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Why Do My Contact Lenses Have Lines On Them?

Home|Archives forContacts

You know when you take your contacts out, either to clean them because something got under them or because it’s the end of the day? You may have noticed little lines in the contacts. If your contact was bothering you, it’d be natural to assume that these lines are scratches and that you should toss out your old pair and trade them in for something new. However, it’s perfectly normal for contact lenses to have lines on them!

This probably isn’t something that your eye doctor told you about, unless you specifically asked about it or this is a new type of lens for you. And truthfully, it’s not something that affects how your contacts work for you either. 

Here, we’ll go into why your contacts have lines on them. We’ll also touch on how to tell whether or not your contacts have been scratched, so that you can better distinguish between normal lines and concerning scratches. Let’s get into it!

What Are Those Lines On My Contact Lenses?

contact lenses have lines on them

These are called scribe marks. They’re used with toric contact lenses, which are specially made in order to correct astigmatism (which is when either the cornea of your eye or the lens in it isn’t smooth and with an equal curve, causing blurry vision). 

Do All Contacts Have Lines On Them?

No, they don’t! Toric contact lenses are different from standard contact lenses. They’re specially designed to treat astigmatism. So, if you read the title of this blog and were confused because your contacts don’t have lines on them, this is probably because you have standard contact lenses. 

What Do The Lines On My Contact Lenses Do?

Now that we’ve gone over why your toric contact lenses have lines on them, let’s touch on what exactly the purpose of these lines is. Basically, because toric lenses are meant to sit a specific way on your eye, they are weighted and shaped in a way where they can sit on your eye as they should and where it’s obvious to tell whether or not they are inside out before you put them in. 

Enter in scribe marks. These don’t serve a purpose to you and they don’t affect your vision. They’re not something that you’ll notice while you’re wearing your contact lenses. What these do is show your eye doctor whether or not your contact lenses are oriented properly on your eyes. 

wear contacts backup glasses need glasses

How Do You Know If Your Contacts Have Lines Or Are Scratched?

If you don’t know what scribe marks are and you haven’t really paid too much attention to them, it’s only natural that you might assume that the scribe marks are scratches. 

Now, usually if you have toric contact lenses, this is something that your eye doctor should have informed you about. But if you started wearing contacts when you were young and your parents did all the talking to your eye doctor, you may not have been paying attention when they were talking about it or you may not have retained the information. As such, this may be news to you. 

It could also be the case that even if you know you have toric contact lenses, you don’t know about the scribe marks or what they do. It’s a commonly asked question for a reason!

How To Tell If They Are Scribe Marks

Scribe marks are very specific, uniform lines on your contacts. They can be oriented in multiple different ways, depending on your needs. While you can see them when your contacts are out, they don’t affect your vision. They don’t irritate your eyes. There’s no need to worry about them hurting your eyes or anything, as their purpose is to help eye doctors ensure that your contacts are situated correctly.

How To Tell If They Are Scratched

Scratches, on the other hand, are not uniform or specific. You may notice tears on the edges or cracks along the dome of the lens. In some cases, you won’t be able to feel if your contact is scratched, while in others, it could irritate your eyes. If your contact is scratched, throw it away and replace it with a new one. Scratched contact lenses cannot be fixed and can cause infection and corneal abrasions if you continue to wear them.

contact lenses safe millcreek ut

So, if the lines look intentional and too clean to be what you’d think a scratch would be, they are likely scribe marks. You can always call your eye doctor if you’re unsure, as the last thing you want to do is put a scratched lens on your eye. If your contact is ripped or torn at all, replace it right away. 

Do You Need Contact Lenses?

Wolcott Optical provides corrective lenses ranging from glasses to prescription sunglasses to contact lenses. Contact us today to learn more about the services we provide and how we can help your vision be as clear as possible!

Filed Under: Contacts

care for your glasses Salt Lake City Utah

If you wear contacts, you may assume that this means that you don’t need glasses too. There are many reasons why people prefer to wear contact lenses over glasses, such as an easier time playing sports and increased confidence. However, this does not mean that one type of corrective lens is better than the other – it just comes down to personal preference and your unique needs. 

