Many people prefer contact lenses to glasses, for both practical and aesthetic purposes. With contact lenses, you look better and you see better than you can with eyeglasses. People with astigmatism require special types of contact lenses, though, and astigmatism contacts can be a bit more expensive than other contact lenses. You can still buy lens online at discounted prices, although those for severe astigmatism may still need to be custom made.

Astigmatism is an asymmetry in the cornea or lens of the eye that leads in one direction than the other. Astigmatism can be either regular or irregular and varies in severity. The type and severity dictate which kind of contact lens will work and the cost of the contacts you need.

Irregular astigmatism is caused by a scar on the cornea that can be the result of physical injury or a scratch to the eye. This kind of astigmatism can be corrected only with contact lenses; eyeglasses are not effective. Contacts to correct for irregular astigmatism must be specially fit and made by an eye doctor.

Regular astigmatism requires a toric contact lens. Toric contacts are different from regular contact lenses in that they have a curvature in one direction that is different form the other direction. A good way to visualize this curvature is to think of the kind of curvature that a football has. Mild astigmatism can be corrected with soft toric contact lenses. More severe astigmatism must be corrected with rigid lenses.

Both types of astigmatism contacts are weighted at the bottom to keep the lenses in the correct alignment with they eye. This is important to remember, as tilting the head can lead the contact lens to have the incorrect alignment and reduce vision quality. Eyeglasses are more suitable for people who need to see consistently while changing body orientation, because eyeglasses remain fixed in position at these times.

Getting these contact lenses online can sometimes be challenging. Toric contact lenses for mild astigmatism are available Shoplens.com and are usually just as inexpensive as other contact lenses. Rigid contact lenses are harder to find, and often need to be purchased through an eye doctor. Irregular contact lenses also need to be custom made, and are harder to find. In the end, the majority of people with astigmatism should be able to buy their lenses online from Shoplens, because most cases of astigmatism are mild and easily corrected. However, a few people will need to have specially made astigmatism contacts.