I just got back from the optometrist. I think this is the first time in my life that my perscription hasn't changed from year to year. Good sign. I also inquired about contact lenses so I can look even more dashing. Well, really they're for sports. I want to start playing baseball again.
I've never worn contacts before so I was peppering the good doc with stupid questions. He was like "Dude, you have freakin astigmatism. Contacts are gonna be a pain in the ass."
Astigmatism, to put rather simply, is caused by irregular curvature of the cornea. That means that light gets refracted in strange ways depending on angle of incidence. One can correct this easily with eye glasses. With contacts, it's a bit more difficult. I need two planes of focus (one horizontal and one vertical, I'm assuming). A single focus contact lense just won't cut it.
Now, they do make contacts that correct for astigmatism, but they have to be put in your eye in a certain orientation to line up the planes that need compensation (where as a single focus lense orientation doesn't matter). That your cornea's exact curvature is unique, and that the lense will interact with your eyelid causing the contact to torque only exacerbates the problem. There are ways to compensate, however. like weighting a portion of the lense so gravity keeps it locked in a ceratin orientation. So I'll go in for a fitting and see how it feels.
Posted by G at February 11, 2004 01:45 PM | TrackBacktoric lenses go in like any other lenses. they will slide in to the optimal position. i've never looked at 'which' direction i put any of these lenses in, ever. it's absolutely no different than regular lenses. but i think that the older you are, the less likely you'll be able to adapt to contact lenses. but it all depends on how sensitvie your eyes are.
Posted by: melis at February 14, 2004 06:50 AM