Metropol

cdd wrote: 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?

Your prescription is yours to ask for, but the boxes will give you the exact details. For example, I'm a size 9, -1.00 in the right and -1.25 in the left. This information is sufficient to buy online.

Since we discussed this years ago, I've been on a £25 per month deal for 20 pairs. This suits me, as I don't always put them in at the weekend.

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?

They're disposable, right? If so, your eye may just be a little sensitive, but you're in no danger of an infection so long as you're using fresh lenses each time.

I do love a good eye rub when I take them out - although its important to stop before you hurt yourself!

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 - if they are the right way round they will be in a perfect "cup" shape. A smooth semi-circle. If they are inside out, not only will they be tapered out at the edge, but you'll feel it the minute they go in. They're uncomfortable the wrong way round. You can tell when you hold them up to the light - but your eye will tell you if you get it wrong.

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 of me, 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 wouldn't risk soaking them in saline. Reusable lenses are made from a different material - disposables are made of 90% water, so you can assume they're fairly porous. You wouldn't want bacteria to soak into the lens, so for me, I take them out and drop them in a bin - or my ashtray. By the next morning they've shrunk to teeny little discs of hard brittle plastic.

Not worth taking a risk.

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 experience of others?

Yes - by the end of a long day I get halos and other blurry artefacts in my vision - as they're starting to lose their moisture. Sometimes they feel dry when I slide them off my eye. This is normal. You can mitigate against this by having a little saline container in your man bag. A few drops ahead of a long drive and you should be just fine til you get home.

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...)

They're great, aren't they.

Great for 3D movies (2 pairs of glasses are a pain), and disposables are so comfortable and require no faffing with fluids and cleaning etc, its the next best thing to having the Lasic surgery. Also, they don't mist over like glasses do when you're hot.

How did you cope with the initial sticking your fingers in your eyes thing? I've had glasses since forever and as such I'm used to the protection they give and thus get squeamish when even other people try and demonstrate taking them in and out.

It's something I've wanted to do (budding cameraman and all that) for work but I just get too freaked out to try...

Thanks for the replies. In regards the Subscription vs Buy As You Need Them question, I will definitely investigate what they have to offer with their subscription. It would definitely take a lot to win me over though and I am almost certain I will end up just wanting to pay for my appointment outright and buy them online. (Perhaps even from them, but it's the pay-as-you-go angle I'm interested in).

For example, I'm a size 9, -1.00 in the right and -1.25 in the left

Gosh. I'm really short-sighted then - mine (which I presume are in the right "ball park") are both -4.00. What are you even doing with lenses! You can see almost perfectly by comparison!!!

yes, look at the edges. they curve inwards when it's inside out

if they are the right way round they will be in a perfect "cup" shape. A smooth semi-circle

This is what I've been told but I've yet to see any difference. Through experimentation however I discovered my own nifty way of working this out - attempt to 'roll up' the lens. If it rolls into an "O" shape, it's the correct inversion, and if it rolls flat on itself (a "U" shape) it's inside out.
As for "you'll know when it's in the eye"... how uncomfortable is uncomfortable? Just an odd sensation or a painful experience that you'd like to avoid if at all humanly possible? And if it is, can you take the lens out, invert it, and put the exact same lens back in - or best to start with a fresh lens?

don't do it all the time, but if you're running a but short it won't do any harm.

Not worth taking a risk.

I suspected that would be the answer. I actaully did a bit of research and ran across this article from the Daily Mail... which should have told me all I needed to know, I guess.

I do love a good eye rub when I take them out

Indeed - my new found eye paranoia has stopped me doing all forms of rubbing! Doubtless I will soon become cavalier about the things. For the moment though I have no fewer than seven eye-hygiene-related products. Pleasingly, my eye irritating has gone away all of its own accord - I shall have to keep an eye on it. (A-ho ho ho).

can mitigate against this by having a little saline container in your man bag. A few drops ahead of a long drive and you should be just fine til you get home.

Interesting - I bought some of this stuff ("dry eyes mist") from Boots but was seriously unimpressed - mainly because it insists you spray it on closed eyelids and explicitly warns against using it whilst eyes are open. I did get some saline solution but not sure how one would "drop" it in one's eye - it comes in a reasonably large bottle...

There are lots of other brands of lens that promise to solve the 'drying-out' problem but my internet research just shows a lot of tortured souls who have been through a lot of different brands without success. I suspect that it is simply a problem that hasn't been solved and I should save myself the heartache of different brands, since the ones I've got are comfortable and great in every other way. Did you just decant some of the 'saline solution' into a smaller dispenser bottle to put it in your eye? Or should I be looking for a different product entirely? I have to say, actaully applying water does seem like the most logical response to dealing with dry eyes...

Great for 3D movies (2 pairs of glasses are a pain)

Absolutely! I am yet to experience that pleasure - I was desperately looking for a 3D movie to watch but the cinema is a void of entertainment at present. The other thing I am looking forward to is being able to go on holiday and buy a £5 pair of sunglasses that I can scratch, leave on the beach and generally mistreat. Up until now I have always had a pair of prescription sunglasses that 1) only got used about 10 days/year, and 2) always got lost/stepped on/scratched. I must have totalled about half a grand's worth of damage/loss there in my lifetime, so there's an instant saving...

