Contact Lens Cost Cutting article discussion

holdenismine

yea, the larger chain opticians like specsavers and vision direct are most always cheaper than the smaller ones, but you could also try showing them prices from other places, i did that with mine (small 2 branch optician) and they offered to match the price, so it's worth a try.

Yea glasses are always good to have, but it's worth finding a factory store to buy glasses from, i went to Direct Specs (the store, not online) the website has a £5 off coupon to use in store and they have really good frames for great prices.

katies_mum

Thanks for your replies. I`m still waiting for a return call from the optician, it they don`t ring before closing then I`m definitely off somewhere else!

waterwatereverywhere

Hi

Just have a quick question about base curve and diameter measurements - how crucial/significant they are?

The prescriptions I've had over the years from various places, e.g. Boots, D&A, Tesco have all recommended lenses with different BC and Dia measurements. I have varied between 8.4 and 8.6 for BC and 14, 14.2 and 14.4 for the Dia.

One pair I had last year was really uncomfortable - would this be down to an incorrect BC/Dia measurement?

A friend has the same strength prescription as me but different BC/Dia measurements and has spare lenses as her strength has just worsened.

Would it be okay/safe for me to try the friend's lenses even though they have different BC/Dia measurements?

Many thx for any advice on this.

holdenismine

Hi,


I think it's really strange that different opticians have given you different base curve and diameter measurements. These are really important, as they indicate the size of your eye, sort of like your shoe size, where if you are wearing the wrong shoe size, it's uncomfortable, and can damage your shoe, which is the same for eyes.

I think if you go back to your optician and tell them that the lenses are uncomfortable, they may have not measured correctly, i would even ask for free lenses to try and don;t settle until you are happy with the service that you are paying for. A contact lense checkup is valid for 2 years, so if you are having problems, you should be able to go back and get checked as many times as necessary until you are satisfied, at no extra charge. Even if you did not buy your lenses from your optician, they gave you the prescription so they can be held liable for that.

I think bc/dia measurement's can change, but if you have been given a prescription and it's not right then you need to go back and get it fixed. They optician may try to say you're feeling discomfort because you wear your lenses too long etc, but if you explain the different measurements you have been prescribed in the past that may help them to look into it further. You may want to try emailing a complaint if it is a large chain, if you're not happy about this or they try to charge you more etc. I once had a contact lenses checkup and i was given new lenses to try, and i had to go back several times until i got the right ones, i only paid once for the intial exam, the rest were all part of that.

waterwatereverywhere wrote: »

Hi

Just have a quick question about base curve and diameter measurements - how crucial/significant they are?

The prescriptions I've had over the years from various places, e.g. Boots, D&A, Tesco have all recommended lenses with different BC and Dia measurements. I have varied between 8.4 and 8.6 for BC and 14, 14.2 and 14.4 for the Dia.

One pair I had last year was really uncomfortable - would this be down to an incorrect BC/Dia measurement?

A friend has the same strength prescription as me but different BC/Dia measurements and has spare lenses as her strength has just worsened.

Would it be okay/safe for me to try the friend's lenses even though they have different BC/Dia measurements?

Many thx for any advice on this.

waterwatereverywhere

Hi holdenismine,

Thanks so much for your detailed reply - it's really helpful.

I must admit I thought it was strange too that the measurements should differ but didn't know if this was something I could/should expect to be changing with new prescriptions.

Cynically I sometimes think the optician selects expensive lenses that it can make money on and advises you that these are the best ones for you - I've had this with some opticians recommending Acuvue which are pretty expensive, even though I've said I'd like a middle of the road/budget lens.

Will definitely follow your advice and keep going back to current optician if the current lenses prove to be uncomfortable.

Would it be safe just to try my friend's spare lenses for a short time, say a couple of hours a day just to see what the fit is like? It seems to me that that's what the optician does anyway - gives you a lens to try and see how it feels?

System

waterwatereverywhere wrote: »

Would it be safe just to try my friend's spare lenses for a short time, say a couple of hours a day just to see what the fit is like? It seems to me that that's what the optician does anyway - gives you a lens to try and see how it feels?

