Contact Lenses
Patient Education Information
The patient and/or parent or guardian, should be trained in lens care, maintenance, and handling. Doctors and clinicians will stress the importance of proper hygiene, compliance with contact lens care techniques, and appropriate follow-up care under professional supervision. Clinicians will teach you to always perform the following steps in the care & handling of a contact lens:
- Always wash your hands before touching your eyes and/or handling your contacts.
- Clean each contact lens with a disinfecting solution, according to the manufacturer’s recommended instructions. Rubbing & rinsing the surface of the lens may enhance cleaning even for “no rub” solutions. Saline solution & rewetting drops are not designed to disinfect lenses.
- Store and disinfect contacts in fresh appropriate solution for an appropriate time interval in a clean case until re-insertion. Store lenses in the proper lens storage case and replace the case at a minimum of every three months. Clean the case after each use, and keep it open and dry between cleanings.
- Re-clean & re-soak contacts periodically. If for any reason contact lens wear has been interrupted, repeat these procedures before reinserting your contacts.
- Never sleep in your contact lenses. Falling asleep with your contacts in will not allow your eyes to breathe at all and they can become much more susceptible to a bacterial infection or can become dry, red and/or irritated. Berkshire Eye Center does not condone or recommend ever sleeping with your contacts in for any length of time.
Order Your Contact Lenses Online
We fit all types of contact lenses, satisfaction guaranteed, including:
- Daily Wear
- Weekly/Monthly Disposable
- Toric Lenses (for Astigmatism)
- Gas Permeable
- Multi-focal Lenses (Bifocal lenses for both distance AND reading)
- Colored Contacts (in prescription and non-prescription)
We carry contact lens brands including:
- Ciba
- Air Optix
- Night and Day Aqua
- Focus Dailies
- Acuvue
- Acuvue Oasys
- Acuvue Advance
- Coopervision
- Proclear 1-Day
- Bausch and Lomb
- Pure Vision
- Toric (Astigmatism) lenses
- 1-Day Moist
- Multi-focal (Bifocal) lenses and many more
Berkshire Eye Center Contact Lens Policy
Berkshire Eye Center complies with all federal and state regulations for contact lens prescriptions. Contact lens prescriptions expire exactly 1 year from the date the prescription was issued. Berkshire Eye Center’s policy prohibits us from filling ANY contact lens prescription after the expiration date unless authorized by the physician through written consent.
In addition, contact lenses should be free from defects (scratches, chips, or tears). Prior to initial dispensing of contact lenses, the clinician will verify that all parameters of the lenses are as ordered and that they meet established (ANSI) standards. The clinician or staff will also confirm the performance of the contact lenses on the patient’s eyes, optically, mechanically, and physiologically.
Follow-up visits are important for proper management of patients with contact lenses. Planned evaluation should occur during the first 1-2 weeks of contact lens wear, to allow any necessary mechanical or optical refinements in lens prescription(s), to monitor adaptation, minimize ocular complications, and to reinforce appropriate contact lens care.
All return follow up visits for the patient’s initial fitting will be included in the initial fitting fee for up to 6 months from the patient’s first original visit. After 6 months or more have passed from the date of the original fitting appointment, a new fitting appointment and REFIT fee will be required.
All contact lens prescriptions are good for 12 months from the date the prescription was first issued.
Refills vs. Refits
Contacts lens prescriptions have 3 main components: The brand, the size, and the power. The power is related to but not always the same as the patient’s eyeglass prescription. If a patient needs their current contact lens prescription renewed, with no changes in brand or size, and little to no change in power, this is termed a “refill.” The refill fee is not included in the coverage/fee for the eye exam.
When there is a change in brand or size, a “refit” is required. This may be due to medical or comfort issues, a patient’s desire to try something newer, or a discontinuance by the manufacturer of the current contact lens. Before a new prescription can be issued on a refit, a follow up appointment is needed to check that the new lens is fitting and working properly. Follow up visit are included in the initial fee(s).
The Importance of Cleaning and Caring for your Contacts
When you first learn how to wear contacts you will also be trained by a licensed optician as to how to clean your contacts on a daily basis. Cleaning your lenses is very important for the longevity of the contact lenses and also for your own health safety. If you don’t clean your lenses every day then bacteria can build up on the lenses causing an infection and the lenses themselves may dry out more quickly and not last as long as they normally would with the proper care for their daily use. In addition, it can make your eyes become more dry, red and irritated. If your eyes ever feel this way, please remove your contacts right away and call the doctor immediately to set up an appointment. Please also see Eye Conditions.
You always want to clean your lenses every time you take them out of your eye. You will soak them in a disinfecting solution as instructed by the optician and/ or doctor. It is extremely important and essential to your eye health that you remove your contact lenses EVERY night BEFORE you go to sleep. You do not ever want to sleep in your contacts. If you ever do fall asleep with your contacts in by mistake, when you wake up take them out and clean them right away and give your eyes a few hours without them in. When wearing contacts it creates a barrier from the eye and the air that is let in when you blink. When a person sleeps, their eyes breathe even less because their eyelids are closed. By falling asleep with contacts in, it does not allow the eyes to breathe at all and they can become more susceptible to a bacterial infection or can become dry, red and/or irritated. By taking your contacts out each night when you sleep, you will be less likely to experience these issues. If you ever have any other additional questions, please know you can always contact our office directly for further instruction.
