Have you been told you can't wear soft contact lenses because you have astigmatism?

Or were you told that contact lenses for astigmatism — called "toric" contacts — didn't come in disposable, frequent replacement, multifocal, or colored varieties?

Both were once true, but today neither is the case. Unless you have an especially complex prescription, your astigmatism can probably be corrected with soft contacts, and you have many options.

What Are Toric Contact Lenses?

Toric contact lenses are made from the same materials as regular ("spherical") contact lenses, so they can be either soft or RGP. The difference is in the design of the lens.

Toric lenses have two powers in them, created with curvatures at different angles (one for astigmatism, the other for either myopia or hyperopia). There's also a mechanism to keep the contact lens relatively stable on the eye when you blink or look around. To provide crisp vision, toric contact lenses cannot rotate on your eye.

Toric Contact Lens Cost

Properly fitting a toric lens takes more of your eyecare practitioner's time and requires more expertise than regular contacts. Consequently you can expect that a fitting for torics will be more expensive than a regular contact lens fitting. The lenses themselves also cost more than spherical lenses.

Options for Mild Astigmatism

If you have a small amount of astigmatism, between zero and 1.00 diopter (either +1.00 or -1.00), you may be able to wear a regular spherical RGP or even a spherical soft lens.

How can you see well if there's no power for astigmatism? With RGPs, the lenses' rigidity can help mask a need for an astigmatic correction, by helping your eye conform to the shape of the contact lens. With soft contact lenses, some eye care professionals choose to fit you with a higher powered spherical soft lens to mask a small astigmatic correction. The results of this technique vary from one patient to the next, which is why the fitting process may take some trial and error by both the doctor and the patient.

Spherical lenses have the same power all around the lens, so it doesn't matter if the lens rotates on your eye. Toric lenses have two different powers in the lens, so they must remain in position for best visual acuity. Some toric lenses are heavier (ballasted) at the bottom to keep from rotating.

Soft or RGP?

A small percentage of patients will find that they prefer RGPs over soft contacts. Because rigid lenses retain their shape on the cornea better than soft lenses, they tend to provide crisper vision to people who have astigmatism. This degree of difference in crispness is not noticeable for most contact lens wearers.

Color, Disposable, and Multifocal Toric Choices

Many brands of soft toric lenses are available today, so your eyecare practitioner can choose the brand with the best characteristics for your particular eyes. Torics are available as frequent replacement, disposable and even daily disposable lenses.

Torics are also available in many colors that either change or enhance your natural eye color. Some colors are available as disposables; but most colored torics are non-disposable, conventional contact lenses.

Multifocal torics correct for presbyopia. These are generally non-disposable as well. There are some soft toric multifocal brands, but often an RGP lens is prescribed in this instance.

Visit an eyecare practitioner who is comfortable fitting toric contact lenses to determine if they make sense for your eyecare needs and to identify the best lens design for you.