How to put in astigmatism contacts (toric)?

If you have astigmatism, by now you know that traditional soft lenses can’t effectively correct your vision because they tend to move around on your corneas. Due to the corneas’ irregular shape, people who have astigmatism need to wear a specific kind of lens that is able to correctly refract light onto their retinas and that won’t swirl around every time they blink, causing them to move out of focus. Because of this, they aren’t able to use traditional spherical soft contact lenses.

Astigmatic patients must wear a specific type of lens, toric contact lenses for astigmatism, in order to correct their vision. However, now all of your favorite brands of contact lens manufacturers also produce contact lenses for astigmatism, just look at the line of contact lenses by Acuvue Oasys for astigmatism or Biofinity Toric lenses. Ask your OD what brands he or she recommends for contact lenses astigmatism at your next fitting.

---

Why are toric contact lenses different?

Toric lenses are made of soft silicone hydrogel, or in some cases other gas permeable materials, but what differentiates toric contact lenses from other soft contact lenses is their shape. Toric lenses are designed to refract light in a specific direction, to compensate for the irregular shape of the corneas. Because the light needs to be refracted in a specific direction, it’s important that the lenses don’t move excessively each time the wearer blinks, as traditional soft contact lenses do. Their particular designs, such as displacing ore weight at the bottom of the lenses, allows them to remain fixed in place on the surface of the eye in order to properly correct the astigmatism.

How to put in astigmatism contact lenses step by step

These lenses are designed differently than regular soft contact lenses in order to prevent the lenses from moving in and out of focus as you wear them, and because of this key difference, those with astigmatism must also learn how to put in astigmatism contacts:

• As always, the first step to putting on your contact lenses is to make sure that your hands are clean and the lenses have been properly sanitized.
• Check the lens to make sure that it is in the correct orientation and the edges of the lens are not flaring out. You’ll be able to tell if the lens is on correctly when you don’t feel any irritation while wearing them.
• Holding your eyelids openwith the index finger and thumb of your non-dominant hand, look straight ahead and place the lens over your eye. try to blink your eyes a few times to help the lens set into position correctly.
• Give the lenses a few minutes to naturally settle into the correct orientation on your eyes. You can help the process along by blinking a few times to help them set into position.