If your preference is contract lenses, you may feel averse to the idea of getting a pair of glasses and think you don’t need glasses. Perhaps you don’t like how they look or you find them uncomfortable. Nonetheless, if you wear contacts, you definitely need backup glasses too. We’ll get into the reasons for this down below. 

Here’s what you need to know about why you need glasses even if you wear contacts. Let’s get into it!

#1. You Need To Rest Your Eyes

You don’t want to overwear your contacts, as this can strain your eyes and increase your risk of eye infections. This is especially true if you work a job that requires you to spend a lot of time looking at screens. When we’re looking at a screen, we blink less, which can dry out your eyes. In order to keep your contacts comfortable, your eyes can’t be dry.

Switching to glasses gives you the chance to give your eyes a bit of a break. It can be helpful to switch to glasses for a few hours at night or for a day during the week. 

#2. Your Eyes Get Irritated, Infected, Or You Have Allergies

wear contacts backup glasses need glasses

It’s wise to follow the RSVP rule when it comes to knowing when you should switch to your backup pair of glasses. Leaving your contacts in when your eyes are having problems, like itchiness or irritation, can cause quite a bit of discomfort. Taking your contacts out gives your eyes the chance to heal and can reduce symptoms, since you no longer have something on your eyes.

The RSVP rule means you should take your contacts out if your experience:

  • R. Redness in one or both of your eyes.
  • S. Secretions from your eyes, like mucus from an infection.
  • V. Vision changes, like your vision getting blurry when it’s normally clear with contacts.
  • P. Pain, such as discomfort, soreness, itching, and the like.

If you are suffering from any such symptoms, you’ll want to remove your contacts. You may need glasses in order to be able to see until your eyes get better. You may need to schedule an eye exam if symptoms persist. Once your symptoms go away, then you can wear contacts again.

#3. You Suffer Eye Trauma

You can never predict when something can happen. While no one likes to think about the possibility of an eye injury, they can still happen. If you suffer an eye injury, you will need to switch to glasses until it heals. 

contact lenses safe millcreek ut

If you don’t already have a pair of backup glasses, you may need to wait a week or longer before your order is ready – and if you have a strong prescription, you may be very limited in what you can do until your glasses arrive.

#4. Something Happens To Your Contacts

It’s always good to carry some backup glasses around with you in case something happens to your contacts. This is especially important if you’re traveling. If you were to lose a contact, it got scratched or ripped, you accidentally forgot your contacts, your eyes are having issues, or you suffer an eye injury, you’d be stuck unless you had a pair of backup glasses with you. 

#5. You Want To Go Swimming

You should never leave your contacts in when you go swimming. This is because swimming with contacts in can result in all sorts of eye problems, such as infections and even corneal ulcers. This is because water is home to many different viruses and microbes. Since soft lenses are porous, if you wear contacts while swimming, this can cause bacteria and chemicals to get lodged inside your lenses, against your eyes. 

Plus, water can cause soft lenses to tighten against your eyes. This can cause quite a bit of irritation. The FDA recommends that you do not expose your contact lenses to any type of water, be it the water at your home or the water in a swimming pool. 

It’s much easier to wear glasses to the pool so you can take them off and put them back on with no trouble than it is to need to worry about your contacts.

#6. You Need To Get Up In The Middle Of The Night

If you have children, there is suspicious activity outside, or an emergency happens, you need to be able to see easily. Not having corrective lenses can make this difficult, and you may not have the time to put your contacts in. You need glasses as a backup so that you can easily throw them on to see why your baby is crying or if the fire alarm starts going off. 

Do You Need Glasses?

glasses in midvale, ut regular eye exams Salt Lake City Utah

Wolcott Optical can help! Your glasses prescription is actually different from your contact lens prescription, so if you don’t already have both, you’ll need to get a prescription before you can order some backup glasses. While contact lenses are wonderful, it’s still important for contact lens wearers to have backup glasses just in case. Contact us today to learn more about our optical services. 

