The case against rigid contact lenses.
Rigid lens fitting has been an integral part of contact lens practice for decades. However, rigid lens fitting has been constantly declining since soft lenses were introduced in the 1970s to whereby, world wide, rigid lenses constitute less than 10% of new contact lens fits. It seems that many practitioners correctly or incorrectly believe that rigid lenses only need to be prescribed in specialized or extenuating circumstances. This discussion article examines the international decline in rigid lens fitting and seeks to explain the cause of this trend. I conclude that rigid lenses will be virtually obsolete by the year 2010.
Efron
Nathan
N
Department of Optometry and Neuroscience, UMIST, Manchester, United Kingdom. n.efron@umist.ac.uk
D003261:Contact Lenses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D017755:Prosthesis Fitting / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000628:therapy*