Non-Toric lenses for astigmatic eyes?

X-no-archive: yes

My optometrist prescribed toric contact lenses to correct my
nearsightedness & astigmatism.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the right toric lenses here
in asia. From what I can gather, it seems that my eyes have a
curvature (?) of 8.2, whereas most toric contact lenses fall in the
range of about 8.6. I had tried wearing those "standard" toric lenses
before, but the damn thing kept rotating around its axis.

And so as a last resort, I was told to simply use conventional
(non-toric) lenses. Even though I had been prescribed:

Toric
R: -3.00 -1.00 x 15
L: -1.50 -1.00 x 175

I was actually given:

Conventional
-3.50
-2.00


I was wondering if there are any drawbacks/sideeffects for wearing
non-toric lenses everyday? I've tried wearing the non-toric contact
lenses, and they seem *almost* as clear as my corrective eye glasses.

 

I think the spherical equivalent is too strong. For your Rx (assuming
the "toric" Rx below is for contacts) I'd have given you conventional

R -3.00

L -1.50

especially if you're any where near 40 years of age...

otherwise, spherical is nearly as good as toric, in your Rx...

w.stacy, o.d.

 

Do they rotate predictably or randomly? My right eye has irregular
astigmatism, I think due to a buckle, and my toric would always rotate,
and the same amount. My OD just "rotated" my prescription to match, and
that worked fine. So the machine says my axis is 10, and my glasses are
that, but my contacts are 30.

I've always heard that except in rare cases, glasses and contacts just
help you see better, and don't change anything. Thus the only drawback
to wearing non-toric lenses is that you won't see as well.

 

If your spectacle correction is also around -1.00 cyl or less, you might
want to try an aspheric lens. If your astigmatism is cornea-based, I'd
recommend the silicone hydrogel Optix or Night&Day (both from Ciba).
Both are aspheric and oftentimes stiff enough to correct, at least in
part, your astigmatism. There are other aspheric lenses that might work
as well---any of which would be preferable to the overcorrect spherical
equivalent "conventional" numbers you list.

--LB, O.D.

 

I'm probably what most doctors would consider a nighmare contact lens
patient. ALL contacts I had tried were horribly uncomfortable,
exaggerating already dry eyes. In addition, my astigmatism as -.75 which
was fun to fit.

A couple of months ago I tried PureVision and love them. They aren't
toric but my vision and comfort are great.

Paula