Fitting Contact Lenses by a Professional Gives You
The Best Chance for Healthy, Comfortable Eyes

Make Sure You Have a Contact Lens Fitting Before Ordering Online


Fitting contact lenses may take some time out of your busy schedule, but it is a necessary step when you want to wear contacts. Even if they are just for colour or fun!


Please do not order contact lenses online if you have never worn contact lenses before! 


Why Do Contact Lenses Need To Be Fitted?

Contact lenses are considered "medical devices" in North America and many other countries. As such, there is a legal requirement that they be fitted professionally by a licensed person who is trained to do so.

Because contact lenses come into direct contact with your eyes, failing to have contacts fitted properly can cause a number of health problems, including:

  • poor vision
  • discomfort
  • lack of oxygen to the eye (hypoxia)
  • redness
  • blood vessels growing into the cornea where they don't belong
  • eye infections

The process of fitting contact lenses includes a number of different steps, usually a free trial pair of contact lenses, and finishes off with a finalization of contact lens brand, power, and curvature. Don't be surprised if you have to come in for two or more appointments.


Trying Different Contacts Means More Fittings

There are so many different kinds of contact lenses available. If you want to change from one to another, you will need to have another fitting.


Lenses Requiring Different Fittings

Even changing from one brand to another will require a new fitting for contacts, because each lens fits differently on the eye, some people are more sensitive than others, some lenses need to be cared for differently, and an 8.6 base curve in one brand is not always the same as 8.6 in another. All eyes have individual differences that may not be evident until a lens is placed on the eye.


The purpose of this explanation is to educate people so that there are no misunderstandings when you go in for your fitting. Many  people walk into an optical shop with a prescription and no appointment, never having worn contact lenses before, and expecting to get some right away. It is a possibility, but it is also a possibility that an appointment needs to be booked, especially for new wearers, or complicated fittings, like toric or multifocal.


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