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Contact lenses are medical devices that are prescribed for cosmetic and/or therapeutic reasons. A prerequisite to contact lens fitting is a comprehensive eye examination including a thorough evaluation of the front of the eye and the ocular surface. During a contact lens fitting, the doctor can provide diagnostic lenses, lens care kits, individual instructions for wear and care and the necessary follow-up visits to ensure proper fit, optimal vision, and good eye health.
New UEC Contact Lens Patients: if available, please bring your current contact lenses or your old prescription/boxes to your first appointment.
Current UEC Contact lens wearers: please bring your contact lenses, contact lens case, contact lens solutions, and any special equipment you were prescribed to all appointments.
Cornea & Contact Lens Services
At this time, there is no scientific evidence that wearing contact lenses increases the risk of contracting COVID-19. Contact lens wear is safe as long as you follow good contact lens hygiene.
If you would like to speak with one of our contact lens doctors or schedule a telehealth visit, call 212-938-4001. To re-order your contact lenses, visit our UEC Contact Lens Web Store.
Contact lenses are medical devices. Improper use may endanger your eyes. Your eyes may change with time and contact lenses that were initially fitting properly may no longer be appropriate. Visit your optometrist periodically to ensure correct fitting of your lenses. Remember to discontinue lens wear and call your doctor if you experience any signs of complications including pain, redness, irritation or loss of vision.
Made of rigid flexible plastics that allow oxygen to pass through to the eyes. They provide for the highest optical quality allowing for optimal vision on even irregular corneal surfaces. They are typically replaced annually.
Soft contact lenses are made of more flexible plastic that allows oxygen to pass. They can be disposed of on a daily, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly or even yearly basis depending on what your doctor thinks is best for your eyes.
These lenses with a gas permeable center and surrounding soft skirt. They provide a similar comfort to a soft lens with the visual quality of a gas permeable lens. They are typically replaced biannually.
Large diameter GP lenses that completely covers the cornea and rest on the sclera (the white part of the eye). Like smaller gas permeable lenses, they can correct for corneal irregularities providing great vision for patients with corneal complications. Additionally, scleral lenses can be used as a treatment therapy for severe ocular surface disease. The lenses are typically replaced annually.
Gas permeable contact lenses that temporarily reshape the cornea and reduce nearsightedness overnight. They reshape the cornea while you sleep, to provide clear vision when the lenses are removed upon waking. This technology offers freedom from glasses or contact lenses during the day.
There are a number of treatment options, including contact lenses, which may be able to slow down the progression of myopia. Orthokeratology lenses and some soft multifocal contact lenses have been shown to slow the progression of nearsightedness. Those choosing soft multifocal lenses will be fit with lenses for daytime use whereas those choosing orthokeratology will sleep in lenses overnight. Although research shows myopia progression control with both modalities, UEC offers MiSight daily disposable contact lenses, FDA approved treatment for myopia control.
Colored contact lenses are available as visibility tints, enhancement tints and opaque color tints. A visibility tint is usually a light blue or green tint added to a lens to aid in lens visibility during insertion and removal. An enhancement tint is a solid, but translucent (see-through) tint that is a little darker than a visibility tint and is meant to enhance the existing color of your eyes. Opaque colors are more solid and can change your eye color completely. Additionally, custom designed soft prosthetic lenses can be used for medical indications such as severe light sensitivity.
There are two main ways to correct presbyopia with contact lenses – monovision or multifocal lenses. Contact lenses for presbyopia may be available as soft, GP, scleral or hybrid lenses. Some of these designs can also correct for astigmatism.
With these lenses, the reading, intermediate and distance portions of the prescription are incorporated in the contact lens. They are available as either aspheric (similar to no-line bifocals), or translating (lined bifocals).
Monovision is a treatment in which one eye is fit with a lens for seeing things at a distance and the other eye is fit for seeing close up. Many people are able to adapt, however, some people experience feelings of blurred vision, imbalance, have headaches or eyestrain.
Reading glasses can be worn, as needed, over your contact lenses to provide additional magnification.
Custom prosthetic eyes are used in patients who have undergone evisceration or enucleation. Scleral cover shells are designed to be worn over an injured or disfigured eye. Both options provide improved cosmesis due to their custom hand painted exterior and ability to increase the opening of a patient’s eyelids. With proper handling and care, these prosthetic devices can last several years
