Are hard lenses superior to soft? The advantages of soft lenses.
Soft lenses now account for 85% of all lens sales in the United States and 74% of all sales worldwide. Several factors account for their popularity with patients, practitioners, and lens manufacturers. For patients, soft lenses offer easier adaptation, greater comfort, better appearance, less nighttime flare and spectacle blur, more flexibility in wearing schedule, and less chance of lens loss than polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) or rigid gas-permeable lenses. Soft lenses also provide the options of disposability and of iris color change. Practitioners prefer soft lenses because they are less likely than hard lenses to cause epithelial staining, corneal molding, corneal edema, corneal desensitivity, or lens overwear syndrome. Furthermore, soft lenses present fewer fitting problems, satisfy therapeutic needs, are easier to stock for replacement purposes, and generally require no in-office modifications. Practitioners also welcome the benefits of disposable lenses: a simple lens care regimen, a decreased potential for deposit buildup, and adaptability to many different lifestyles. Manufacturers like the fact that hydrogels can be stock molded, and that their fitting is easier to teach.
American Academy of Optometry, Honolulu, Hawaii.
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