No!
Absolutely do not do this. Just go to your opticians or another one to get some new lenses. Do not ever wear other lenses you haven't been fitted for!

nedmundo

holdenismine wrote: »

Hi,


I think it's really strange that different opticians have given you different base curve and diameter measurements. These are really important, as they indicate the size of your eye, sort of like your shoe size, where if you are wearing the wrong shoe size, it's uncomfortable, and can damage your shoe, which is the same for eyes.

I think if you go back to your optician and tell them that the lenses are uncomfortable, they may have not measured correctly, i would even ask for free lenses to try and don;t settle until you are happy with the service that you are paying for. A contact lense checkup is valid for 2 years, so if you are having problems, you should be able to go back and get checked as many times as necessary until you are satisfied, at no extra charge. Even if you did not buy your lenses from your optician, they gave you the prescription so they can be held liable for that.

I think bc/dia measurement's can change, but if you have been given a prescription and it's not right then you need to go back and get it fixed.

It's a bit more complex than that as different lenses may have the same base curve and total diameter, but perform completly differently on the eye, due to other characteristics such as thickness or material. Therefore, different manufacturers specifications may differ, but may still produce a clinically good fit on a particular patient. The only way to be sure of a good fit is to actually examine the lenses on the eye.

To reinforce the previous comment, I wouldn't go trying out different lenses without clinical supervision.

Gary_S_3

Hi folks. I've decided to start wearing contact lenses again after a bit of a lay-off and have an eye test and suchlike tomorrow with Specsavers.

It's my intention to go one of their direct debit schemes for daily disposables for the moment and have been persusing the literature. I quote from their website:


Star Price

• Daily disposable - 10 pairs
  £6.50
• 20 pairs£11.00
• 30 pairs£16.00

Standard

• Daily disposable - 10 pairs£7.00
• 20 pairs£13.00
• 30 pairs£20.00

Premium

• Daily disposable - 10 pairs
  £9.00
• 20 pairs£15.00
• 30 pairs£22.00

Elite

• Daily disposable - 10 pairs£12.00
• 20 pairs£18.00
• 30 pairs£25.00

Ultimate

• Daily disposable - 10 pairs£13.00
• 20 pairs£22.00
• 30 pairs£30.00

The lady who made my appointment seemed unwilling/unable to explain the different types of lenses to me, which leads me to believe the difference between the lenses in each price band will be minimal. Can anyone advise?

Thanks!

G.

madkingsoup

I'm with Specsavers and I've noticed that over the past year their own brand monthly lenses have become dramatically more fragile and easily torn. I can only assume that somewhere along the line quality is being sacrificed to keep the cost down for the customer. All very well, but I can no longer get through a month without one tearing in half.

Stuff it, say I. I've just ordered the Daysoft dailies for one month to see what they are like. Yes, it's more than I was paying for monthlies, but not to have to worry about the fragility of the lenses is worth it. Plus, I don't wear them every day anyway, so I'll build up a surplus in time anyway.

On another Specsavers note, my last check-up was very telling. I had recently been to a Vision Express to get specs as the range in Specsavers was rubbish. I had a full eye check and was told I had nothing wrong with my eyes. A month or so later I had to get my contact lens check-up at Specsavers. Lo and behold, I had the same optometrist - she had changed jobs in the meantime. She checked my eyes and told me I had trouble with oxygen getting to my eyes and the veins in my eyes were starting to show. She advised upgrading to a more expensive lens with a better oxygen penetration.

Alarm bells rang: how can the same optometrist proclaim my eyes perfectly OK and them troubling one month later, after some 18 years of trouble-free lens wearing? It seemed clear to me that she was simply trying to upsell me by appealing to her incorrect perception of my ignorance. I tried the new lenses (free month trial) and they were awful - like having irritating chunky plastic discs in my eyes!

I don't believe for a moment that the optometrist's recommendation was motivated by anything other than increasing revenue from me. Eight months later, I am so disappointed with Specsavers' range, customer care (brusque, rude, want to get you back out the door asap), optometry and lenses that I've gone to Daysoft instead.

katies_mum

madkingsoup, I would be very interested to hear how you find the Daysoft lenses, as our Optician wants £37.99 for daily lenses (Clariti) and according to the Daysoft site they have a comparable one.

Thanks