contact lenses often provide better visual acuity and peripheral vision than do eyeglasses and can be prescribed to correct myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, anisometropia, aniseikonia, aphakia (absence of the lens) after cataract removal, and keratoconus (a conical-shaped cornea). Either soft or rigid lenses are used to correct myopia and hyperopia. Toric soft contact lenses (which have different curvatures molded onto the front lens surface) or rigid lenses are used to correct significant astigmatism; they are satisfactory in many cases but require expert fitting.

Presbyopia can also be corrected with contact lenses. In one approach, termed monovision, the nondominant eye is corrected for reading and the dominant eye is corrected for distant vision. Rigid and soft bifocal and multifocal contact lenses can also be successful, but the fitting procedure is time-consuming because precise alignment is essential.