As an eye care professional, it is important to consider a variety of factors when recommending the right contact lens. Asking a patient questions such as whether or not he or she has an active lifestyle, works long hours, or even considering a patient’s age are all part of the contact lens selection process. Patients are also starting to become more involved in the process as well. So how does an eye care professional take all of these factors into consideration and relay that information clearly to the patient? Here are some questions every eye care professional should ask :
Does The Patient Have Special Needs?: First, patients need to know more about their special needs. Does the patient have astigmatism? Is the patient a candidate for multifocal lenses? Since these special needs require special lenses such as toric lenses or multifocal lenses, having a patient understand what their needs are will guide them to the right contact lenses. CooperVision has a great YouTube channel resource that can help patients learn more about astigmatism, presbyopia, and multifocal lenses if they want to learn more about their special needs.
What Are The Patient’s Lifestyle Habits?: Learning about how a patient spends a typical day, how long a patient expects to wear contact lenses through the course of the day, or even lifestyle activities can help an eye care professional recommend a contact lens. For example, if an eye care professional learns that a patient may occasionally sleep with their contact lenses in, then the recommendation may differ from a patient who will remove the lenses daily before bed. Once a patient has had their eye exam, it may be helpful to guide patients to a simple quiz about what contact lens would be right for them .
For more information on other eye care topics, feel free to browse our previous On Eye blog posts.