Any contact lense wearers?

[JohnD]

Comfort depends in part on how sensitive your eyes are.

You have to be very hygenic as there are some eye infections you can get from fingers and even tapwater. Licking your fingers is very bad as your mouth is filthy.

the old lenses (impervious) can lead to growth of blood vessels in the eye (I knew someone who got that) and it might happen depending how oxygen-blocking they are. Best not to save money on check-ups.

You have to be completely comfortable putting them in and taking them out before you leave the optician. He has to charge for his time in training you, as well as the fitting. He may want to put you on a contract where you shovel money into his practice in return for a regular monthly supply of lenses and fluids. I told mine I wear them only on special occasions and went to Pay-as-you-go. The charge for sterile saline cans is especially high (you can get it cheap in Tescos). The manufacturing cost of lenses is negligible.

soft disposables are fine and more comfortable than the ones you clean

agree about the drying out. Sadly the high water content lenses (more comfortable) suffer most from drying.

I find they get uncomfortable with car heater and air-con offices

if you're outdoors in rain they're superb (no rainy specs)

If your sight is fairly poor you will be absolutlely stunned the first time you wear them in the shower and can see things

I am quite astigmatic and can get lenses that correct it OK but they are a bit thicker than standards. (hence less comfortable)

However with increasing age you will find you get long-sighted as well, so I find them too much trouble to wear in an office I know someone who has bifocal contact lenses and he seems to have trouble seeing. other people use specs over their lenses

You always need to keep a spare pair of specs with you (car, van, office, hols etc)

I have met a number of consultants from Moorfields including overseas HoDs who came over for world-class courses. None of them have had laser eye-surgery and most of them wear specs.

 

[Steve]

It might sound odd, but I look daft without glasses. I can see ok without them, its just for reading and office work that i need them. But I wear them all the time, I find it too much hassle to keep taking them off.

I find it affects my long distance sight adversely when I wear them. But not so much as to cause a problem.

 

[RF Lighting]

Thanks John.

I think you should be known from now on as "The Oracle"

 

[JohnD]

I look daft without glasses.

Why do you say "without glasses?"



JohnD
The Orifice

 

[Steve]

I just do. lol. people tell me i look odd when i take them off to clean them etc.

 

[Clitheroe]

I wear a contact lens and I say lens since I only need it in the one eye (left eye). Since when I was younger my right eye started taking over my left eye and I started wearing glasses at a young age and was told I would need to wear them regularly until about the age of fifteen. I carried on wearing them till the age of sixteen and have ever since used a contact lens instead.

The glasses as well only had a special lens in the left eye and plain glass in the right eye. I have to say glasses dont and never have suited me!!!!- all my photos as a young lad have me with specs-some with jamjar thick brown framed specs-so I think I have an excuse to be embarrassed to show pictures of myself when I was a young lad.... My parents did not like the thick frames but that is all that was available free of charge at that time with both my parents not working.

My spec styles were as follows:

AGE GLASSES STYLE

4 1/2 Blue wire framed (Broke easily)

5-9 Jam jar brown framed (yuck)

9-12 Thick light orange framed (not so bad)

12-16 Normal wire framed

16+ Contact lens

 

[2scoops0406]

And don't forget to take them out at night.

 

[Alison556]

I must admit the first time I ever put contacts in, I was amazed at just being able to see without seeing the frame of specs - I was standing thinking that this is how normal people can see!!!

I only wear my specs driving and watching TV cos I hate them but I find that I've got to take them off to do anything close cos I can't focus on close work with them on.

Wish I could still wear contacts...............

 

[megawatt]

I wear contacts to play golf and at all other times (mainly flying and driving) I wear specs, which I don't like but ... Ho hum. I tried flying in contacts but the aircon dries them out and they get uncomfortable after an hour or so.

Thought about laser surgery but too freaked about the process and possible problems which could occur.

The way I see it (no pun intended) I only have two eyes and they are too precious to risk on laser surgery purely for the sake of vanity and a little inconvenience fitting and managing contacts.

Contacts really are superb for golf (and other sports too I'd guess) as I never managed to adjust to playing in specs ... And seeing the hole and the ball is useful

MW

 

[JohnD]

And seeing the hole and the ball is useful

yes, they're good for that too

 

[wedge69]

I've been wearing contacts for ten years. for the first 5 I was on soft monthly disposable lenses, which involved cleaning every night.

When daily disposables got cheaper I went to SpecSavers and got their "standard" daily lenses. After using these for a couple of years I can tell you that they are a bit of a false economy, they are so thin they rip easily, and it's hard to tell if you have them inside out or not. I also suffer from dry eyes, so gave the Johnson and Johnson Acuvue Moist a try and they are fantastic! Granted, they are expensive, but if you browse the net you can get them at a reasonable price.

It's all about trying different lenses and see which you are most comfortable with. A good optician should at least offer you two different makes for a weeks trial.

Good luck!

 

[vsynth]

I wear the extended use ones.

You put them in at the start of the month and leave them in, sleep in them too until the next month when you change them.

They are very strong, I tried to rip an old one and couldn't.

The manufacturer 'recommends' that they are changed every month but I once went 3 months with the same pair in and did not experience any problems...it was one of these 3 month old lenses I tried to rip just to see if they were degrading.

 

[Rico99]

Hi,

I used to use normal contact lenses but couldnt had too many problems with them when playing sport.

Talked to an optician friend o fmine about getting them lasered but he told me about some new contact lenses he was starting to use.

They are called "ORTHO K" lenses. Basically you put them IN over night and take them OUT in the morning. They work by temporarily reshaping your eye overnight, take them out and you have perfect eyesight.

I generally only have to put them in every 3 days, but have gone as long as 7 days without putting them back.

They are expensive, first consult and cost of lenses is approx 295.00 and then you have to pay about 35 a month but this covers, new lenses, solutions and any future appointments.

They are really uncomfortable when you first put them in but you soon get used to it.

Ive have nothing but praise for these lenses as it is so much better not having to mess about every morning/night.

Hope this helps.

Rico

 

[megawatt]

I thought this was a wind up but ... NO, it's for real and sounds really good

 

[Hysteresis]

I wore them for years, the biggest problem I had was dropping off to sleep
usually after being out for a few beers, and forgetting to take them out. Then waking up in the morning with a pain in the eyes which felt like someone was trying to poke my eyes out, then realising I had left the lenses in and found I coulcn't get the damn things out.
Apparently what happens is that as your eyes do not move for long periods whilst asleep (OK forget the REM bit), the lenses dry out and in doing so contract and stick on to the eye. The only way to get them out was to rehydrate the things with saline solution. I continued wearing the lenses for a long time as the advantages far outweighted the disadvantages.
I stopped wearing lenses due to the need for reading and distance pescription.