The information below is intended as a supplement to the training and instruction you receive as part of a contact lens fitting program.

How to insert your lenses

You want comfort, safety, and performance from your eye wear. Whether you are into social, recreation, or extreme competition, the right glasses and lenses can make your favourite activity even more enjoyable

Welcome to Myvisioncalgary and our Sporting EyeCare Team. Our Doctors are avid sports enthusiasts.We are excited to share our insights in the sports we are involved in, and the products we use and endorse for your best vision performance.

Skiing and Snowboarding

All of our doctors enjoy one of these winter pass-times and agree that a good pair of goggles can greatly aid in performance and eye protection. Whether you’re racing down the slopes, or skiing through the trees, goggles provide protection from UV, wind and flying snow. A lens colour like amber enhances ground contours on cloudy days. Some goggles are designed to wear your glasses underneath, such as our Antifog SALICE models. Another option is contact lenses, which can even work for people with complex prescriptions. Anti-fog SALICE also offers the option of inserting prescription lenses behind the sport goggles.

As baby boomers reach middle age, the question looms large: How to avoid either of two telltale signs of aging -- bifocals or reading glasses?

Boomers have three contact lens options for correcting the close-up blurred vision that typically begins in middle age; a condition referred to as presbyopia. (One of the three options still calls for reading glasses, but they can be used discreetly.)

The three options are:

• Bifocal contact lenses
• Monovision
• Contact lenses for distance vision with supplementary reading glasses slipped over the contacts for close work
  

Below is a brief comparison of Soft and Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) contact lenses. A thorough eye examination and a better understanding of your specific vision requirements will help determine the best options for you.

By Type of Vision Correction Required
Contact lenses may be identified by the type of refractive error they are designed to correct.

• Spherical contact lenses for nearsightedness (myopia) and farsightedness (hypermetropia);
• Toric contact lenses for astigmatism;
• Bifocal lenses for presbyopia, the loss of ability to focus on reading or close-up activities.
  

As an alternative to special bifocal contact lenses, many practitioners use a system called monovision where one eye is fitted with a distance lens and the other with a reading lens. Approximately two-thirds of patients adapt to this type of contact lens wear.

By Type of Tint
Contact lenses may be described as clear or tinted. Tints are used to make lenses more visible during handling, or for therapeutic or cosmetic reasons. Tints can enhance eye color, or change it altogether.

Three categories of tinted contact lenses are available.

• Cosmetic enhancement tints are translucent and are designed to enhance your natural eye color. They are best for light-colored eyes (blues, greens, light hazel or grays). When wearing these tints, the color of your eye is a blend of the lens tint and your natural eye color and iris pattern.
• Opaque or "cosmetic" tints change the color of your eyes whether they are dark or light. The pattern on the lens, which is colored, overlies the colored part of your eye, resulting in a color with a natural look.
• Visibility tints are very pale, colored just enough to make the contact lens visible while you are handling it. They usually have no effect on eye color.

By Wearing Period
Daily Wear: Lenses prescribed for daily wear are to be worn only during waking hours, usually up to a maximum of 18 hours. Daily wear lenses are removed at night and cleaned and disinfected after each removal.

Types of Contacts

Confused about contacts? Advances in contact lens technologies have created many options in addition to hard and soft lenses. Today, contact lenses are likely to be described in one or several of the following ways.

The vast majority of people requiring vision correction can wear contact lenses without any problems. New materials and lens care technologies have made today's contacts more comfortable, safer and easier to wear. Consider the questions and answers below to help assess whether they're a choice you should consider.

Ultra Violet (UV) light is harmful to more than just your skin. Certain eye conditions, such as macular degeneration, photokeratitis, and cataracts, are also caused by exposure to UV light.

Good vision is vital to reading well. And although vision may not be the only cause of reading difficulties, it is one that is sometimes overlooked.

Eight vision skills needed to read