contact lens discussion thread (merged)

anniewoo

I have worn contact lenses of various types for nearly 30 years and I have always had a check-up once a year.

An optician once told me that wearing lenses continuously can sometimes cause changes to the surface of the eye which you would not be aware of because you are used to a foreign body,ie the contact lens,being in your eye.Whereas someone who didn't wear lenses would probably be more aware of any changes.

How true this is,I don't know,but I don't want to put my sight at risk by not having regular check ups.

RumanaB

I don't usually wear my glasses until the evening. I wear my contact lenses for about 12 hours (or less) and then switch to my glasses afterwards.

I'm beginning to think my headaches may be due to the poor lighting in my workplace. I work at Sainsburys in the Personnel department but quite frequently have to go downstairs to help out on a till. The lighting downstairs is really bad and causes glare on the screens of the tills. Do you think a doctor would be able to write a note for me to make me exempt from going on a till? It's not even part of my job role to be working on a till but in our company we have to help out other departments if they're struggling. Has anyone else been in a situation like this? And have you been able to get a note from the doctor?

sunstarrr

Buying contact lenses online is cheaper than buying them from an opticians BUT you don't get the aftercare or free contact lens checkups that you would get from a high street opticians....

So........for the past couple of years I have been doing this: go into a high street branch of Specsavers, get a contact lens checkup, then when that is done ask to be put on their "lensmail" scheme and sign up for the direct debit. The lensmail costs £10 a month for monthly disposables + solution and if you sign up for it there & then you get your contact lens checkup FREE. The minimum term for lensmail is 3 months, so just before the 3 months is about to end (i.e. before they send me the next lot of lenses), I phone up Specsavers and cancel my lensmail subscription.
Then.. I order cheaper lenses online for the next few months... until my next contact lens checkup is due.. when I go into Specsavers and have the checkup, & sign up for lensmail again. This means paying a bit extra for contact lenses for 3 months but saves £25 on the contact lens checkup every time, which I think is worth it?!

I was worried to start off with that the Specsavers people might start to get suspicious, but they haven't yet, and if they ask I think I would just say that I kept cancelling my lensmail because I was going abroad or something!

margaretbarns

I'm thinking of trying contact lenses and talked to my friend about it and she recommended focus dailies. I found a website, freenetlens.com, that has them the cheapest, but they ship from France. The website looks secure enough, just wondering if anyone has ordered from there before or if they have any advice/better offers.

I managed to get focus dailies 90/3months for £27.95 and delivery is 5 euros I think, so not bad. Cant find any cash back or owt though.

Thanks

yescubedesign

Do you use a computer at work? If so i'm sure that work are obliged to pay towards reasonable eye care - check with HR...

Sorry I'm brief but I'm off to bed...

Nile

Hello margaretbarns

I'll move your thread to the 'Health' board.

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].

Regards

Nile

Pink.

Hi margaretbarns,

Have you read Martin's article: Contact Lens and Laser Eye Surgery Cost Cutting: A Visible Saving

Pink

princess

hi i have used freenetlens.com who actually ship from Belgium and they have been second to none. Dailies arrived within 4 days during the christmas rush and a special order arrived in 9 days - it used to take specsavers longer than that to get it ordered in for me! You are also able to return goods if not suitable (and not used!) at your expense if it was your error, at their expense if the eror was theirs. a cool company!

davidspd

Hi.

This might be a stupid question, but ... do opticians carry contact lens stock?

I usually wear glasses for driving, but would like to get some contact lenses for occasional use (maybe once or twice a month). If i went to get a prescription, would I be able to get lenses the same day, or do they need to be ordered in specially, and if so how long does it take?

Don't know if its relevant but i have a slight astigmatism and used to wear contact lenses about 15 years ago.

Thanks.

skyrocket

most opticians carry stock if they sell contacts but it all depends on your presciption i would imagine. i would say yes. if you went for a fitting they will have your lenses there.
hth