Glasses vs Contact Lenses

[cdd]

This is a particularly random thread but I just wanted a few opinions about contact lenses. Currently I'm a fairly dependant user on glasses (short sighted), but to be honest I find them a pain to wear. Do any of you use or have expereinced contact lenses? If so what are they like, specifically with regard to putting them in and taking them out and the risks associated with infection? Have any of you expereinced the throwaway contact lenses? What's the situation with sleeping with them? Would you reccomend making the switch?

Sorry for so many questions, it's just I'm now fairly seriously beginning to consider changing over and a few unbiased opinions might help!

Chris

[johnnyboy]

I wear the daily disposable contact lenses and they suit me just fine. No washing, no storage or anything like that (I used to have pairs that you changed every month).

Go for it, Chris. It makes a world of difference.

[Gavin Scott]

I'm only moderately short sighted, but when I wear my Acu-view daily disposables, *everyone* seems to look good to me.

I paid £30 for 20 pairs a month from Vision Express - so didn't wear them on many a week day, but always had them for nights out etc.

I let my subscription lapse - but I recently found a copy of my presciription, so I can buy them online for less cost. Soon as I get round to ordering them.

[rdobbie]

Well if you're not too squeamish and have about a grand to spare I'd recommend laser eye surgery which I had about 9 years ago, and was truly amazing and life changing. It's an unpleasant procedure but less traumatic than having a filling done at the dentist. Even if you haven't got a grand to spare, consider borrowing the money because within a few years you'll have broken even against the cost of contact lenses.

Before that I used the Acuvue daily disposables, but to save money I found that one pair could easily last me for a couple of weeks. You can sleep in them easily enough, it's just the sensation of your eyes being glued together when you wake up that isn't very nice, but that only lasts a minute or so.

[BBC LDN]

I have the continuous-wear lenses from Vision Express, and I have done for the last 6 years. Essentially, you pop a pair in at the beginning of the month, wear them out, wear them in, read in them, bathe in them, and yes, even sleep in them, and then change them at the end of the month.

It's best to take them out every 7-10 days or so to give them a wash with some solution, and to give your eyes one night off without them at least every two weeks, but apart from that, they're no hassle. I don't have to worry about coming in and collapsing drunk into bed and forgetting to take them out, nor with trying to pop them in the morning after with a bastard hangover and the shakes.

£29.95 a month from Vision Express (other versions available from various opticians), and I have to say that VisEx have been bloody great to me - they give me free solution all the time, and even give me free lenses on the numerous occasions where I've managed to lose an entire packet of them. If you're on their direct debit scheme, they'll deduct the £29.95 a month from your bank account and then send you three pairs of lenses every three months (hence why I keep losing mine in my bathroom). There are a few perks to being on the DD scheme, including £80 off a set of new specs (including prescription sunnies) if you're so inclined.

All good fun.

[Dr Lobster*]

i have the continuous wear contact lenses from specsavers, £13 a month.

you can wear these for as long as you like, but as bbc ldn says it's a good idea to give your eyes a rest. i very rarely sleep in them even though i can.

some contact lenses are very difficult to get used too - i have trailed 5 or 6 different types from different companies and found these to be the most comfortable (they are called o2optix from ciba vision).

the lenses which have the high water content tend to feel softer but they dry out quicker, not very good if you sit in front of a computer all day.

if you don't get on with them in the first instance, try different companies and different lense material because that makes a lot of difference.

[cat]

I have the continuous-wear lenses from Vision Express, and I have done for the last 6 years. Essentially, you pop a pair in at the beginning of the month, wear them out, wear them in, read in them, bathe in them, and yes, even sleep in them, and then change them at the end of the month.

It's best to take them out every 7-10 days or so to give them a wash with some solution, and to give your eyes one night off without them at least every two weeks, but apart from that, they're no hassle. I don't have to worry about coming in and collapsing drunk into bed and forgetting to take them out, nor with trying to pop them in the morning after with a bastard hangover and the shakes.

£29.95 a month from Vision Express (other versions available from various opticians), and I have to say that VisEx have been bloody great to me - they give me free solution all the time, and even give me free lenses on the numerous occasions where I've managed to lose an entire packet of them. If you're on their direct debit scheme, they'll deduct the £29.95 a month from your bank account and then send you three pairs of lenses every three months (hence why I keep losing mine in my bathroom). There are a few perks to being on the DD scheme, including £80 off a set of new specs (including prescription sunnies) if you're so inclined.

All good fun.

I switched to these (although from Boots Online now, because they're significantly cheaper) after a rather disastrous incident with daily lenses.

I found with my daily lenses I had to take them out at night because the next day I'd wake up and feel like someone had gone at my eyelids with Unibond. Normally I would but, as LDN says, on those days you come in at 2am with some stranger it's good to know what they look like the next morning.

The disastrous incident was being called unexpectedly to a London hotel room at about 11pm at night (not in a rentboy capacity, you understand; all legit), crying for most of the evening, then realising I had no replacement lenses for the next morning.

Having (badly) slept in the lenses, coupled to the tearful night, I looked at myself in the mirror the next day and it looked like someone had put sulphuric acid in my eyes.

So, the moral is, if you don't want that to happen, go for the monthly ones. Don't take your chances, people!

[cwathen]

I was an absolute stalwart glasses wearer for many years until this summer. Being completely unable to touch my eyes (nor able to put anything in my eyes) I always felt that contacts were never for me until a particularly pissed night when I broke my glasses. When going to the opticians to get new glasses I somehow ended up leaving with glasses and a free 30 days trial of AcuView - and after the harrowing hour long session of putting the fuckers in for the first time, I've never looked back.

