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Take another look at extended wear contacts
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It’s the middle of a typical hectic day. Your next patient is a 32-year-old long-standing daily wearer of disposable contact lenses. He generally wears his contact lenses every day, all day. He’s not experiencing any difficulties. He simply needs an examination prior to ordering more contact lenses. Everything seems to be in order. Then he asks: “Do you think I can wear those contact lenses you sleep in?” Hmmm.
How would you handle this request? Assuming there are no overt contraindications to extended wear, it becomes a bit interesting. Sure, there’s one easy way out. We can reflect on extended wear’s past – the increased risk of papillary conjunctivitis, acute red eye and microbial keratitis when compared with daily wear. The noteworthy dropout rate. The disappointment. When viewed in this light it’s very easy to dismiss extended wear — and your patient’s request. But is this a fair and accurate approach?
Technologies change
The reality is that technologies change, and extended wear is no exception. True, we’ve witnessed our share of trials and tribulations with extended wear. But we’ve also learned a great deal along the way.
We now have a much better idea of which patients are viable candidates and which are not. We now better understand the importance of proper lens care and wearing schedule compliance. We now know how to better diagnose and manage certain complications. We now recognize the significant benefit of disposability. And we now have silicone hydrogel contact lenses.
Please, don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to portray silicone hydrogel contact lenses as the panacea for every patient’s contact lens woes. However, they do usher in a new era in contact lens technology and represent a significant breakthrough in increased oxygen transmission, protein resistance and on-eye mobility.
Certainly, no other contact lens category has been more closely scrutinized than that of silicone hydrogels. And their performance has been quite impressive, particularly as it relates to extended wear. For these reasons, much like LASIK has changed the way clinicians think about refractive surgery, silicone hydrogel contact lenses should change the way we think about extended wear.
More convenient alternative
Why would someone want to sleep with contact lenses — or undergo refractive surgery, for that matter? Because they view these alternatives as a more convenient, efficient and effective way of seeing better. Period. Indeed, one need look no further than the popularity of disposable lenses, “no rub” solutions and refractive surgery to witness the allure of convenience. While we might gravitate towards more time-honored, traditional and familiar options, it’s clear that our patients want alternatives.
In the final analysis, isn’t that what it’s all about? If you have not already done so, take another look at extended wear. You might find that your patients aren’t the only ones who like what they see.