ARTICLES
Contact Lenses a Landmark of Our Time
The old saying goes, “the best things come in small packages”. Whilst this is sometimes a phrase used to explain away intriguingly tiny Christmas presents, or pint-sized talents on the sports field or on stage, it also applies to a few modern inventions which we easily take for granted for making our lives more manageable. Innocuous little things they may seem, but contact lenses are sight-correctives which have an illustrious past, part of five centuries of scientific experimentation and discovery about light and the eye.
Indeed, the first recorded idea of anything approaching the contact lens is attributed to none other than Leonardo da Vinci, who was intrigued about the potentials of altering corneal power by submerging the eye in a bowl of water (although this derived not from a desire for corrective vision, but an experiment centred on understanding the mechanic adjustments and accommodations the eye could make). Even the man behind philosophy’s most famous phrase, Cogito ergo sum [“I think therefore I am”] stuck his oar in in 1636. Following his introduction of glass material into the equation, the modern contact lens took shape, as a glass-blown cumbersome lens.
The tiny, flexible yet sturdy, contraptions we now use today might seem a million miles away from the experiments of Renaissance scientists. Yet their popularity and abundance is thanks only to the endeavours of these people so many centuries ago. Now that technology and mass production has allowed the visions industry to offer a flexible range of contact lenses, from continuous wear lenses to daily replacements, the limited sight correction offered by glasses has been improved upon immeasurably.
But as always, it is up to you whether you prefer to wear glasses or lenses: many prefer simply having spectacles to sit on their nose, rather than placing lenses directly over the eye. But if you do feel that the comfort and wider range of sight offered by lenses are for you, do not be duped into spending a fortune after your first eye appointment. Whilst most surgeries will sell you products direct, they tend to be at a much higher asking price. The secret is to go online, where you can save money on lenses, cleaning product and delivery. Try Visions Direct next time you run out of any equipment, be it solution, dailies, or coloured contact lenses: you can find your most reliable brands with half the fuss and half the cost.