Contacts are great - after so many years of suffering with an ever-dwindling field of vision as fashion dictates that glasses keep getting smaller, it's such an amazing difference. Give them a go!

[cdd]

Thank you for all your advice, everyone. It's an option I'm going to take a lot more seriously now. I was already half-convinced but I'll enquire properly next session.

I'm the sort who can't even stand putting eye drops in, so cwathen's account is particulary convincing!

[cdd]

Well...

Sorry for the thread zombification but it has taken me almost fewer than six years to follow through with this advice! It feels like I asked this yesterday.

After several appointments, copious amounts of foul language and much unplesantness for all concerned, I FINALLY got the hang of getting the things in - and thence t'was easy. Getting them out was dead easy too, much to my surprise.

I have hence been sent off with 'Focus Dailies' which I have to say are very comfortable, despite having been very carefully told that they weren't QUITE right for my prescription since they didn't have the ones I needed in. They are some kind of trial pack.

I have a selection of questions.

When I return to the opticians, they will be very keen to sign me up for some kind of direct debit as they have suggested as much. Should I do this or not? I think I'd prefer to buy them online owing to the fact I can get my very brand for just 10 quid a box (vs £25), and also I can't guarantee I will use precisely 30 per month which strikes me as very annoying. (Those paying attention will have noticed the similaries with X Minutes / Month mobile phone contracts...) In any case, are they allowed withhold your prescription / insist you order 8 trillion of them?

My right eye is everrr so slightly itchy since using lenses. I have been rigorous to the point of paranoia with lens hygiene so I think it's unlikely I've caught an infection. Should I worry? Safe to continue to wear my trial lenses?

Is there any even vaguely reliable method of identifying whether or not the lens is inside out. The person I saw gave me various suggestions ranging from the unpleasant ("if you put it in and you can't see, it's inside out" - duh...) to the useless ("if it's inside out it will look very very slightly like a pasta bowl" followed by a demonstration in which there was absolutely no perceivable difference.

I was very carefully told that I was to throw the lenses away. However, me being a cynical bugger just suspected they were keen to earn more money out ofme, and the lens looks perfectly fine when taking it out. Is it a sensible way to save money to take out the lens, put it back in its solution, and re-use it the next day? Or is that asking for trouble? (I haven't done this (yet) of course...)

At night (esp while driving) isolated light sources, like tail-lights, traffic lights and street lamps, have sort of halation around them, a bit like the effect when you squint a little bit. I never noticed this with my glasses and its not noticeable during the day with contacts. Is this normal in the expereince of others?

Apart from the questions above I am completely in love with them and pretty much a total 'convert'! I don't think it would be hyperbolic to say they've changed my life (and I've only had them a couple of days...)

[Dr Lobster*]

When I return to the opticians, they will be very keen to sign me up for some kind of direct debit as they have suggested as much. Should I do this or not? I think I'd prefer to buy them online owing to the fact I can get my very brand for just 10 quid a box (vs £25), and also I can't guarantee I will use precisely 30 per month which strikes me as very annoying. (Those paying attention will have noticed the similaries with X Minutes / Month mobile phone contracts...) In any case, are they allowed withhold your prescription / insist you order 8 trillion of them?

it's up to you. with my specsavers plan, the monthly payment includes all aftercare and checkups + i get money off my glasses and it's one less thing to worry about. also, i get 30 per month but i try to give my eyes a rest at least one day a week so i usually have spares. check what you get with your plan. it might work out better value than doing it yourself or not.

My right eye is everrr so slightly itchy since using lenses. I have been rigorous to the point of paranoia with lens hygiene so I think it's unlikely I've caught an infection. Should I worry? Safe to continue to wear my trial lenses?

i've stuck my fingers in places that'll make your hair stand up on end, i'm not a huge worrier about such things and i've been fine. when i changed my contact lenses (spacesavers stop doing the ones i spoke about above, i now have daily disposables) my eyes were a bit itchy at first. all i can suggest is that you see how it goes. it might be something like conjunctivitis which i've had given to me by my lovely children (twice now). it's itchy and makes your eyes gunky in the morning. if that is happening to you then go to the chemist- they can give you some drops which will sort it out in a few days.

Is there any even vaguely reliable method of identifying whether or not the lens is inside out. The person I saw gave me various suggestions ranging from the unpleasant ("if you put it in and you can't see, it's inside out" - duh...) to the useless ("if it's inside out it will look very very slightly like a pasta bowl" followed by a demonstration in which there was absolutely no perceivable difference.

yes, look at the edges. they curve inwards when it's inside out. with a set of old lenses turn one inside out and the other the correct way. you'll spot it.

I was very carefully told that I was to throw the lenses away. However, me being a cynical bugger just suspected they were keen to earn more money out ofme, and the lens looks perfectly fine when taking it out. Is it a sensible way to save money to take out the lens, put it back in its solution, and re-use it the next day? Or is that asking for trouble? (I haven't done this (yet) of course...)

i've done it, can get away with it for a couple of days no problem. when i wore monthlies i used to string them out for 5-6 weeks, until they either disintegrated or got itchy. don't do it all the time, but if you're running a but short it won't do any harm.

At night (esp while driving) isolated light sources, like tail-lights, traffic lights and street lamps, have sort of halation around them, a bit like the effect when you squint a little bit. I never noticed this with my glasses and its not noticeable during the day with contacts. Is this normal in the expereince of others?

i get that too. sometimes it can be quite bad.

Apart from the questions above I am completely in love with them and pretty much a total 'convert'! I don't think it would be hyperbolic to say they've changed my life (and I've only had them a couple of days...)

indeed, it just becomes part of your routine in the morning... i remember when i first started wearing them and it used to take me ages to get them in and out, now it's just a couple of minutes.