Silicon Hydrogel contact lenses - anyone here use these? I need cheaper options

RichardD1970

HealthyEyeNews wrote: »

.

Reported as :spam:

xMonsoonx

kirtondm wrote: »

Monthly Silicon Hydrogels even with solutions will work out cheaper

Biofinity is a good lens

I use Biofinity.

My optician recommended them and they are an amazing fit for me, but you are best speaking to your optician and getting their advice.

ShaneCool

I've seen a few people mention Acuvue moist who are a great brand. I saw this website on Google the other day called optiboo. They offer great prices but I don't know much about them. Has anyone used them before?

bacono

Hmm. I thought £1 per pair was the going rate for daily disposables. I'm currently on Acuvue Moist after nearly 20 years of RGP lenses that caused corneal scarring with dryness. I've paid £90 for a three month supply, but would obviously love a cheaper option.

kirtondm

The trouble is if you want


1) SiH
2) The convenience of dailies


It will be more expensive. If you want cheaper I would switch to a monthly rather than out of a SiH.


Sauflon has recently been bought out by coopervision who have a superior product in Myday so would not be surprised if clarity is wound down in the next few years.


As a premium product I would be surprised of the silicon dailies drop much below £1 / pair.

C_Mababejive

Its strange that i find this topic discussed as it is one that i have been considering recently and as a high myope it is one that is close to my heart.

I have been a user of contact lenses for several decades.

My first ones were RGP lenses and i then switched to daily disposable after some years of RGP use.

Of course the big issue with RGPs was that they didnt sit so closely on the whole eye surface so if you got some grit in your eye, the lsightest spec,it made it very uncomfortable,you had to get them out,clean ,reinsert.

Optically i think they were very good but you were more aware of them being in the eye.


My first foray into dailies was when i was switched to J&J Acuvue dailies which were a quantum leap in terms of comfort and optics compared to the RGPs and glasses.

Now as you will all know, Daily CLs can be very pricey. It is my personal view that the big operators in this market are running a cartel and keeping prices artificially high.

http://www.law360.com/articles/627514/j-j-others-sued-over-alleged-contact-lens-price-floors

Part of that involves their close links to optometrists and regular supply contracts. That is a whole different argument and i fully support good optometrists being able to earn a good living from their trade.

So from the expensive J&J acuvues i switched the daysoft and have used them for a very long time with no detriment.

As some will know, daysoft is a UK based manuf of daily disposables. Their product is NOT a silicon hydrogel but when used in the right modality, i feel it does a very good job and the price structure is excellent.

I have an excellent optometrist . I rate his professionalism and service as some theo f the best i have ever encountered. I visit him regularly for eye health checks and i pay him more for his services as i didnt used to get my lenses from him,

I now do get my lenses from him and coincidentally, the lenses i am currently using as the same as the OP quotes.

They are coopervision (formerly Sauflon) Clariti 1 day and i pay £78 for 3 months supply which works out at £26 per month.

Now further,, and i am not making any kind of recommendation here, i double use the lenses i.e store overnight and use for a second day.

That cuts the price again to £13 per month which i think is more than reasonable.

Now you may say,,but thats wrong.but i say, and again this is not advice and its my personal view,,,the lenses supplied for extended wear are almost if not exactly identical to the ones supplied for daily use and it is only the recommended modality of use that changes.

Both Bausch and Lomb and Johnson and johnson faced class action lawsuits in the USA in the recent past in which both firms were forced to admit the above.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/18/business/johnson-johnson-settles-lawsuits-over-contact-lenses.html

Of course such actions never followed through in the UK as we dont have the same legal structures.

Of course one has to be aware of the correct lens handling and hygiene regimes when handling CLs as these two are imperative for good eye health.

The other thing that can happen is upselling of poducts that you may well be able to do without. My lenses are spherical but having degrees of astigmatism, some practitioners would advice i use Toric lenses. Some would further recommend i try daily,toric,multifocals for presbyopia...its all more complex and of course more wonga $$$.

OTOH of course i can appreciate that optoms will prescribe to correct what they see needs correcting so there is a tension between clinical needs, income for the optom and budget for the end user.

It isnt helped by the Government ripping off poorly sighted people by imposing VAT on such products.