contact lens discussion thread (merged)

NixNoo

Life changing experience - I wore specs all my school life and was bullied and was a right ol shrinking violet, got me lenses as soon as I left and changed over night into an extrovert!!

Anyway, back to your question - I use gas permeable, take out and wash every night, cheap as chips, all you pay for is your cleaning solutions which are about a tenner in boots and last me a good couple of months. Buy new lenses probably every 2 years and belong to HSA so get the money refunded.

Enjoy whatever you go for!!

sarah_elton

Thanks everyone! Dailies do appear expensive, and I'm not that lazy.

Will compare prices on gas permeable (I'd heard they were good) and monthlies and see how it goes.

svmitche

sarah_elton wrote:

Thanks everyone! Dailies do appear expensive, and I'm not that lazy.

Will compare prices on gas permeable (I'd heard they were good) and monthlies and see how it goes.

Who you callin' lazy??

I use daily disposables, because I wear lenses, but not regularly enough to warrant breaking open a pair that will last 30 days - for instance, last month I wore lenses quite a lot, as it was the xmas party season, but this month, I might only wear one pair.

Although it seems more expensive to get dailies, I think for me it works out about the same, as I don't have to buy the cleaning solutions or anything like that. Also, I don't get my lenses from a shop, but from the web and have a contact lense check in an optician (D&A) every year.

For glasses, I got mine off the internet for £27.00, including scratch resistant coating and anti-reflective coating, compared to about £150 I was quoted in a store (D&A again). The site I used was http://www.myoptics.co.uk/index.php and it was no problem from start to finish. If you have a particularly tricky prescription, you will need to call them up though.

Good luck with the lenses though - it is really worth it!

dora37

I've worn glasses since I was 3.5 and through to my early thirties, because of being long sighted and having a stigmatism was always told I couldn't wear contact lenses (I hated wearing glasses with a vengance)....however things have moved on and for the last couple of years have worn daily disposables and I wouldn't be without them.

I pay £30 a month to my optician (a local indepedent) and this includes a health check on my eyes every 6 months. This is not a glasses test and my optician wouldn't supply the lenses to me unless I had the health check. So if you are going to wear contact lenses over a length of time, you should factor in contact lense check ups too.

I know I could get my lenses cheaper online, but I like being able to pop in to the optician if I have any problems.

As my lenses differ in strength, I also need my glasses to see which lens goes in which eye. :rotfl:

Karnam

im like svmitche, i only wear contacts sporadically so im stick to dailies as i use a 'three month supply' in about 9-12 months.

id buy dailies at first if i were you, even if it does seem more expensive, as i have a v strong perscription and find it hard to read easily close range ie books, with contacts in as the lenses moves differently, more slowly. i know a few friends who this has happened to and the opticion tells me that if its just reading then its ok

try a free trail first though!! specsavers give one week free for dailies....

sarah_elton

I only meant expensive if like me, you'd want to be wearing them every day (or close to it).

£30/month or thereabouts is more than I'm looking to pay in. Considering between monthlies and just buying a pair (soft or gas permeable - any opinions??).

Thanks for the myoptics link - can't believe your glasses were so cheap!!

Karnam

you can normally get dailies for around £20 a month, i get mine from specsavers cause i have a student discount but before it was introduced in september, i used kelkoo and found loads of cheap places. i believe martin has an article on this as well.

Louiseuk25

Hi

I have had the £10 monthlies from Specsavers and have been really pleased with the lenses, price and service. I get included the solutions, storage container and an annual free check up. The scheme has also allowed me to get my specs half price (Got a cheap but stylish pair for under £40).

I did try the continuous wear ones for a couple of months but they did tend to dry out whilst asleep and pop out (??!!). Know other people who wear them and found them great tho (and I think only £15/£16 pm at Specsavers)

Didn't know that Boots does a cheaper scheme......blue kp-what does the £6pm include please?

Thanks

Lou
x

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I have to wear soft monthly disposables, got no choice due to my prescription being quite high (shortsighted). Dailies don't come in my prescription.

I've been wearing contact lenses for years now, and it's only recently I've started buying mine off the net. I would certainly be getting my first few years worth via the optician, just in case of problems, complications ect. It can take time for your optician to find a make of lens suitable for your eyes, ie comfort, vision ect.. The solutions can be a nitemare to get right too, depending on how sensitive your eyes are.

However, my optician really begrudges me purchasing lenses off the net, and has now refused to test my eyes for contact lenses unless I pay a fee of £60 up front. I get help with prescriptions, so cannot afford £60 ontop of everything else, so I'm now looking to go back to my old optician, who I haven't seen for about 4 years. Gonna have to crawl back in there I think.

Internet websites which sell lenses also request a recent prescription before issuing lenses. I think a prescription lasts about 2 years, then you need to be getting tested again, before ordering more lenses.

Good luck with it anyway :j

Pink.

Hi,

I'm going to move this over to the Health board where hopefully you will get more replies.

Pink

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [email="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/email].