Oh, and I can finally do fun things like water skiing and swimming while actually being able to see for a change. (Even though I was lectured about how I was never to so much as think of water whilst wearing them - hooey to that, especially if I remove them once done...)

As far as LASIK goes, I've been told I can't have it due to family history of glaucoma. In any case I'm not sure I like the idea all that much of permenantly altering my eye, given how much technology is likely to change in the forthcoming years. In any case, I've found lenses so comfortable and such a great replacement to glasses that I don't think I'm missing out - once they're in I literally forget about them which I never would have credited before I tried them!!

How did you cope with the initial sticking your fingers in your eyes thing? I've had glasses since forever[...]It's something I've wanted to do

YAY! A chance to be useful!

...Or not. You see a mere 5 days ago, I was asking everyone permutations of your exact question and wondering why the hell nobody would give me a straight answer. Now that I have finally managed it, you'd think I'd have the answer on my fingertips. But the fact is, explaining how to put contact lenses in is (IMO) a bit like explaining how to ride a bicycle: pretty much impossible to explain to other people. Tacit knowledge is the technical term I believe.

I definitely think that your eyes just become less sensitive to touch the more you poke at them though. I found found touching my eye the nastiest experience imagineable only a few days ago, but since having practice putting in contact lenses have found it really easy to do.

It really helps to know that even though it feels really odd to touch your eyeball, it is actaully pretty resilient and it's hard to do any actual damage unless you have sharp fingernails or something. (For example, I presume you're able to touch your eye by pressing 'through' your eyelid). Also, touching your eyeball with a contact lens, or touching your eye on top of a contact lens, is and feels totally different: touching your eyeball directly has an immediate drawing back effect, which isn't the case with contact lenses. The actual 'trouble' with inserting contact lenses comes from the unique and weird sensation of 'suction' (for the want of a better word) when it is applied, combined with the realisation that you have to press the lens entirely onto your eye and hold it there for a second or two, rather than just letting the outermost rim touch for a microsecond and imagining that will be that. The problem feels like it's one of not wanting to touch your eyes, but it's not (or rather, that's only the initial problem).

I think that's about as helpful as I can be. If any part of you is interested in contact lenses I'd whole heartedly recommend looking into it - but don't expect to get them in in the first appointment, especially if you don't have experience of touching your eyes.

What I'd highly recommend doing (doubtless to the cries of optometrists and health-vigilantes everywhere) is, having failed to get them in, to invest (/waste) £15 or whatever just ordering any lenses of the same brand. You can then settle down, with 60 of the things in front of you, no worries about losing the lenses since they're all headed for the bin in the end anyway, and no contact lens practicioner breathing down your neck, attempting to get the things in in your own time. This is what I did and it was after persistent practice trying this at home that I finally managed it. You can then go back to the opticians and pass their little test.

Once you've done it once, it's really very easy thenceforth - you just "get it". If your progress is anything like mine, you can let us know how you get on in 2017

[Incidentally, I've noticed that (Metropol excepted) not very many men wear contact lenses - based both on people I know and the proportions of people talking about it on the Internet. My theory about this is that women are used to fiddling about incessantly with their eyes, applying all sorts of mascara and eyeliner, while men rarely have cause to - hence contact lenses are a much bigger hurdle. (Of course, the other theory is that men just don't admit to wearing the things...)]

cdd wrote:Thanks for the replies. In regards the Subscription vs Buy As You Need Them question, I will definitely investigate what they have to offer with their subscription. It would definitely take a lot to win me over though and I am almost certain I will end up just wanting to pay for my appointment outright and buy them online. (Perhaps even from them, but it's the pay-as-you-go angle I'm interested in).

Vision Express have a subscription service with no fixed term. If money gets tight one month you can simply stop your direct debit. There are no penalties.

The only downside with going through a retail chain is their legal obligation to check your eyes every six months, and they will withhold your lenses until you do this. I don't object to having my eyes checked, but occasionally its inconvenient to get away from work at a time that suits their diary.

Gosh. I'm really short-sighted then - mine (which I presume are in the right "ball park") are both -4.00. What are you even doing with lenses! You can see almost perfectly by comparison!!!

Without my lenses I can't see faces properly at a distance, and have a tendency to squint to see. This makes me look grumpy or frowny (I'm told), and we don't want that.

This is what I've been told but I've yet to see any difference. Through experimentation however I discovered my own nifty way of working this out - attempt to 'roll up' the lens. If it rolls into an "O" shape, it's the correct inversion, and if it rolls flat on itself (a "U" shape) it's inside out.
As for "you'll know when it's in the eye"... how uncomfortable is uncomfortable? Just an odd sensation or a painful experience that you'd like to avoid if at all humanly possible? And if it is, can you take the lens out, invert it, and put the exact same lens back in - or best to start with a fresh lens?

The Johnson and Johnson ones are tinted a subtle blue that makes it easier to see the difference. It is a subtle difference, and occasionally I get it wrong too.

