Gas Permeable Contact Lenses

Soft contact lenses are most common, but there is another lesser-known category of contact lens materials: gas permeable (GP) contact lenses, also known as RGPs, rigid gas permeable, or oxygen permeable lenses.

What makes Gas Permeable’s different?
GP lenses were first introduced in the late 1970s. They are actually a newer technology than soft lenses. Most GPs incorporate silicone, which makes them more flexible. And silicone is oxygen permeable, so oxygen can pass through GP lenses, resulting in greater comfort and better eye health. In fact, GPs transmit more oxygen to the eye than do traditional soft contact lenses.

Why doesn’t everyone wear GPs? Primarily, because soft lenses are instantly comfortable to wear, and GPs require an adaptation period before they can be comfortable.

The Benefits of Gas Permeable:
GPs offer some outstanding benefits over soft lenses. For one, because an RGP is made of a stiff material, it retains its shape well when you blink, which tends to provide crisper vision than would a soft lens.

GPs are extremely durable. Although you can break them you can’t tear them easily, like soft lenses. And they are made of materials that don’t contain water, as soft contact lenses do, so protein and lipids form your tears do not adhere to GPs.

Niches where Gas Permeable excel:
GPs are frequently the answer for people who don’t obtain acceptable vision with soft lenses. This includes:

Some eyecare practitioners use RGPs to perform orthokeratology, a nonsurgical procedure intended to produce good vision without glasses or contacts.

Individuals who are very fussy about the quality of their vision.

Some people with astigmatism for whom soft contacts don’t produce the desired visual acuity.

People with presbyopia, because GPs come in numerous bifocal and multifocal designs. Different bifocal designs work well for different people, so having many choices is a real plus.

People who have a condition called Keratoconnus (read more about)*, where the cornea is cone-shaped and causes extreme visual distortion.

Are also used for Orthokeratology (read more about)*, where specially designed contacts are worn during sleep to reshape the cornea and improve vision.

The Downside of Gas Permeable contact lenses:

Unlike soft lenses, to achieve maximum comfort with GPs, you have to wear them every day. If you don’t wear your GPs for a week, you will probably need some time to get comfortable again.

GPs do require care, and they require rubbing during the cleaning process.