Specialty Contact Lenses | Eye Doctor in Houston, TX
Vision disorders can be difficult to live with, so it’s important to get the help you need from an eye care specialist to improve your vision. By wearing contact lenses and eyeglasses, you can easily fix these vision disorders and begin seeing clearly.
If you choose to use contact lenses, a specialty contact lens might be necessary for harder to treat vision disorders. At Ella Eyes in Houston, TX, our optometry team is dedicated to helping you find the right contact lenses and correct your vision to improve your quality of life.
Who Needs Specialty Contact Lenses?
When you have an eye disorder, we can treat your vision using eyeglasses or contact lenses. Contact lenses are small, flexible covers that go over the eyes and correct vision disorders related to:
- Astigmatism, which is a misshapen cornea or lens.
- Hyperopia, also known as farsightedness.
- Myopia, also known as nearsightedness.
- Presbyopia, which is farsightedness due to degeneration associated with older age.
- Keratoconus, which is abnormal growths over the eyes.
If you have any of these conditions, your eye doctor might recommend using contact lenses that fit directly over the eye and correct vision immediately. These contact lenses do take some getting used to, but are a good option for people who are responsible enough to care for their contacts and remove them when necessary.
What Is a Specialty Contact Lens?
Most traditional contact lenses, known as soft contact lenses, are made of soft, hydrogel-based or silicon-based materials. They cover the iris, or colored part of the eye, and correct the shape of the cornea and lens.
Other specialty lenses include:
- GP lenses, known as gas-permeable lenses or rigid gas permeable lenses. These allow your eye to get more oxygen and produce sharper vision while also helpful in preventing dry eyes. However, they need to be worn more often and have a high replacement cost.
- Hybrid lenses, which are helpful for certain forms of astigmatism, and combine the best of gas permeable lenses with soft contact lenses. They still provide the same sharp vision with the added benefit of soft materials.
- Scleral lenses, which are used in cases where the eye is misshapen because of certain conditions, like keratoconus. These lenses are designed to cover the entire white of the eye in addition to the iris.
How Our Eye Doctor in Houston, TX, Can Help
At Ella Eyes, Dr. Diana Ngo and Dr. Hang T. Nguyen will determine if specialty contact lenses are the right fit for you after a comprehensive eye exam. If you’re in the Houston, TX, area and want to explore treatment options, give us a call and schedule an optometry exam today at (713) 722-9066!
