Changing your image: how to put on colored lenses

Why do eyes not quickly adapt to new contact optics?

People who have no experience wearing soft contact lenses (SCLs) inevitably experience discomfort at first. This is due to the sensitivity of the corneal receptors of the eyes, which they perceive contact optics as a foreign body. Discomfort at the initial stage is a natural protective reaction of the body.

Even the best lens still reduces the supply of oxygen to the eye, to which the cornea can react with redness and irritation. How quickly the eyes can get used to contact optics is influenced by the quality parameters of the SCL:

1. Material of manufacture. For example, silicone hydrogels are considered one of the most comfortable to wear.
2. Oxygen permeability (DKL, DKT or Dk/t). Level 15-40 is intended for daytime wear, above – you can sleep in such models).
3. The percentage of moisture content in the product, the ability to absorb liquid from the cornea (if it is more than 50%, then it will not be difficult to get used to).

How long does it take for your eyes to get used to lenses?

The eyes need to get oxygen, the cornea gets it directly from the air due to the lack of blood vessels, and the devices block the route of entry.

The adaptation period depends only on how quickly the eyes can adapt to such serious changes. When answering the question: how long does it take to get used to lenses, you should understand that the period is individual for everyone, but on average, the eyes get used to it after 10-15 days.

You can understand that you have fully adapted to lenses by three symptoms:

1. No eye redness.
2. Stable visual acuity.
3. The absence of a feeling of some other body in the eyes, that is, the eye and the product have become one.

What to do: SCL wearing schedule

Ophthalmologists advise starting with models designed for daily use (the used pair is thrown away and a new one is put on next time). This will allow your eyes to adjust faster. This type of contact optics is most suitable for sensitive eyes.

You gradually get used to wearing contact optics daily, fortnightly, or for a different period of time:

• Day 1 – 15 minutes.
• Day 2 – 30 minutes.
• 3rd day – 1 hour.
• Day 4 – 1.5 hours.
• By the 7th day – 3 hours.
• By the 14th day – 5 hours.
• By the end of the 3rd week - full adaptation, long-term wearing.

Getting your eyes accustomed to the lenses on a schedule significantly reduces the likelihood of discomfort when wearing. Not only the cornea adapts, but also the human brain. Psychologically, it is also important to get used to the innovation.

Lens wearing schedule for easy adaptation

Most often, the main period of adaptation to wearing optical products ends on the 10th day. The period may be shorter or longer, depending on the characteristics of the individual.

Following the wearing regimen recommended by ophthalmologists will help you get used to the lenses as quickly as possible.

On the first day, it is best to wear optical products for a maximum of 15 minutes. The next day you can increase this time to half an hour, on the third - up to an hour and on the fourth - up to an hour and a half.

By the end of the first week, it is permissible to wear lenses for three hours daily, and after 14 days - for five hours a day. After 21 days, in most cases the user can comfortably wear the lenses for about 10 hours.

This schedule ensures smooth adaptation of the visual organs to new conditions, allows you to minimize discomfort and easily adapt to wearing contact optics.

How long does it take to adapt to astigmatic products?

Astigmatism is a disease in which changes occur in the structure of the eye. It takes on a toric shape (ellipsoidal) in contrast to the normal eye's spherical shape (round). As a result, the image perceived by the eye becomes defocus. Astigmatism is often combined with myopia and farsightedness.

People with astigmatism can wear regular, spherical, SCL, or toric lenses. Only an ophthalmologist can prescribe astigmatic correction agents. With a small degree of astigmatism, traditional methods of correcting myopia/farsightedness are indicated.

Toric lenses begin to be worn for 30 minutes on the first day, each subsequent time increasing the wearing time by half an hour to an hour. So, after 2 weeks it is already possible to get used to the SCL.

Recommendations from ophthalmologists for the period of adaptation

• Start preparing your eyes for wearing lenses a week before you wear them for the first time. Every day, touch your eyeball with the pad of your finger, simulating contact with a foreign object. Soon your eyes will stop blinking when you try to install lenses.
• Under the supervision of an ophthalmologist, select optical products that are optimal for beginners. For example, soft silicone hydrogel Air Optix Aqua with a good level of gas permeability and excellent moisturizing parameters.
• Follow the adaptation schedule, even if you do not experience any discomfort.
• To reduce unpleasant symptoms during adaptation, you can select drops that replace natural tears, which will provide additional hydration of the mucous membrane and comfort of the eyes.

By following these recommendations, you will be able to adapt to the use of contact optics quite quickly.

MagazinLinz.ru team

How artificial tears can help

The solution, called artificial tears, is as close in composition as possible to the tear fluid secreted by the human eye. The product moisturizes the cornea (creates a tear film on its surface) and reduces the likelihood of discomfort caused by the lenses, thereby helping to get used to them faster.

