Color Contacts


Appearances can be altered through hairstyles, make-up applications, and even contact lenses. Colored contacts can be utilized to highlight and enhance existing eye color or to change color altogether. They may even have designs or symbols on them that then appear on the eye surface.

Types of Color Contact Lenses

Color contact lenses are placed of the cornea of the eye and are classified as either rigid (the older lenses known as “hard” are now considered a sub category of rigid lenses) or soft. Both rigid and soft lenses are gas permeable, meaning oxygen can pass through the material of the lens and reach the ocular surface. Rigid lenses will require a period of adjustment and adaptation for comfort, where soft lenses are generally made of materials that are immediately comfortable.

Color contacts may be functional as well as fashionable. Corrective lenses, which enhance vision, can also be cosmetic lenses that are a different color or even have a design on them. Some designs or colors, however, may slightly impede or alter vision through blurring or discoloration due to hue and design.

Color contacts can be daily or extended wear determined by construct material. Daily contacts must be removed each night, while extended wear contacts may be worn for days or even weeks at a time. Some contacts may even be worn for a period of days and then discarded, only to be replaces by another disposable pair for a few more days.

Inserting and Removing Color Contact Lenses

Contact lenses are inserted by wetting them with saline and placing them directly in the eye on top of the cornea. Be sure to plug the drain before inserting or removing lenses to avoid losing a dropped contact down the drain.

To remove a soft lens, wash and dry hands thoroughly, look up, then touch the lens with an index finger and slide it to the outside corner of the eye where it will bunch a bit and be easily plucked from the eye between the thumb and index finger.

To remove rigid color contact lenses, wash and dry the hands completely, and place the index finger on the outer corner of the eye. Place the other hand beneath the eye to catch the lens and then gently pull the index finger toward the ear and blink. The rigid lens should pop right out into the waiting hand. If the lens should slide across the ocular surface, gently push the lens back onto the cornea and repeat the process.

Neither rigid nor soft lenses can ever be lost in an eye. If a lens cannot be immediately located in the eye, simply try looking in different directions and it will reveal itself.

Cleaning Color Contact Lenses

Saline solutions and cleaners are instrumental in color contact care. There are daily cleaners and weekly enzymatic cleaners as well as overnight storage saline solution. Cleaning and care instructions should be strictly adhered to in order to avoid infections, and be sure to check with an eye doctor for any additional care and cleaning colored lenses may require.

By Barbara Poelle           


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