- So today we're talking about the best contact lenses
for astigmatism, and I'm talking ever.
If that interests you, stick around.
(gentle music)
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So today we're talking about what is
the best daily contact lens for astigmatism,
but before we get to it, I'm Joel Hayden, if we haven't met,
welcome to the EyeCare and Wellness Channel.
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So I thought that before we got into
what the best contact lens for astigmatism is, we would do
four things: we would talk about what is astigmatism,
and then I'm going to go over the three biggest reasons
why people fall out of wearing contacts for astigmatisms
or what their problem is, and then we'll get
to the best one out there.
When a patient asks me what is astigmatism, this is
usually the answer I give them: we're talking
about the cornea, which is the clear dome that rides
over the pupil and the iris and is exactly
where we put the contact lens.
If I had a basketball in my hand and I cut it
in half this way, threw the back out, maintained its shape,
and the radius in every direction would be the same,
a cornea shaped like that will have no astigmatism.
Now, let's take that half a basketball and let's squeeze
it this way so that it's flatter here and yet steeper here.
That difference between the flattest part
and the steepest part, which is invariably 90 degrees apart,
is the amount of astigmatism.
And it can be this way, it can be this, it can be this way,
it can be this way, and it can be a little bit
or it can be a lot.
So that's what the astigmatism is.
It's having two focal points on the cornea,
and I could go into this more, and if I ever do
a video on what is astigmatism, I'll stick it up there
so you can see it.
So that's what astigmatism is.
Now, let's get into the reasons why people have
trouble wearing contact lenses for astigmatism.
So let's say again that your cornea was shaped
like that half basketball squeezed this way
and it's flatter here and steeper here
Well if you can imagine that contact lens needs to be
thinner here and thicker here.
And that is going to cause some comfort issues,
especially the more astigmatism that you have.
The greater the difference, the thicker those edges will be
at the top and bottom in that case.
The number one reason why people have trouble
with astigmatic contact lenses is comfort.
Number two is the stability of the lens.
So many times you have the contact lens in and you blink,
and it rocks a little bit, and that's blur, clear, blur,
and it's annoying, and I've had that.
It doesn't happen as much when the contacts are
oriented horizontal or vertical,
but like this, like this, and like this.
And many manufacturers won't even make a lens
at a 50 degree angle because they know
it's going to be unstable.
So they'll make us go to either 60 or 30,
and then that doesn't work well either,
and those poor people really can't wear astigmatic contacts
from that manufacturer.
Then, so that's the second reason is that intermittent blur.
The third reason is more of a constant blur
because it's very difficult many times to match
up a manufacture's specs for a astigmatic contact lens
exactly with the prescription, the eyeglass prescription,
the spectacle prescription, that the patient has.
So that can make it tough, too.
So those are some of the hurdles we always have
when we're trying to figure out
what the best contact lens is.
Speaking of best contact lens, let's get to it.
Here's the top 10 list in 2020
of the astigmatic contact lenses, and these are
all lenses I fit, I've been comfortable with,
but again, all those problems can still occur
and the biggest one is comfort.
I will reach on a patient with a pretty normal prescription
every time for the most comfortable lens.
And I've gotta tell you, out of those,
there, they're not great, many of them aren't.
So if you had watched my video in the last month
on the best daily disposable contacts, you would have seen
me say that the best daily disposable contacts were
the Alcon Daily Total1, which is so good
because their technology allows them to make a lens
that doesn't have as high a water content on the inside
as it does near the eye, where it can almost get to 100%.
But the Daily Total1 doesn't come
in a lens for astigmatism.
They do a multifocal, they do a sphere,
but they don't do the astigmatic lens.
Well a few years ago, Alcon came out
with another lens called a Precision1.
It was like the Daily Total1's little brother.
It had a lot of the technology from the Daily Total1 in it,
and people have really liked it for a day-to-day lens
for my patients, it's a go to, they love it.
If their in most of these lenses and I put them
into the Precision1, which is the one I'm speaking of,
people love it without having to spend the money
for the Daily Total1.
Well here it is: the new Precision1 for astigmatism.
This thing is going to change the industry.
It is so comfortable.
And it is so comfortable, I've worn it.
I have astigmatism in both eyes.
I find it to be very stable, but the comfort is amazing.
So I didn't want to give you just my thoughts on it.
I had my staff try it out, my staff who wears
astigmatic lenses, every one of them said
this is gonna be a game changer.
I hope this was helpful, I hope you liked what I had to say.
If I did, hit that like button, consider subscribing.
And until next time, take care.