The only contraindication to the use of artificial tears is individual intolerance, an allergic reaction. Before using the drops, it is important to read the instructions carefully. Not all solutions are approved for use with SCLs worn.

Quality of product and accessories

The first thing you should do is make sure that the lenses you purchase are of really high quality. Cheap Chinese products can not only interfere (even for experienced users), but also harm eye health. That is why the choice of supplier must be taken extremely seriously.

So, for example, one-day lenses (and not only) can be found on the Glazik website - https://glazik.com.ua. All the goods in this store are of really good quality.

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If the reader is confident that his lenses meet all standards, but still cannot get used to them, then the following information will be useful to him.

How long does adaptation take?

As you wear the SCL, the discomfort should decrease. To finally get used to contact optics, you need 2-3 weeks (it can be faster, everything is individual). If during the adaptation period there is visible redness of the eyes, the appearance of purulent and other discharge from the eye, the lenses should be immediately removed and seek help from an ophthalmologist.

Only the feeling of contact optics in the eye, like a foreign body, as well as the dryness of the cornea, are a signal that you need to get used to the lenses. Serious symptoms require medical examination, and ophthalmological diseases require treatment.

During the first weeks of wearing SCLs, you should not nap or sleep in them. After the adaptation period has passed, the lenses should be worn according to the terms specified by the manufacturer (change daily, once every 2 weeks, once a month, etc.)

Why do you need to get used to lenses?

At first glance, it seems that soft, elastic, almost weightless lenses should be absolutely comfortable for the eyes. Why may the user experience discomfort during the period of adaptation?

One reason is that the eyes react to the lenses as if they were a foreign body. Accordingly, they use all physiological mechanisms to eliminate the danger.

Another probable reason is that optical products, to one degree or another, block the access of oxygen to the cornea. As a result, eyes that are accustomed to a certain amount of oxygen react to its reduction with redness, irritation, discomfort and other symptoms.

Recommendations to speed up the addiction process as much as possible

In order to get used to the SCL faster, you need to follow the rules:

• Always touch your eyes and lenses with washed hands;
• before selecting SCLs, start “accustoming” the eyeball a couple of weeks, touching it, simulating contact with a foreign body (to make putting on lenses easier later);
• select lenses with the help of a doctor and then follow his recommendations;
• start, if possible, with daily replacement contact lenses;
• to relieve dry eye syndrome, use artificial tear drops;
• store SCLs in a clean, hermetically sealed container, use a special solution for lenses, and, if necessary, add moisturizing drops for lenses;
• do not use running water to store contact optics or rinse the container;
• At the first signs of ophthalmic diseases (severe burning, redness, pain, discharge from the eye), consult a doctor.

“Artificial tear” preparations
To maintain eye health, you should always use the recommendations of ophthalmologists when selecting vision correction products or treating eye diseases.

How to speed up addiction?

Requirements that will help you get used to contact lenses faster:

To shorten the adaptation period, it is important to use the drug Artificial tear.

• Selection of a model of ophthalmic products with the help of a specialist, based on the results of a comprehensive vision diagnosis.
• Application diagram. Each brand of means that corrects visual function has its own requirements for the duration of their use during the adaptation period. For example, the wearing schedule for astigmatic contact lenses is different from the schedule for progressive products used by patients with farsightedness. The principle of the schedules is the same - a gradual extension of the time of wearing vision correction products in the following days. It is important to follow the instructions for use of a specific model and the recommendations of an ophthalmologist.
• Artificial tear. It relieves the dryness of the visual organs that accompanies wearing vision correcting products. Usually the drug is instilled 3 times a day, 2 drops. During the first uses of artificial tears, a slight burning sensation may occur.
• Choice of solution. If there are signs of an allergy to a special solution that cares for lenses, you should consult a specialist about the correct selection of liquid.
• Cleaning of lenses and the container in which they are stored, including its timely replacement, must be performed with the necessary regularity. Do not use tap water for cleaning.

When using monovisual optical products, when the device in one eye can improve visual function at a far distance, and the other at close, the adaptation period is longer and is about 2 weeks.

How does the eye get used to the lenses?

In the adaptation process, it is customary to distinguish two periods - initial and stable. At the initial stage, the patient needs to overcome the stress reaction discussed above. This stage is sometimes quite difficult, so during it patients often refuse contact optics forever. But if the initial period passes favorably, the next stable period begins.

During this stage, the cornea of ​​the eye gradually adapts to new conditions. In order to make this process more comfortable, ophthalmologists recommend using eye drops.