contact lens discussion thread (merged)

starbump

I use them. Supposed to pop in a fresh pair once a week (and give my eyes a break overnight) but I confess am very bad at remembering and frequently leave them in too long... er, won't mention how many extra days. See my optician about once a year (never get round to extra appointments) and my eyes are fine, despite my lens misuse. It's great to wake up and "see" without needing to do anything. I pay about 30 quid per month, so the price sound right to me. Go for it - I think you'll like them.

pandora205

I've just swapped to monthly disposables after wearing gas permeable for about 30 years. Mine cost about £15 per month from Specsavers. I just take them out weekly and clean them. I leave it overnight (but could put them straight back in) then go on wearing them. At the end of the month they are thrown away.

I find them very comfortable and use drops first thing in the morning. They are better for my eyes as I kept falling asleep during the evenings with my hard lenses in, which isn't good!

I have some daily disposables in case I do watersports (I like surfing and windsurfing).

Disposables are obviously dearer but very comfortable, especially now I can get them out (I was a very slow learner!)

I'm sure there are much cheaper ways to buy them too, if you want to order them directly.

purplepurple

I use extended wear monthlies (specsavers £15 a month) but was advised by the optitian in specsavers never to leave them in overnight (once by mistake might be okay... but never more than that) as they can cause real problems with eye ulcers etc. He himself cannot wear contact lenses ever again as he "abused them" when younger (and he only looked about 20 to me!) by leaving them in for weeks at a time and has had problems ever since. A couple of people that I work with have also had problems with eye ulcers from them.....

I think if you use them sensibly, with good hygeine they should be fine
The £15 a month includes all solutions, half price glasses, free contact lens checks and free retreival if they disappear behind your eyeball (or wherever they go!! eek!)

pandora205

Mine are the sort that are supposed to left in rather than me choosing this option which is why I went for them as I was quite happy with gas permeable in other ways.

Princess_Jane

Thanks everyone.

I think I might try them for a month and see what fettle.

£30 a month sounds dear if Specsavers are doing them for £30.

I'm with D&A..

k1rkyc

I wear lenses that I leave in all day and all night from Specsavers and I love them! They are a little dry first thing in the mornings but other than that, I've had no issues at all. I get 3 pairs posted to me every 3 months. The only improvement for me will be laser eye surgery!

pandora205

That's what I have too and they are £15 per month.

Eye drops first thing in the morning solve the dry eyes too so that's not a problem.

wishiwasarichgirl

extended wear lenses are £15.50 per month from specsavers.

This covers lenses, delivery, and Easycare (routine contact lens checks, routine sight test, any extra contact lens checks you need, 1 replacement pair of lenses per year if you lose or damage them, half price frames from the £75 - £99 range or designer spex for £85)

There are a couple of extended wear lenses which cost more than this (namely johnson&johnson/Acuvue lenses.) They are not any better, you are just paying for their extensive advertising

BigBouncyBall

extended wear lenses are awesome - i've been using ClearVision for about a year now and have saved so much money on solutions.

I buy them from where ever is cheapest at that time (https://www.contactlenses.co.uk are good) and the only other thing i've bought are some refreshing eye drops for the odd time i'm tired etc and i bought the B&L flight pack contact lens solution for £4.95 which does for when i'm on holiday and i go swimming etc - i can give them a wash and get the chlorine off!!

throughly recommend extended wear lenses. I really can't see the point of laser correction any more - i was considering it, but extended wear lenses are so easy and cheap i've given up on the idea!

want2bmortgage3

the last couple of years i've been using focus night and day lenses, now called air optix. they have been pretty good and most of the time i dont know i have them in.

lately i've suffered more from dry eyes, i think its partly down to the heat, and once the lenses dry a little, they become quite irritable and vision is affected.

i havent been to the optician for ages, i have just been ordering lenses online every 6 months. well probably more frequent as i keep losing track of when i put the lenses in. sometimes i'll get frustrated with a lense and end up throwing it away, when it probably just needs a soak in solution or a clean.

anyway this is costing me £70/6 months with no aftercare. is it time i had a check up and maybe changed the way i do things? i dont know what services the opticians offer, it would be nice to have a monthly d/d which includes lenses and an appointment every so often i guess.

any advice is much appreciated