Rigid Gas Permeable

 

Dear Contact Lens Wearer:

I am pleased to relay to you a great advancement in contact lens material. This material is a firm substance that allows oxygen to pass through it. The lenses are called Firm Gas Permeable. This permeable quality is very important for the following reasons:

 

1. Oxygen is needed by the cornea to maintain its health.

 

2. This factor is far more important in Colorado than in many other areas, as we have less oxygen to start with.

 

3. For long term contact lens wear (10-20-40 years), this material will be substantially better for your eyes than the prior material.

 

4. They eliminate or minimize blurred vision when switching to glasses for part time use.

 

5. They increase comfort for more hours.

 

6. They decrease fogging later in the day.

 

7. They decrease itching and burning.

 

8. They are a great answer for people fit with contacts at a lower altitude who move to Colorado.

 

 

SWITCHING FROM FIRM TO GAS-PERMEABLE CONTACT LENSES

 

Firm Gas Permeable lenses can be treated in much the same way as any firm lenses. You may alter your routine by soaking your lenses in wetting solution, because this lens does absorb fluids, and it is best to have it soak in the wetting solution. In the morning all you have to do is open the case and insert the lenses.

 

Some patients with different tear consistency may find the lenses too wet with this technique, and may want to try just soaking their lenses in Lens Plus (a soft-lens aerosol saline solution) and inserting directly from the case in the morning.

 

If you lose one or both of your new Firm Gas Permeable Lenses and start back with your old firm lenses, build up slowly (two hours on/two hours off, repeatedly). Each day, cut your time with them off by a half-hour until full wearing time is achieved. This re-adaptation is similar to that of a deep sea diver who descends and ascends slowly each time he dives, so that his body can adapt. No matter how many times he has dived – and no matter how many years you have used your contact lenses – this re-adaptation is necessary.

 

Good contact-lens care is an ongoing, continual process. It is best that Dr. Baron checks you every year. Never go longer than one year without a professional evaluation.