contact lens discussion thread (merged)

Donaway

So it is possible to get both annual soft and hard lens

What is the difference between soft/hard lens ?

Also which are best for your eyes annual or monthly lens . What are the positives and the negatives of both ?

suki1964

The negs are daily cleaning and expense of replacement if they get lost ( you need to insure)
Also they are thicker - much thicker so for some people a nightmare to get used to ( hard lenses - no knowledge of annual soft )
I would say the risk of eye infection would be greater as cleansing may not always be done to the best ( imagine getting rather tipsy and trying to flaff about)

For me the positives would be clarity of vision, I have been told that my astigmatism would be better corrected with hard lenses. Right now Im using mono vision softs which is manageable but not brill

GlasweJen

depends on your eyes really, i find that if air optix don't work johnson and johnson will. They have a monthly lens (surevue) but the better ones for dry eyes are their acuvues, acuvue 2 are good but acuvue oasys are brilliant. Only problem is these are a fortnightly lens but I honestly forget I'm wearing them sometimes.

geoffgeoff

I got my first pack of lenses from DaySoft this month £9.99 delivered! Quick delivery and very comfy to wear!

drcolinread

Thought I would share a good experience in buying online contact lenses:

"Feelgood" contact lenses have just sent me my lenses very quickly with minimal hassle and free postage £212 for six months as opposed to opticians £252. Through Quidco its 10% cashback too! I highly recommend them.

I do not recommend "Contact for lenses" absolutely rubbish in multiple occasions, hence my change to another provider.

Hope it helps.

nedmundo

The only person who can really give advice on options open to you would be your Optician. Self prescribing can and often does end in tears (pardon the pun!).

boglesmum

I used to use Daysoft and had no problems with them, but since Feb i have been wearing ones that you leave in all month (yes, including sleeping) and leave out for one day a month. Went to D&A and had all the proper tests (£40 but that included 2 checkups and the first months lenses). Was so happy I was going to continue with lenses at D&A for £30 per month, but after looking on the contact lense thread here found a site that supplied the same lenses for £48 for 6 months supply, D&A were happy to price match.

petergavinblack

£414 per year still sounds quite expensive to me what kind of lenses are you on?

petergavinblack

Hard lenses are the original lenses that came out over fifty years ago - they are made of perspex which does not allow oxygen through so do have a long term negative effect on the eye. They have been replaced by Rigid Gas Permeable lenses (which is probably what you mean by hard). These allow oxygen through to varying degrees - the more oxygen the better but they increase in price accordingly. They are small (~9mm) so easy to get in, but much more difficult to get out than a soft lens. You should expect to pay say £120 for basic ones rising to over £400 for the best. The downsides - they can be very uncomfortable initially and take a long time to get used to. You need to adapt to them and should wear them every day to maintain tolerance. Vision is generally superb though and they are probably the cheapest option long term if you wear them every day. For part time wear daily lenses are cheapest and best as you don't need to adapt to them.

Soft lenses, including dailies, are floppy gel like plastic, ~14mm diameter, so because the edge of the lens is outside the sensitive cornea you can barely feel them. The very first time you wear them it might feel like an eyelash in your eye for a few minutes but you will soon get used to them. Long term soft lenses are nearly obsolete as they have been superceded by disposables. With long term (say annual replacement) including gas permeable bear in mind when you loose a lens (and you will) it will cost a lot to replace. Disposables from an optician are usually replaced free of charge of you lose or tear one or can be purchased for between 50p and say £10 each depending on whether daily or monthly etc.

You are much more prone to eye infections with long term soft lenses as few people adhere to the rigorous cleaning regimes required because the solutions and protein removal stuff etc is very expensive - don't even think about them. Go for disposables.

Monthly are the most cost effective, dailies are the healthiest and most convenient. Daily disposables are also far and away the best for part time / occasional wear. Always bear in mind too that if you order online you will need to pay your optician separately for fitting, aftercare, and your prescription, and you will have to purchase a small supply of lenses off your optician each year so they can do their job. Often the cost of check ups etc negates the saving you can make online. I'd recommend Johnson & Johnson 1-Day Acuvue Moist as being pretty much the most comfortable lens around (and widely available online unlike optician own brands). Once fitted and your optician is happy (this takes 3 months before they will issue your prescription usually so you have to buy 3 months worth of lenses off them) if you want to order online then try www.eyebuddy.com - if you buddy up with friends (i.e. give their email addresses and persuade them to register and for max discount purchase) you can save up to 40% off high street price - but even with less discount the J&J lenses are good value from these guys. P&P is free on orders over £40 and Bausch & Lomb Soflens Daily Disposables are half price at the moment if you buy 180 pairs - that's about 20% cheaper than ASDA online and that's with the basic discount not the maximum. You need a little patience to use the site though:-( but its worth it:-)

malibusami86

makoshr wrote: »

I've been buying daily lenses from www.daysoftcontactlenses.com for a few months now and have been really pleased with them and at £4.99 for a box of 32 lenses they are the cheapest I have ever found.

i ordered a months supply of these too recently and have found them really good quality. they are a bit slippy to put them on and a bit dry when you take them out - but whilst wearing them theyre great