Contact Lenses

[Tally]

Does anyone here wear contact lenses?

 

Did you find them difficult to adjust to at first?

 

Has anyone tried the continuous wear ones, which you wear even while you are alseep for a whole month? Are they comfortable?

[oxgirl]

I've worn soft lenses for years and I remember when I had my first trial, it was like having rocks in my eyes. I remember lumbering about outside from lamppost to lamppost blinking furiously with my eyes streaming and just counting the seconds until the half hour was up and I could go back to the optician and take the things out. Had to gradually build up the time I wore them over the weeks and it's amazing how you can get used to something. Now, of course, it's no problem at all, don't even feel them. I think the modern throw-away lenses are a lot more comfortable now than they used to be but they're so thin they're not right for everyone but it shouldn't take too much to get used to them.

 

~ Mel ~

[pearl]

I wore gas permeable for around 30 years (not the same pair ). No probs till I started working long hours on a computer, then I lost my tolerance.

 

I've now tried every soft lens known to man. They are perfectly comfortable - I just can't see. So back to glasses at the mo, but I'm looking into laser surgery *is scared*

[Tally]

My mum wears contact lenses, but she can't remember what they were like when she first got them, so she's been no help!

 

I thought about laser surgery, but I'm too chicken. It's becoming more and more common now, so it should be easy to find someone experienced. WHen you consider how much you spend on glasses over the years, it's probably well worth the money too!

[bid]

I wore hard lenses way back when for years from when I was 18, bunging them in first thing and taking them out whenever I rolled into bed

 

I now have soft daily disposables, because I can't wear lenses working at night as I get too tired, and also as I've got, er, more mature my eyes have got much drier so I can only wear them for a max of 8 hours...

 

The beauty of daily disposables is that they have a long use-by date, so a box lasts me ages, and even though I mostly wear my specs these days I don't seem to need any adjusting time when I do put my lenses in.

 

I too would like laser surgery but am terrified, plus cost!

 

You can usually get a free trial pack of a few pairs of the disposables to try. Not too keen on the idea of extended wear ones myself as have heard horror stories about infections, etc.

 

Boho

Edited June 3, 2009 by bid

[pearl]

One of my friends uses the extended wear ones & loves them.

Yes I'm scared of surgery but I've been on the royal college of opthamologists website for advice (not going to "I Cant Believe Its An Eye Clinic!" First stop GP's I think.

[Tally]

My sight is so bad now that without my glasses I can't see to do my hair, put on make up or shower. I also find that I trip a lot because without wearing enormous glasses or looking down all the time, I am not looking through them to see the ground directly below me. So contact lenses would give me a much larger field of vision.

 

I do like the idea of being able to see when I wake up, but an eye infection would be very bad since I am allergic to most antibiotics. I wonder if the continuous wear lenses actually cause a risk, or whether there is just special care which people get lax about.

[bid]

My sight is so bad now that without my glasses I can't see to do my hair, put on make up or shower. I also find that I trip a lot because without wearing enormous glasses or looking down all the time, I am not looking through them to see the ground directly below me. So contact lenses would give me a much larger field of vision.

 

I do like the idea of being able to see when I wake up, but an eye infection would be very bad since I am allergic to most antibiotics. I wonder if the continuous wear lenses actually cause a risk, or whether there is just special care which people get lax about.

 

I know what you mean Tally...

 

My sight is so bad that if anything happens to my glasses or lenses I'm completely vulnerable because I couldn't drive if I was out or even see/recognise people Which is why I've been thinking about surgery, not for cosmetic reasons, but because I don't feel 'safe' (I'm sure you know what I mean )

 

I was going to bite the bullet, but then bought a house instead!

 

Boho

Edited June 3, 2009 by bid

[Tally]

I'd be completely stuffed. I could not even move around my own house. I always keep my old pair when I get new ones, so at least I have some which I could safely drive in if I broke them. You could always buy a cheap spare pair from the online company which is very cheap and sends your Glasses Direct to you. In fact, I normally get my main pair from them and have always been pleased with them.

[Mumble]

My sight is so bad now that without my glasses I can't see to ... shower.

You can get prescription goggles!! :lol:

 

I'm too scared of contacts - I have thought about getting those daily disposable ones for very infrequent use - although I'm not sure I can even use them as I have daily eye-drops and I know I can't use 'normal' contacts.

 

As to spare glasses, yes, very important to keep a spare second pair. I scratched and twisted mine recently when I fell over, thankfully the optician was fantastic and mended them quickly as I looked like Harry Potter but I keep thinking I must get a second pair. I either want those ones that go dark when it's sunny or the ones you can sit on and they bounce back into shape, but those ones are never on offer!

