General information about the use of contact lenses

Colour Contact Lenses

When a contact lens is enhanced with a solid and opaque tint, it is done so to change the natural colour of the eye. These coloured lenses come in a wide variety of hues such as hazel, green, blue, violet, amethyst and grey. These types of tints are usually best used by people who have light coloured eyes and want to make their eye colour more intense.

With advanced technology, contact lenses are made such that they look almost exactly like the natural eye colour. They even have a series of colourful dots and lines to mimic the actual pattern of an individual’s eye. The centre of the lens which is the part over your pupil is clear so you can see.

Opaque coloured tints also comprise of costume or theatrical lenses. These are used in the movies for special effects and can temporarily transform the wearer into an alien or jaguar, among others. Light-filtering tints are a more recent development. These contact lenses are designed for sports use as they are known to enhance certain colours by muting some other colours. It is easier to spot the ball and thus target it better. One type of light-filtering contact lens has been developed especially for golfers, so they can better distinguish between the various greens on a golf course. Others are being developed for trap-shooters, skiers and other sports persons.

While wearing contact lenses one has to be careful in remembering to clean and disinfect them properly. Also, it is important not to share contact lenses as that can transmit bacteria and other harmful eye conditions. Again, although, manufacturers take the maximum precautions to design lenses for individual sizes, there will be times, like blinking, when the coloured portion may slide off. Also, the size of your pupil is constantly changing to accommodate varying light conditions — so sometimes, like at night, your pupil may be larger than the clear centre of the lens. In such cases, vision may be slightly distorted.

Typically, under the law you need a prescription for contact lenses even if your lenses do not have any vision correction in them. These are called "plano" lenses and are used solely for cosmetic purposes.

Colored Contact Lenses