Its not painful as such - I'm too much of a wuss to take pain - but your eyes will water a lot and its difficult to keep them open. I've walked into work wearing one the wrong way round, and the moment I got there I went straight to the bathroom and took it out and put it back correctly.

I suspected that would be the answer. I actaully did a bit of research and ran across this article from the Daily Mail... which should have told me all I needed to know, I guess.

I love how the article says, "Those using Johnson & Johnson's long-life lenses could save £250 a year by switching to the cheaper daily disposables and simply cleaning and reusing them." Cleaning them *isn't* simple - its time consuming, fluids aren't cheap and if you don't do it properly you can give yourself problems. £25 per month for the ability to bin them suits me very well.

Did you just decant some of the 'saline solution' into a smaller dispenser bottle to put it in your eye? Or should I be looking for a different product entirely? I have to say, actually applying water does seem like the most logical response to dealing with dry eyes...

Saline is just sterilised mildly salty water. Nearly all saline comes in bottles with a fine tip that allows a wee jet (or drip) to come out. You can apply this to the inside corner of your eye (eyelids closed, head tilted back), and blink the moisture into your eye. Don't overthink it, and don't waste money on other specialist products which may not be intended for use with contacts. Saline is cheap and effective.

Oh, and I can finally do fun things like water skiing and swimming while actually being able to see for a change. (Even though I was lectured about how I was never to so much as think of water whilst wearing them - hooey to that, especially if I remove them once done...)

Yes, I quite happily used mine in chlorinated pools in Florida. Nearly naked people all around is a good time to have perfect vision, I think.

How did you cope with the initial sticking your fingers in your eyes thing? I've had glasses since forever[...]It's something I've wanted to do

The key thing is that the white of your eye isn't sensitive at all - so, with one hand - ring finger pulls lower lid down, look up and place the lens in the white part under the iris with middle finger, look straight ahead, gently release lower lid which helps the lens to slide up and over the iris. Blink. Done. In general mine are in within 5 seconds, and out within 1.

Your optician (indeed, anyone else attempting to put lenses on YOUR eye) has to aim for the iris. That's because they can't choreograph your eye movements the way I've just described. Popping a lens straight onto the iris can smart a little, and your instinct is to blink immediately, but putting it on the white part doesn't cause this - so you'll always find your way more comfortable once you get home and do it a few times.

If you tell your optician that you want to practice, they'll give you boxes of sample lenses in your prescription with five sets. They're usually in yellow "not for resale" packs, and they'll have hundreds of them. Be bold and ask. I've been able to pop in and get some spares simply because I've run out. At no cost to the optician they're usually happy to oblige.

Always purchased mine from a company called Vision Direct. I use CIBA Vision Focus Dailies, from £16 for a box of 30, with discounts depending on how many months worth you order, if you can buy a year's worth (just under £200), this brings them down to a little over £8 a box, which is quite a saving. Plus I go through Quidco, which get's me 8% cashback, so it's worth doing.

http://www.visiondirect.co.uk/product.php?xProd=12

They do loads of other brands too.

For lens tests - Tesco do contact lens tests, sometimes on promotion or for £15, and give you your prescription to use wherever you wish (you aren't obliged to buy from the people you take your test with).

Inspired, in part, by this thread, I've booked myself in for a free contact lens assessment and trial at Specsavers on Wednesday. I too have always been curious about contacts but squeamish about poking myself in the eye - even though my girlfriend of 8 years wears lenses daily!

Gavin Scott wrote:You can apply this to the inside corner of your eye (eyelids closed, head tilted back), and blink the moisture into your eye.

Thanks for this tip - tried it yesterday night and it did the trick wonderfully. Felt like a new lens again. And at £3 for a large bottle of the stuff, I can't argue with the price!

Gavin Scott wrote:If you tell your optician that you want to practice, they'll give you boxes of sample lenses in your prescription with five sets

No harm in asking I guess, but I did and was told they weren't allowed to let me leave with a pair until I'd got them in. So I ordered some online of the same brand from some shady online place with a pack of lies for the optician's details. (Arrived fine).

I think the whole risk of eye infection is scaremongering by the industry to make money.

I think you're dead on there. I will admit I was rather tempted to try and make my dailies last a couple of days - bringing £300 a year down to, say, £150 or even £100 is rahter an attractive proposition - but I'm not sure I fancy the bother of storage and cleaning. Either way, lenses must be massively overpriced - like razor blades - simply because there aren't many manufacturers and people need them. They can afford to hand trial packs out for free so the manufacturing cost must be peanuts.

tillyoshea wrote:Inspired, in part, by this thread, I've booked myself in for a free contact lens assessment and trial at Specsavers on Wednesday.

Good luck with that! It's worth remembering that when you apply the lens, your finger really needs to actually touch your eyeball flat and stay there for a few seconds. When I first tried, I imagined that the outer rim of the lens just touching would be sufficient - it's not. To be honest, the key is persistence and definitely make a mental note of the brand if you aren't successful because trying at home in your own time is really helpful.