable you to see clearly. Once you place the contact lens on your eye, it adjusts the rays of light as they enter your eyes so they angle further back into your eye, right onto your retina.
Because the contact lenses sit directly on your eye, they move with your eye as you look around a space. That allows the optic zone — or the part of your field of vision that the contact lens corrects — to travel with you. That means that, unlike eyeglasses, contact lenses don’t leave you with any uncorrected vision at your periphery.
Contact lenses also get protection from your eyelids, which means they don’t get foggy or wet like glasses and they won’t cause problems when you’re moving, even if you’re engaging in a high-octane activity.
Still, though, contact lenses do require regular care. Some people prefer to have both contact lenses and glasses so they can choose the best type of corrective eyewear for the day ahead.
Whether you need contact lenses, eyeglasses, or both, we’re here to help. Make an appointment so we can recommend the best option(s) for you. Call any of our offices for an appointment or book one online today.