Contact Lens Exam

If you wear contact lenses or would like to wear contact lenses, then you will need a contact lens exam.  

We will evaluate your eye health and vision and ask about your lifestyle and hobbies to ensure we recommend the right contact lens for your needs. There are many exciting options now for contact lens wearers to accommodate astigmatism, presbyopia, and more.  

During a contact lens exam, your optometrist at EyeQ Family Optical will evaluate the size and shape of your eye to find a lens that fits your eye properly. Your optometrist will also check for any eye health issues that could affect how comfortable it will be for you to wear contact lenses.    

Specifically, a contact lens exam will include:    

• Measuring your cornea to determine the curvature and size of your contact lens. Astigmatism may require you to wear a toric lens (a special type of lens that counteracts flaws on the surface).   
• Measuring the size of your pupils to find contacts that fit best on your eyes.   
• Evaluating your eye for any signs or symptoms of dry eye.   

Once these tests are complete, your optometrist will likely recommend a specific type of contact lens based on your eye health and vision needs.   

Why do I need a separate exam for contact lenses?

If you plan to wear contact lenses, you’ll need a separate eye exam because contact lenses are classified as medical devices, which means you need a contact lens prescription to wear them.  If you wear contact lenses or plan to wear contact lenses, let us know when you schedule an appointment for your comprehensive eye exam, so we can perform the contact lens exam during your appointment.    

Contact Lenses

Types of contact lenses include soft contact lenses, rigid gas permeable contact lenses, and other specialized contact lenses such as scleral lenses. There are also different wear schedules, from daily use to weekly to bi-weekly to monthly. Your optometrist will prescribe the contact lens type and wear schedule best suited for you.   

Hard-to-fit Contact Lenses   

If you’ve ever been told you can’t wear contact lenses due to unique visual needs or challenges, you may be able to wear specialty contact lenses!  Regular contact lenses fit the surface of the eye. However, if you have a cornea that is abnormally shaped or suffer from an eye condition like dry eye or keratoconus, regular contacts will not work well. Fortunately, there are specialty contact lenses that improve eyesight for patients with these issues.   

• Scleral Contact Lenses. Regular contact lenses fit the surface of the eye. However, if you have a cornea that is abnormally shaped or suffer from an eye condition like dry eye or keratoconus, regular contacts may not be suitable for you.  Fortunately, there are special contact lenses called scleral contact lenses which provide sharp, clear vision and are comfortable for patients with conditions such as dry eye or keratoconus to wear. If you’ve ever been told you can’t wear contact lenses due to unique visual needs or challenges or you have tried wearing gas permeable contact lenses but couldn’t tolerate wearing them, you may be able to wear scleral lenses.  Scleral contact lenses are larger than conventional contact lenses. Scleral contacts are large-diameter gas permeable contact lenses specially designed to vault over the entire corneal surface and rest on the sclera, otherwise known as the “white” of the eye. In doing so, scleral lenses functionally replace the irregular cornea with a perfectly smooth optical surface to correct vision problems caused by keratoconus and other corneal irregularities.  Scleral lenses can be a solution to address issues that may make wearing conventional or regular contact lenses impossible. They can also be customized as bifocal lenses to accommodate your visual needs due to presbyopia.    

• Gas Permeable Contact Lenses. When patients suffer from dry eyes, wearing conventional contact lenses can feel uncomfortable. Gas permeable contact lenses can be an effective way to lessen the symptoms so that the patient can comfortably wear contact lenses. These contacts are made from a material that helps enough oxygen pass through them to keep the eyes comfortable and can reduce the risk of corneal abnormalities over extended periods of use.   

Cosmetic Lenses

Cosmetic contact lenses are used to enhance or alter the color of the eye. This may be done for personal style reasons or for theatrical purposes. Cosmetic contacts can be prescribed in versions that both correct vision and do not correct vision. A prescription from an optometrist is required for both, as they are considered medical devices.  

Contact Lens Exam Follow-Up Visit   

Your optometrist at EyeQ Family Optical may ask you to schedule an additional appointment so that we can assess whether your contact lenses are a good fit and to see if your eyes are properly adjusting to the contact lenses.    

If you are interested in the convenience and freedom that comes with wearing contact lenses, reach out to us today to learn more about how we can help you find the perfect fit.