Filed Under: Eyeglasses, Contacts

When you wear contact lenses, it’s crucial to ensure that you’re taking all the proper precautions to protect your eyes. Since contact lenses rest right on your eyes, as opposed to glasses with their lenses at a distance, this means that you need to be extra careful when it comes to hygiene, wear, and replacement. Improper use of contact lenses can result in eye infections, which no one wants.

Fortunately, you can protect your eyes from the risk of infection while wearing contact lenses. Here are some helpful safety tips to help all of your contact lens wearers out there keep your eyes safe.

#1. Don’t Sleep In Your Contact Lenses

protect your eyes safety tips

Unless your eye doctor specifically recommends it! Some contact lenses are designed to be worn overnight in order to change the curvature of your cornea. This is called Ortho-K (orthokeratology), and is used to reduce nearsightedness. These contacts are only worn at night and then removed during the day. There are also lenses for extended wear, which may be worn overnight.

However, unless you’re prescribed these special lenses, you want to avoid sleeping or napping in your contact lenses. This is because it makes you 8x more likely to get an eye infection. If you want to take a nap or it’s time for bed, ensure that you take your contacts out first in order to protect your eyes.

#2. Keep Your Contacts Away From Water

This applies to many different facets of your life. From swimming to showering to cleaning and storing your contact lenses, keep them far, far away from water. The reason for this is that water has microorganisms in it which can lead to serious eye infections. This is also why it’s recommended that you don’t open your eyes underwater as a general rule. 

In order to protect your eyes, remove your contact lenses before swimming or showering or the like. Ensure that you are cleaning and storing your contact with a contact lens disinfecting solution – never water.

#3. Keep Your Contacts Clean

There are a few steps to this. First of all, you want to wash your hands before handling your contacts. Then, you want to rub and rinse your contacts with an appropriate contact lens solution after you take them out. Then, you want to ensure that you put them in a clean case with fresh solution in it. You never want to top off old solution or put your contacts into a case that hasn’t been cleaned. 

You also want to ensure that you’re only using the contact lens solution recommended by your eye doctor to clean your lenses – no water, no soap, none of that.

You should replace your contact case every three months, at least. Basically, whenever you run out of your bottle of solution, you should get a new case. Most solutions come with a new case, but not all of them do. 

#4. Take Them Out If Your Eyes Are Irritated

contact lenses Salt Lake City Utah

You know how when you get contact lenses, your eye doctor will typically recommend that you get a pair of glasses too? This is to give your eyes a break to prevent overuse of your contacts, to give you the option to switch between contacts and glasses as desired, and to give you a backup in case something happens to your contacts. You should carry your glasses with you in case you need to take your contacts out.

If your eyes are getting red or irritated, don’t leave your contacts in, as this can make it worse. Indeed, if your contacts are dirty or something gets trapped under them, like an eyelash, the contacts themselves could be causing the irritation. Make the switch to your glasses. Contact your eye doctor if the irritation persists. 

#5. See Your Eye Doctor As Needed

Your eye doctor will be able to answer any questions you have about contact lens care to protect your eyes. They’ll also examine them to ensure that they’re healthy and update your prescription if needed. 

If you have any eye pain, discomfort, or blurry vision, you’ll want to talk to your eye doctor. Your eye doctor may have you try out a few different brands of contact lenses to find which one works best for you. One brand may irritate your eyes while another may feel like there’s nothing there. 

These are but 5 safety tips you can use to protect your eyes while wearing contact lenses. Wolcott Optical is passionate about helping our customers achieve clear vision, safely. Contact us today for more information about contact lenses and glasses.

Filed Under: Contacts

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Eyeglasses Salt Lake City Utah Wolcott Optical

Hours

Wolcott Optical Services, LC
3145 S Highland Dr
Millcreek, UT 84106
801-441-3233
Monday Closed
Tuesday 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Thursday 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Sunday Closed

Hours

Monday Closed
Tuesday 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Thursday 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Sunday Closed

Holiday Hours

Wolcott Optical will be closed for the Memorial Day weekend
May 27th Closed

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