contact lens discussion thread (merged)

JennyW_2

I've been wearing lenses for years. To be honest I don't know why you find them hassle? You only have to take them out and place them in solution? I've always bought a one-step solution - they go straight in to that.

You'll always find that prescriptions for your lenses and glasses will be different so it's not good to rely on one prescription.

I've thought about purchasing lenses on-line but the thing is you get no follow-up care as you do through an optician. I have monthly disposables (pay about £7/month) and I get a free yearly lense check plus if I have any eye problems I can go to my optician, you cant do that on-line. Just something to consider.

Just to add, you can always keep the glasses for late night working/studying. I wear my lenses during the day and swap them for glasses for the evening. No sticky eyes then! Your eyes will need a breather at some point, it's not good to wear them all the time, they need oxygen too to remain healthy.

JennyW_2

BigBouncyBall wrote: »

i notice the Bausch & Lomb - Purevision continuous wear lenses have the same base curve and diameter as the surevue i used to wear - a good chance they'll be right for me?

sorry i wait for a reply now

your eyes are very important. I think you should really seek advice from an optician and get the right ones. If you want to repeat buy then go on-line but don't do a trial-and-error yourself.

loobs40

to buy online contact lenses you have to have an up to date contact lense prescription which is different to the one you would get for an ordinary eye test. They won't sell you lenses unless you provide proof.

Opticians should also do a contact lense check which is different from an ordinary eye test before they sell you lenses

Welshlassie

I've been using the All day and night ones for coming up 2 years and other than a slight infection 12 months ago, not had any problems with them. I currently get them from Specsavers at £22.50 per months, but these include one toric lense, previously was £15.50 on a normal prescription.

This includes Lensmail and After care.

I find them great, they tend to feel a little gritty some mornings towards the end of the month but a couple of drops of a contact lens compatible eye drop sorts that out.

I started using them for the same reason as you, just got fed up having to put them in every morning and found they dried out after about 8 hours wearing them so needed to take them out as soon as I got home from work.

brix_2

Like welshlassie says, the continuous wear ones are great if you can't be bothered with all the cleaning, soaking and fiddling about. i do have to buy eye drops to keep them moisturised though, as they get sticky in the mornings and in dry, smoky atmospheres. you can get lens compatible comfort drops in wilko for £2 a bottle and they last a month, though.

my continous wear ones cost me £15 a month from specsavers and that includes aftercare and postage. if i break a lens, then i get one free replacement per month

i've found similar ones online for about £12 a month but that is for lenses only, not postage or replacements, etc. so i'm sticking with specsavers.

GreenNinja

I am the same have worn lenses for 22 years now and never have any probs, apart from mascara. I use the clinique one and that doesn't cause any adverse reaction at all. Its not cheap but it lasts ages and looks fab.

dbs

I need some new contact lenses and need the eye test aswell.

I want throw away lenses as before but I dont use them very often only once a week.

My old optician has closed so how much would a contact lens eye test cost at other opticians?

wolfehouse

it depends on where you will buy your lenses from. i got quotes of about £20 from the high street shops. but they were quick to say this didn't include the checkups you need regularly if you didn't buy the lenses through them. some will return this fee if you do sign up to buy through them.

i got mine at costco where the prescription (first a fitting, then a trial, then showing you how to put them in- so 3 appointments) and a years check-ups costs £9.99

there is a sticky on here re. contacts

Optician12345

Hi,

I've noticed a few people on the forum discussing day and night contact lenses and whether or not to buy them from the net. Although night and day (or continuous wear as they are otherwise known) lenses are safe to use for the majority of wearers, its common sense that keeping lenses in your eyes for 30 days puts you at the highest possible risk of eye infections (and believe me Ive seen them with all lens types, but this group of lens wearers are at the highest risk).

For these reasons, it is very important to try and schedule a proper fitting with an optician as:

a) they will guide you towards the right size/shape/type of lens
b) first time wearers of this type are very closely monitored for signs that the eye is "happy" wearing a lens for so long.

Usually this entails an initial fitting to have a look at the lens on the eye, followed by the patient wearing the lens each day for a week or so but taking it out at night, and only sleeping in the lens the night BEFORE the next check. If the eye is still looking good the patient will now sleep in the lenses and keep them in 24hrs per day for a week or so. Another check....and only then is the patient allowed to go ahead with this lens type under close review. Its not uncommon for the lenses to be unsuitable for some patients.

Sorry for the long post but it really concerns me how willing people are nowadays to just "wing it" and see how it goes. Especially with so many companies selling lenses without due attention to the health of the patients eyes.

I think sadly people are unaware of the complexeties of eye health so I would just like to say dont risk it, if you shop around you can easily find opticians who will do all i have described as part of a free trial or otherwise so you dont even have to pay for this.

Anyway, good luck to all you guys that try the lenses. Im sure you'll love them

Token_Girl

I use Vision Direct (visiondirect.com) in the US. They don't ask you to send a copy of your prescription (although you to have to sign a waiver saying that you do have a valid presciption).

My last six month order for myself and my boyfriend cost us the equivilant of £11.34 each a month (including postage and customs charges). The reason for this is that I always receive regular emails with money-off offers.

I have been using them for at least two years with no problems so far. Just order up to two weeks before you need your new lenses (they send you email reminders).

I use Boots to have my eyes tested. They then give you trial lenses which gives you your prescription for each eye. then I just tell them that I'm not sure and that I'll think about it!