 

[pearl]

Without glasses my sight starts to blur at around a foot. But hey, there are positives, when I look in the mirror I see a lovely soft focus reflection until I put my glasses on & destroy the illusion

 

I only have one pair at the mo & yes you do feel so vulnerable, I couldn't function without them.

 

I have the ones that go dark (reactolite). Mixed feelings. Trouble is, they go dark in daylight rather than just sunlight, so you have sunglasses on in February. And when you walk inside you fall over things until they readjust which can take a few minutes.

[Mumble]

I have the ones that go dark (reactolite). Mixed feelings. Trouble is, they go dark in daylight rather than just sunlight, so you have sunglasses on in February. And when you walk inside you fall over things until they readjust which can take a few minutes.

In that case (and I did wonder why not lots of people seem to have them) I may go for the option of buying a second pair from an optician doing a free pair of prescription sun-glasses with new glasses - actually cheaper than buying the changing type ones.

 

[pearl]

Yup, thats what mr p did - trouble is he never remembers to pack his sunglasses

[Teresa]

Hi

 

My daughter tried contacts they last year, were the strongest strength you can get, she can only wear them for a few

 

hours and not every often, she has stigmatism on one eye, so had a different lence which was a toric lence and a

 

normal lence for the other eye, cost was high because of the different lence, but she managed very well putting them into

 

her eyes' after a few lessons'. She loved the freedom it give her, her eyes' looked so big aswell. Wearing her glasses

 

makes her eye's look smaller, her glasses strength is 11.50 and she is short sighted, has just been reffered to ophtalmic

 

services after having her routine eye test, has some centro-cecal pigmentation in her left eye waiting for appointment.

 

Teresa

 

 

[Tally]

I went to the optician today to try them out, but I just couldn't get my eye to open wide enough. I kept trying for ages but I wasn't even getting closer to getting it right. I gave up in the end. They said I could come back and try again, but I can't really see the point.

[lynne]

 

 

Try holding your lower lid down and touching the white of your eye. This is how contact lens go into your eye. You look up put the lens on the white part of your eye than move your eye down. So at no time do you touch your pupil.

 

 

I wore contact lenses for many and eventually got allergic to them. I use to wear daily and change to glasses in the evening to keep my eyes healthy but this did not prevent me from getting allergic. Mind you I am allergic to many products, hairdyes, make up, cleaning products etc etc.

 

 

I had wanted laser surgery for 10 years but was always slightly uncomfortable. But the only way I could see and be active was to have laser surgery. So 3 years ago I researched it and went to the one that gives you a lifetime guarantee. They do all the measurements etc and do not charge you. Than if you want the surgery (if you are suitable) they charge you a set amount. It was painless. There was just a haze in my vision which got better on a daily basic till 3 days post op when it disappeared completely. You could see through this haze.

 

There was no pain, no problems and my sight is perfect even though I was blind as a bat.

 

My husband and friend have also gone to the same clinic but they were not suitable for laser surgery. One had a thin cornera and ?? the problem with the other one.

 

One of the laser companys charge you for each test prior to the surgery and only give you 6 - 1 year guarentee. This company also had different people performing the laser surgery each day. Where as I wanted a very experienced DR who I could see if I had a problem. So the doctor I saw had worked at the clinic for 4 years and worked every mon. tuesday and wednesday.

 

 

Laser surgery is one of the best things I have ever done.

No prescription sunglasses no prescription goggles no pay out every month for contact lens.

 

I also got approx 50% of the cost back throught a policy I have.

 

 

 

[call me jaded]

I wore gas permeable for around 30 years (not the same pair ). No probs till I started working long hours on a computer, then I lost my tolerance.

 

I've now tried every soft lens known to man. They are perfectly comfortable - I just can't see. So back to glasses at the mo, but I'm looking into laser surgery *is scared*

 

 

I can't see through soft lenses either.

 

Slowly turning into Elton John through Glasses Direct - last pair was just £35 all-in.

[pearl]

I went to the optician today to try them out, but I just couldn't get my eye to open wide enough. I kept trying for ages but I wasn't even getting closer to getting it right. I gave up in the end. They said I could come back and try again, but I can't really see the point.

 

Don't give up hun, took me ages with the soft ones too - they are so much bigger than the hard ones. It ended up with the optician sitting opposite me at the table & demonstrating it himself - only he couldn't get them in either! Must have looked sooo funny to passers by - us both sitting at a table, tears streaming down our cheeks like we were breaking up