Some people who are not too familiar with contact lens still wondering what is toric lenses or what is meant by toric lenses?
What is Toric Contact Lenses?
Astigmatism or toric contact lenses is one of the more common types of refractive errors, or structural problems with your cornea or lens. It leads to light hitting your retina in a way that does not create a clear image of the world.
If you have astigmatism, either your cornea or lens will be shaped in a more oblong fashion, like a football, rather than shaped like a circle. This can cause general blurry vision. If your sight is not corrected well, you can suffer from eye strain, discomfort, or headaches.
One type of lens that can improve mild and moderate corneal astigmatism is a toric lens. These contact lenses are soft contacts, which are more gas permeable than hard contacts. For years, hard contacts have been the preferred treatment for astigmatism to help reshape the eye, but soft contacts allow for better long-term eye health. Because of this, toric contact lenses can be a good option.
How is an astigmatism corrected?
Most forms of astigmatism are easily treatable. Many people opt for eyeglasses, which are made with a special cylindrical lens prescription that offsets the astigmatism.
Most people who choose glasses to correct an astigmatism only need a single-vision lens that provides clear vision at all distances. People who are past the age of 40 are more likely to require a bifocal or progressive vision lens. Contact lenses are another excellent option for many people with a moderate amount of astigmatism. In fact, some people with an astigmatism do better with contact lenses than with eyeglasses, because the contacts may provide clear vision and an unobstructed, wider range of view than glasses.
Standard soft contact lenses aren’t effective for correcting an astigmatism, but rigid gas-permeable contact lenses can be a viable option for people with a mild astigmatism.
Rigid gas-permeable contact lenses maintain their regular shape when they’re over your cornea, allowing them to make up for the cornea’s irregular shape and make your vision sharper.
Who Is Best Suited for Toric Contact Lenses?
Some people have astigmatism in addition to other refractive errors like nearsightedness or farsightedness. People who treat one refractive error may wear soft contacts that do not treat their astigmatism. If you want to wear contact lenses and have astigmatism, toric lenses are a great option to correct corneal shape while also correcting other refractive errors.
Toric contact lenses use specific meridians to stay in place and improve your visual acuity.idians are measured from your pupil out, like a radius in a circle. These meridians are measured to specific powers to correct your astigmatism.
There are also design elements like slightly weighted or thickened edges to help keep these soft lenses in place. Usually, these weights are at the 6 o’clock and 12 o’clock axes.
There are also different brands of toric contact lenses, which offer different fits. If you try one brand and it does not situate properly in your eye, another brand is likely to suit your needs.
What are the benefits of toric contact lenses?
Toric contact lenses are often the best choice for contact lens wearers with an astigmatism, because they’re specifically designed to address the problem. The special shape of a toric lens creates different refractive, or focusing, powers that can help correct either a corneal or a lenticular astigmatism.
Toric contacts have a thicker zone that keeps them from rotating when they’re in your eyes. It also helps you orient the lenses the same way every time, so you can count on consistent visual acuity.
Because toric contact lenses must be placed on your eye in a specific way, achieving an exact fit is extremely important. Toric lenses have a middle axis, much like the equator that circles the middle of the earth, to keep your line of vision clear. If your lenses don’t fit well, they’ll do little to improve your vision. Toric lenses are available as soft or hard lenses, and come in every wear schedule, ranging from dailies to disposables and beyond.
Work With Your Optometrist for the Best Toric Contact Lens Fit
For a long time, contact lenses were not the preferred way to improve visual acuity in people with astigmatism. However, as technology progresses, toric soft contact lenses are a great option for people with mild to moderate corneal astigmatism. If you are interested in these types of lenses, work with your optometrist to have toric lenses fitted properly to your eyes. Be aware that this can take some extra time or extra visits, but it is well worth it.
Toric contact lenses also cost a little more, but the price difference can be worthwhile for clear vision without glasses. If you know what to expect beforehand, you can then assess if the pros of toric lenses are worth the potential cons. Let’s make an appointment with us at Malaya Optical Optometrists, we are ready to guide you about toric lenses!