Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
By Dr. Steven Bovio
Contact lenses have advanced to give patients not only freedom from glasses but in some cases even better vision than glasses. Contact lenses can now correct most astigmatisms, correct presbyopia with multifocal contacts, offer myopic control, improve contrast sensitivity for sports vision, and treat dry eyes and keratoconus with scleral contact lenses.
Ocular health always comes first when fitting contact lenses. Most contact lens fits in our practice today are done with daily disposable contact lenses. This has improved comfort and health significantly. patients Who previously had trouble with dry eyes have improved comfort and vision when switching to daily wear contact lenses.
Often, our new patients tell us they cannot wear contacts because they were told they have astigmatism or need a bifocal correction. Both these are now correctable with contact lenes. When fit correctly astigmatic patients can see great with contact lenses. In addition, they do not have the peripheral distortion they get with glasses. This is especially helpful for sports.
Some of our most appreciative patients are ones that we fit with multifocal contact lenses. Often, they are new to our practice, and they wear distance only contact lenses and rely on reading glasses to see up close. The multifocal contact lenses allow them to see far and near without the readers. In addition, you do not have to hold your reading material in a certain position to read when wearing the multifocal contact lenses. This is a great advantage over progressive glasses. Mono vision fitting with contact lenses has been the option used frequently in the past when patients need bifocals. However, most patients prefer multifocal contacts over mono-vison due to the improved binocularity. There are several multifocal contact lens brands available. But it’s not one size fits all. Finding the right lens based on the patients’ parameters is the key to success.
A lot of eye care is now focusing on myopic control. In summary, there is a trend of increased occurrence of myopia, nearsightedness, throughout the world. This has been linked to the increased demand of near vision tasks like computers and cell phones usage. Cooper Vison spent years studying this trend and has developed a lens to reduce near vison strain on young patients who wear contacts. The lens is called MySight I day and it is the only FDA approved product proven to slow myopia progression in children. We like this lens and use it to relieve eye strain in young adults as well. Another lens for patients that has shown to slow down myopia progression is orthokeratology lenses by Paragon Vision. These lenses reshape the eye and relieve the need for contacts or glasses during the day.
Athletes today are looking for any type of advantage they can get. Altius has come out with a contact lens that is tinted to mitigate visual noise with the goal of allowing the athlete to perform with maximal comfort, clarity, and quickness.
Scleral contact lenses are unique in that they rest on the scleral and not the cornea. This allows us to fit a much wider range of corrections. In addition, these lenses are great for patients with dry eyes. By keeping a reservoir of saline solution over the cornea these lenses can ensure the corneas stays lubricated throughout the day. Patients with keratoconus and irregular corneas can see better with scleral lenses than any other means.
Rigid gas permeable contact lenses are also a good option for some patients. They are good for high corrections and irregular corneas. Deciding between scleral and rigid gas permeable is done based on each individual patient’s parameters. The corneal topography measurement is a must. Once the examination is completed, the lens is then custom made. The improved vision for these patients can be life changing.
Contact lenses can make us feel younger and see better. They can free us from the hassle of reading glasses, correct astigmatism, improve sports Vison, offer myopic control, correct keratoconus, and help with dry eyes in some cases. We hope this was helpful. You can learn more about these options by visiting our website.
Dr. Steven Bovio grew up in Bradenton, Florida. He received his Doctor of Optometry degree from Nova Southeastern University in Miami in 1996. He had internships With Bascom palmer Eye Institute, St. Luke’s Eye Institute, and Bay pines VA Hospital.
In 1999, Dr. Bovio founded the Gulf Coast Eye Center in Sarasota. It was always his goal to practice in beautiful Sarasota. Dr. Bovio treats patients of all ages. Dr. Bovio has implemented many of the latest advancements to help in areas of need such as: Ocular Surface Disease, Dry Eye Syndrome, Early Detection and Treatment of Retinal Disease, Emergency Eye Care, Specialty Contact Lenses, and low vision.
Dr. Steve Bovio. Dr. Cameron Jones and the entire team at Gulf Coast Eye Center are committed to friendly and compassionate excellent care. They give back by through educated, Lions club patient care, and Optometry Giving Sight.
Make an appointment today!
(941) 921-2020
www.gulfcoasteyecenter.com
2940 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34239
