Looking after your eyes can dramatically reduce the chance of vision loss caused by eye conditions or infections. The main thing you need to do to ensure your eyes are healthy is to have an eye test at least once every two years. Not only will it help you to find out if you have good eyesight, it can detect other eye conditions that may develop if you don’t take care of your eyes properly.

If your eyes feel uncomfortable, you should take steps to resolve this as just putting up with it could be ignoring symptoms of a more significant problem. Often, irritated or uncomfortable eyes are nothing to worry about and just need some eye drops or another eye care product to feel better, but if these symptoms persist it could be because of a more serious issue.

Conditions that uncomfortable eyes could potentially be a symptom of include:

• Conjunctivitis: An inflammation of the covering of the white of your eye (conjunctiva) which is easily treated on advice of a doctor.

• Corneal abrasions: The cornea is the clear, front surface of the eye. Scratches are fairly easy to get and can lead to infection if not kept clean.

• Keratitis: An inflammation of the cornea that can affect vision if not treated quickly.

• Blepharitis: A regularly occurring inflammation of the lower eyelids. Symptoms can be treated using special eye wipes.

Aside from visiting an optician regularly, there are a number of ways you can help maintain healthy eyes. If you’re a contact lens wearer, keeping your lenses clean and fresh is vital to maintaining your comfort as well as clear vision. This is especially important for monthly and weekly lenses, which need a thorough cleaning and storing routine with solution each night so that they stay safe and comfortable to wear.

Washing your eyelids is another great way to ensure your eyes stay in the best of health. Over the course of the day, it’s easy for dirt and debris to get caught in your eyes or for small protein deposits to build up. Eye wipes or washes can be used to give your eyes a thorough clean and make sure that they’re ready if you’re going to apply lenses.

If you find that your eyes are feeling uncomfortable during the day it’s a good idea to use eye drops, spray or another kind of eye wash to help soothe them. If they remain irritated, you should visit a doctor or ophthalmologist to make sure it’s not a symptom of something more serious.

Eye drops:

There are a wide range of different types of eye drops on the market, some of which are ideal for treating itchy or dry eyes. They often use natural formulas to help soothe them and leave your eyes feeling fresh and comfortable for the rest of the day.

Dry eye treatment:

Dry eye treatments range from eye drops to sprays and wipes and are designed to treat dry and irritated eyes. These products often come in small bottles or simple, single-use vials and so they’re easy to transport in a pocket or bag, meaning that it doesn’t matter where you are, you can always enjoy comfortable eyes.

• Eye vitamins: Nutrients such as lutein, zeaxanthin and Vitamins A, C and E have all been shown to be beneficial towards the general wellbeing of your eyes. Taking eye vitamins regularly is a great way to ensure that you’re getting a good dose of these helpful nutrients and that your eyes are in peak condition.

• Eye wash and sprays: When using eye drops or a gel is a little bit impractical, an eye spray or eye wash is a great alternative. They’re easy to apply and will provide you with the same soothing and refreshing feeling that’s perfect for treating dry or irritated eyes.

At Vision Direct, we sell the same contact lenses and eye care products from the same manufacturers as high street opticians at up to 45% less. As a standard, you can get free speedy delivery on all orders over the value of €59. We offer discounts to our email subscribers who can get early access to our promotions throughout the year, including our seasonal sales and Black Friday discounts. Plus, the majority of our parcels are letterbox friendly, so you don’t need to be home to receive your lens order. We offer all this without the need to have your prescription validated. Yet if you prefer, our resident optician is on hand to check your contact lens prescription as well as provide expert advice on how best to care for your lenses. And if you have any queries about ordering with us, our trained and friendly customer service team is just a call or message away. It's no surprise that we have tens of thousands of 5-star reviews on Trustpilot.

Buying your lenses with us is straightforward.

When buying contact lenses online, all you need to do is double-check your prescription on the side of a box of contact lenses you recently bought, enter the details and go through the simple checkout process.

Step 1: Navigate to any of our product pages to find your contact lens prescription details.

Step 2: On the right-hand side of the page, you can enter your contact lens prescription. If you're unsure how to read your prescription, follow the link to find out and watch our handy video for some easy-to-follow advice.

Need some help? Send us a picture of your prescription, and we can quickly double-check your details.

Step 3: Once you’ve made your selection, click “Add to Basket”.

Step 4: Check that everything looks correct in your basket. If you’re ready to order, select “Proceed to Checkout”.

Step 5: Provide your Delivery and Billing Address and enter your payment method. Accept our terms and conditions and select “Place Order”.

It’s as easy as that! See for yourself and start your contact lens order now.

Learning how to read your contact lens prescription might be daunting at first. All contact lens prescriptions include a least three values: base curve, diameter, and power. However, for toric or multifocal lenses additional values will be added to the prescription, usually no more than four. The specifications you can expect to see are as follows:

Base Curve (BC): The curvature of the lens in millimetres usually between 8.3 and 9.0.

Diameter (D): The diameter of the contact lens. This number ranges from between 13.8 to 14.5.

Power (PWR/SPH): Is a + or - figure followed by a number e.g. -4.50 or +0.25. This represents the level of visual correction needed, and whether your lenses correct long-sightedness (plus/+ powers) or short-sightedness (minus/- powers). For some contact lenses, the power may also be 0.00, plano or displayed with this symbol ∞ which is for non-prescription use e.g. coloured contact lenses.

If you have astigmatism or wear multifocal contact lenses you can read out full guide on how to read your contact lens prescription.

Many high street opticians offer their own brand contact lenses that are just rebranded and repackaged products from popular contact lens brands and manufacturers, such as Alcon, Biofinity, and CooperVision.

We stock the exact same lenses at competitive rates as well as next day delivery, knowledgeable customer service, and a 365-day replacement guarantee and a price match promise. The only differences between the lenses we stock, and the high street is the name on the box are the packaging and most importantly the cost. See all opticians’ contact lens brand equivalents here.