Now there are more advanced contacts than glasses mushrooming with the technological improvements in the industry. But the history of contacts is much shorter than that of glasses. The origin of contacts, however, is much older than we can imagine.
Over 500 hundred years ago, Leonardo Da Vinci, the most celebrated artist then, had systematically and theoretically studied the structure of eye. Later, another scientist, called Rene Descartes, had scored some achievements in the experiments of contact-related devices. He had devised some specially tubes that can be inserted into the eyes.
The real contacts that are the same as modern lenses do not come into being till a hundred years ago. The jelly-filled glasses are very typical examples. However, these contacts can not be worn by men at the initial stage of experiment. Later on, after timeless experiments, these contacts can be used by men, but the time is very short.
About 70 years ago, the first plastic contacts, also called PMMA lenses, come into being and great achievements have been gained in sequent years. These contacts become widely accepted by wearers around the world, but they can not be worn for over 16 hours, for they can not let oxygen through.
If contacts can not let oxygen through, eyes will be in very high risk of infection. Some designers have done a lot of work on this matter. Later, some rigid lenses that can let oxygen through are brought into the market. Not long after that, silicon hydrogels are produced. They are representatives of soft oxygen-penetrating contacts.
Nowadays, contacts are no long luxury goods and many common people can afford them. Especially, online purchasing has greatly reduced the cost of these lenses. People now tend to buy these contacts through clicking their mousse. Hence, it is very common to see that a large number of people choose to buy them online.
Particularly, in order to protect the rights of contacts wearers, the government has passed Opticians Act. Since then, wearers can enjoy all happiness of buying contacts.