Contact Lens Fittings And Why they Cost More

Are you a contact lens wearer?  Do you want to be?  If so, in addition to your comprehensive eye examination, you will need a contact lens “fitting”.  We have previously discussed what to expect during a routine eye examination, however, this is just the first step necessary to the process of fitting contact lenses. 

Contact lenses are classified as a medical device by the FDA and as such are subject to their rules and regulations, namely The Fairness To Contact Lens Consumers Act.  This law protects both the consumer and the optometrist by providing very clear guidelines as to what constitutes a valid contact lens prescription, how long before these prescriptions expire, etc.

In some cases, your optometrist will need to perform up to 30 additional diagnostic steps to produce a contact lens prescription for you.  The “fitting” process includes these additional steps and tests, along with setting you up in diagnostic lenses and all follow-up care.  These additional steps require additional time and thus additional cost.  Please inform your optometrist that you are in need of contact lenses when you schedule your exam.  This will let them know to allot extra time for the extra steps, ensuring a successfull outcome. 

The fitting process is both a science and an art which requires a high level of expertise and experience on the part of the optometrist.  The additional contact lens fitting fees usually run from $70 to $220, depending on the level of difficulty.

A Contact Lens Fitting – What to Expect

Your eye doctor may ask you some lifestyle questions to get an idea of what modality of contact lens might work best for you.  Some questions to consider before heading into your appointment:

• What are your vision goals?
• Do you want to change the color of your eyes?
• Do you want to be able to sleep in your contact lenses?
• Do you want your contacts to help you with a specific vision problem (e.g. reading)?
• Do you want your contact lenses to be used for specific tasks (e.g. sports)?
• Do you have difficulty touching your eyes?

Once the doctor has done his additional testing (see below) and determined which modality best fits your needs, you will need to actually try on the lenses he is suggesting.  Most often, the doctor stocks diagnostic lenses for fitting purposes and will give you a pair to put on at the time of the initial exam. 

At this point, if you are a new contact lens wearer, you will go through an extensive training on insertion, removal, and cleaning of contact lenses.  This process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or more.

Once the diagnostic lenses are on your eyes and settled in, the optometrist will do additional testing.  You will likely be able to take the diagnostic lenses home with you.  The idea here is to wear them in your real life for a week to see how they settle in and then return for a follow up appointment a week or so later.

The follow up appointment is a necessary and important step in finalizing your contact lens prescription.  The way each contact lens interacts with your eye chemistry can only be determined after you have worn it for a while.  Usually, only one follow up is necessary but not always.  Sometimes, with more complicated fittings, you may need to come back several times, allowing the doctor to “tweek” the prescription in order to provide the most accurate and comfortable vision.

Additional Testing Needed For Contact Fittings

Some of the things your eye doctor will be looking at when he is going through the fitting process are:

• Your cornea’s curvature
• Your cornea’s topography
• The diameter of your pupil
• The diameter of your iris
• The integrity of your tear film
• Your overall corneal health
• Your overall conjunctival health

Something To Remember

A contact lens is a foreign body being placed directly on your cornea.  The cornea is made up of living, breathing cells performing daily metabolic processes, such as excreting waste and obtaining oxygen.  The result of these processes determines how your contact will perform and makes it very important that you follow the recomendations of your optometrist in regards to wear, care and replacement of your contacts.  Overwearing your contact lenses can have negative results on these living cells and on your overall eye health.  It is therefore equally important that you have your annual contact lens fitting, as required by law, so that the optometrist can check that the contact lenses have not caused any adverse effects.