contact lens discussion thread (merged)

Sheel

Hi

I'm going to move this over to the Health board for you

regards , Sheel

lolly5648

I have a friend who only wears one lens - she doesnt have any problems.

I wear one lens for distance and one for reading and it only took me a few days for my brain to realise what was going on. However I am very short sighted and now need reading glasses as well so this was the best option for me.

It is harder getting used to using varifocal lenses so I think you are probably better off with a standard lens in one eye and one for close up in the other. I think lenses are only sold in pairs, dont know if opticial will just let you order the close up lens but it is worth asking.

Bennifred

I am short-sighted in one eye with O.K- longish sight in the other, and the optician wanted me to wear a different lens in each eye. Unfortunately this had the effect of making the short-sighted eye long-sighted and the other one short-sighted (i.e. just swapped the problem around!!) I find that the solution for me is to wear the lens correcting the short-sighted eye when I'm driving, at the cinema etc, and not at all if I have lots of reading to do.

SnowyOwl_2

Hi there

If your optician tells you to wear your contact(s) for a maximum number of hours per day and max no of days per week...follow that advice!!! I got contacts a few years ago and loved them so much I wore them for lots longer than the recommendation. Stupid me! What happens is that with some types of contacts your eyes have to work a lot harder to get their oxygen supply - taking your lenses out when you're awake gives them a chance to rest and replenish. Leaving your lenses in too long day in and day out can cause damage to your eye - it doesn't hurt but it could mean bye bye to your lenses forever!

I know contacts have advanced a lot and some modern ones can even be worn while you sleep, but do follow your optician's advice. Things can go wrong if you don't and there possibly won't be any pain to tell you. My intention is not to put you off contacts, but just to share with you my mistake and the consequences in the hope that you don't do the same.

I am now a permanent speccy four eyes as I am too scared to put contacts into my eyes now.

davejold

Thank you for your most helpful replies, it sounds as if one standard lens for close up may suit me. I now feel more confident for tomorrows visit to the optician and a little wiser.

Rex_Mundi

I've been reading this thread with interest. My partner Debs wears contacts. She has been using the same village optician for years. I didn't realise till recently that you can order on the net. I looked into it and realised that we can save quite a bit of money. She currently orders three months of dailies at a time. This costs £90 each time. I've found exactly the same lenses online for £64.50. This is nearly £10 a month cheaper.

She phoned the opticians to make sure that they don't order the next three months worth, and told them she was going to order on the net. The opticians phoned up a while later and told her that the price of her six monthly checkup was going up from £27 to £47. She has always been told that for contacts she needs a checkup every six months and has been doing this for years. It's only now that we've found out that she only needs a check every 12 months. Her prescription doesn't change that often, so it doesn't seem like she has a special need for six monthly checkups.

I can understand the shop not wanting to lose a regular customer, but, not only does it seem that they have been scamming her for years by doing two checkups a year. The price rise seems completely ridiculous and plain bad blood on their part. They have now lost all of our custom.

Can they refuse her a copy of her prescription? I'm just starting the process of ordering on the net and although we know the type and strength of the lens, we don't have anything in writing. Her last checkup was two months ago and there was no change from the checkup before. I'm worried they may try to cause problems if a new supplier contacted them for her details.

panther

If an optician refuses to supply a written contact lens prescription report them to the General Optical Council. Taken from the GOC website: http://www.optical.org

The contact lens (specification) rules 1989

The General Optical Council, in exercise of their powers under section 31(1)(e) of the Opticians Act 1958, hereby make the following rules:-

Citation and commencement
1. These rules may be cited as the Contact Lens (Specification) Rules 1989 and shall come into force on the 1st day of June 1989.

Duty to provide specification
2. An optician who fits a person with a contact lens shall on completing the fitting give to him a written statement of the particulars necessary to enable the lens to be replicated.

Jurisdiction
The Council deals with concerns about registrants who have:
· been convicted of a criminal offence;
· been guilty of serious professional misconduct;
· breached a rule regarding professional activities by, for example
◦ producing inappropriate publicity,
◦ not supplying a contact lens specification,
◦ failing to refer to a general medical practitioner when appropriate to do so.

kazzy

I used to buy my lenses online from Holland which was cheaper but when I got an eye infection and needed to see an optician ,because I wasn't registered with anyone,every optician I went to wanted to charge me a horrendous amount-over £100.I therefore thought I wouldn't take the risk again so I am now with specsavers.

Rex_Mundi

Thanks for the info panther. Very informative. In fact, it looks like the opticians may be in breach of their own code. The GOC deal with cases of inappropriate publicity.

Last week Debs received a letter from the opticians reminding her about her six monthly checkup. In the letter they state, and I quote "Current research has shown that soft lens wearers require an examination every six months, and this is recommended by the British College of Optometrists"

Just to double check on this I contacted Dr Susan Blakeney who is the Optometric Advisor at the College of Optometrists. She wrote back to confirm that their advice is that contact lens checkups should be conducted at least every twelve months.

This looks like the optician is trying to drum up extra business by giving out false information. If they are doing it here, I'm presuming they are doing this to all their customers. I've downloaded the complaint form from the GOC and we are going to complain about this. At £47 a test, they must be scamming a fortune off people.

On the other hand.....................

On Thursday we ordered three months worth of lenses from https://www.postoptics.co.uk This was our first order, and we weren't sure how long it would take for the lenses to arrive. Saturday morning and the lenses were at our door. Fantastic service!!! And a lot cheaper than we've been paying for years.

Patr100

i currently pay about £55 for 6 months of 30 day disposables from my local optician . Allthough the prices on the sites are a bit cheaper for supply, the local Opticians that are part of the sites search facilty charge from £20 and often much more for follow up care - as a new patient that would be required, so it doesn't make such a saving. I am due my annual test I could ask my existing optician for my prescription but they are unlikey to provide free follow up care for new lenses they do not recommend or supply themselves if I have any problems.

So not always such a bargain.