Although people who are blind can easily live very fulfilled lives, there is no doubt that their condition puts them at a disadvantage in every respect – including the reality that those of us who can see get great pleasure from those little sights that warm our hearts like sunsets, children playing, beautiful views and so on. Seeing is such an integral part of our lives. From the moment we are born, until the moment we die, what we see helps us to determine how we view the world.

• There are those who are fortunate enough to enjoy 20/20 vision without the use of glasses for most of their lives.
• In other cases, children from as young as three-years-old begin wearing eyeglasses to correct an eye condition, or simply to compensate for the lack of distance vision.

In almost all cases, one’s eyes worsen, to some degree, with age.

For everyone, the deterioration is a very individual process and not everyone will have the same signs, symptoms, or treatment. Sadly, aging often brings eye diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration. However, if you are careful about going for annual eye examinations, and you know what symptoms are worrisome, then your eye doctor will pick up on the condition in time to treat it effectively. It’s important to remember is that if your eye doctor gives you eye medication – whether in the form of pills, drops or otherwise – always take them as directed, in order to help in the fight to retain your eyesight. The medications are important and often vital for your vision health!

When the loss of 20/20 vision comes outside of an eye condition, patients will find themselves facing any number of optical inconveniences such as

− the need for more light to be able to see;

− difficulty in discerning between certain colors;

− discrepancies between how they see from far and how they see up close – this includes the distance sight and the focusing ability; as well as the ability to adjust to glare and darkness.

Natural solutions to the problem of aging eyes are to stop smoking and eat healthy foods – especially those that are known to be good for your sight. Additionally, controlling your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, diabetes, or other health problems, and being active will help slow down the aging process with your vision. As with anybody else, you should ensure to wear sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat while in the sun; as well as safety eye wear when necessary, such as goggles while swimming, and so on.

Other treatment includes the buying eyeglasses that answer to your optical needs. After a thorough eye examination, your doctor may adapt your eyeglasses prescription You may be required to get new prescription glasses or even multifocal glasses, take this in and get new glasses as soon as you can to minimize your own optical discomfort and start seeing properly. Nothing should ever stop you from being able to enjoy the sights around you – especially not the aging process!

It’s important to understand the difference of keratoconus and astigmatism when you’re looking for the proper eye wear. If a soft contact lens does not correct a vision problem, then the culprit may be astigmatism. Astigmatism is a defect in the eye or in a lens that is caused by a deviation from spherical curvature. The defect prevents light rays from meeting at a common focus, which results in distortion. If you feel you may have an astigmatism, then the rigid gas permeable (RGP) lens might be the better option for you.

Keratoconus is an eye condition in which a normally round, dome-shaped cornea can thin overtime causing a cone-like bulge in its place. If you feel you may have keratoconus, then the first step to resolve the issue would be to have a mapping of the corneal surface done. A corneal topography located the irregular areas on the front of the eye which prevent a lens from fitting properly.

What is a Hard Contact Lens?

A soft contact lens only lies on the cornea of the eye and does not fit over the irregular areas like a rigid gas permeable lens. If you have keratoconus, the rigid lens is essential because it provides the perfect dome shape for your football-shaped eye. As a result, light is able to focus better on the back of the eye giving the wearer superior vision as opposed to a soft contact lens.

Some patients are turned away from a rigid gas permeable lens because they’re worried about placing a rigid/hard lens in the eye for fear that it will hurt or scratch. At first, a rigid lens is more noticeable in the eye so it takes a little bit more time to adjust. However, rigid gas permeable lenses are breathable, safe, and more deposit-resistant than a soft lens.

Benefits of a Rigid Gas Permeable Lens (RGP)

A rigid gas permeable contact lens is ideal for patients who have two different eye prescriptions, which is a condition called anisometropia. The condition causes one eye to receive a different image size than the other. RGP lenses cut down the distance so the image size is more alike between the eyes.

Combining Soft and Hard Lenses for Optimal Vision

For improved comfort with an RGP for keratoconus, a soft contact lens is sometimes worn underneath it. This way the patient feels the soft lens against their eye and still has the visual benefits of a rigid lens. This technique if referred to as “piggybacking”. Another type of lens used is a hybrid where the RGP has a soft contact lens edge or “skirt” attached to it. This allows for better comfort and sharp vision. A third technique is using a scleral lens, which is a larger RGP that covers the cornea and white part of the eye or sclera. The large lens size may seem impossible to wear, but because the edge is away from the eyelid margins, it is not felt with every blink.