Can anybody gimme some info on disposable contact lenses? (1 Viewer)

[NickSo]

Okay, Im 16, i have glasses, but they bug the heck out of me.. They make the bridge of my nose all oily, they're always slightly crooked, always has dust on them, and just darned uncomfortable sometimes...

I really wanna get contacts, but my parents won't let me... I did print out the thread about freakin out with contacts, but they just read it once and chucked it aside...

I also wanna get me a nice pair of shades :p)

I need some strong convincing presuading information and evidence for me to get contacts...

Here are their arguments in why they wont get me contacts:

1. Unhealthy for the eyes. Contacts 'suffocate' them, and anything that gets in between your eye and the contact will damage the outer layer of the eye, and damage it. Minute microscopic particles will get between there and just start wearing it down and creating tiny scratches on my eyeball.

2. Inconvenient. I have allergies, and occasinally do rub my eyes, but its not as intense now than when i was younger. They'll always fall out, takes a long time to take care of them and to clean them and to store them, and its really hard to stick in and you can hurt your eyes if you do it wrong.

3. Expensive. They think its really expensive to keep buying new contacts, or get permanent ones. My glasses are like el-cheapo frames and basic basic lenses (plastic, just plastic), which cost a total of around $130 CAD with everything (taxes and all), and would last me a year to a year and a half i guess.

I checked 1-800 contacts, and the cheapest Toric lenses they have cost $109 USD for a years' supply for "Frequency 55 Toric" monthly disposable lenses. The more popular Focus Torics are only $10 more for monthly ($118). The shipping to canada is a measely $1.00. I calculated them to cost about $3.00-$3.50CAD approx. a week for monthly lenses.

What advantages besides being in your eyes than outside, are there to contacts compared to glasses? Does it let you see better? I would guess coz you got correction in full viewing angles.

Disadvantages? Hard to clean? Hard to put in?

Also, are there any differences between popular (Focus) lenses to less well known lenses (Frequency 55) besides price? What makes one monthly disposable cost more than the other?

What are the steps needed to care for and store the lenses?

Any other useful information that will aid me in my quest for contact lenses???

Thanks alot...

 

[Denward]

I don't think there's anything wrong with someone your age getting contacts. I'm 38 now but I've been wearing daily wear soft contacts for 15 years.

As for your parents' arguments:

1. Suffocating the eyes: I think it is safer to remove lenses every night. Although I'm not sure, I think that contacts only touch your eye around the edge creating a suction effect that keeps them attached. You do need to develop good sanitary practices (always wash and rinse hands thoroughly immediately before handling lenses) and you'll be fine. If you get something on your lens when you put it in, you will know immediately so you just take it out. This happens to me maybe once a year.

2. Convenience: I have allergies too and I have rubbed one or two lenses out of my eye. Taking them out and putting them in is a cinch. After you do it a dozen times, it's second nature. Cleaning daily wear is a bit of a chore, but I cheat a little. I use a combined solution that disinfects and contains an enzyme to remove protein deposits. The recommended procedure is to use a daily cleaner and rub your lenses between your fingers every day. I don't do this part anymore, but my lenses remain extremely comfortable. I just soak them every night in fresh solution in the little case. I do get my eyes and lenses checked regularly by an ophthamologist (sp?). I avoid optometrists because they didn't go to medical school so I don't trust them to diagnose medical conditions that might manifest themselves in your eyes.

3. Cost: It sounds like the cost issue a push. Daily wear might be a little cheaper than disposables. If you take them out every night (which I think you should anyway) I think doctors will tell you that you can wear a pair for longer than a week.

Vision (especially when playing sports) is a lot better. You could also argue that you can wear cheaper (usually)non-prescription sunglasses which can do a lot for protecting your eyes.

Despite all this, there is some added, minuscule risk to wearing contacts. If you look at most ophthamologists, they wear glasses, not contacts.

 

[Kris McLaughlin]

Dude, go to Costco! I get my contacts (Focus Torics) there, and they cost literally 50% of what we payed when we still bought them from the eye doctor.
I still go to my same eye doctor, but until they smarten up with their pricing, I will continue to get a written copy of my prescription on the way out to take with me to Costco.
Same lenses, same packaging, 50% of the price. Even parents can't argue with that!
Good luck!
EDIT: forgot the following info:
As for maintenance, I use "Complete" brand all-in-one solution. No rubbing, no soaking, no chemicals. It takes me 15 sec in the AM to put them in, another 15 sec. at night to take them out.
The lenses will always last longer than what they tell you. Mine are 1 month disposables (I think- I don't even remember; that's how irrelevant it is. ), and I just wear them 'til they start getting uncomfortable. Usually they are good for at least 2.5-3 months. YMMV.
Cheers,

 

[Jay H]

Speaking of sunglasses, non-prescription sunglasses are way more cheaper than prescription glasses. Try to find out how much a prescription Oakley M-frame sweep is? OUCH!!!!!

Plus I have my 3/4 month supply of contacts last a year so my prescription plan for contact lenses makes my lenses free every year. You probably don't have such a plan, being only a teen, but even so, my $100 worth of contacts which is the limit my vision plan pays lasts me around a year. I take mine out and clean them everyday though and at the first sign of any irritation, I toss them.

Jay

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I've been wearing soft lenses for years, but switched over to one-day disposables three years ago when I started hitting the gym/pool on a regular basis (and subsequently stopped, but that's another story).

I find the daily disposables to be much more convenient. No cleaning, no soaking, just open the packet and pop it onto your eye. I wear them for swimming (with goggles of course), for gym and when I'm out socially. I never use them for work. I buy a 3 or 6 month supply and I've found recently that online, I can get them for roughly half the price I'd pay from an optometrist. (n.b. the 'rules' over such things maybe different in the UK compared to the US. You certainly can't buy them from the equivalent of Costco).

They're relatively expensive, of course, but that is offset for me by the sheer freedom they give you. No more steamed up specs, nothing slipping down your face. When in the gym and pool they're a godsend. You have to get used what you can and can't do when wearing contacts, but I find there's very few drawbacks to them.

 

[Denward]

Nick,

BTW, it seems like your parents' idea of contact lenses is a little antiquated. My wife has been wearing contacts for 25 years and she has an astigmatism. When she got hers, the only option was 'gas permeable' hard lenses. These are little hard plastic disks. Nowadays, soft lenses are more like a disk of thick Saran Wrap. Very soft. Probably 80% liquid. You should ask someone to pluck one out of their eye and show it to your parents.

 

[NickSo]

Also, is there any chance that it'll cause infection to the eye? Or like warp it or anything or damage it? Anybody heard of that? Or maybe allergic response etc?

ANYTHING that'll damage my eye in any way with contacts???

Thats what my mom says it'll do. Like bacterial infection and that not everybody is capable of wearing contacts...

 

[Jay H]

There are a whole lot of people wearing contacts, including me and all 3 of my sisters, none (I hope) have warped eyes, at least I don't think so althought that would explain why all of you look so funny in your .signature pictures... HAHAHAH I digresss.
Once again, I think your mom is thinking of the old hard contacts and less of the newer soft contact lenses. It is true that some people have drier eyes than others so the re-wetting drops are used where others never have a problem. I have never used rewetting drops whereas my sister is always using them. Although I haven't heard of anybody being allergic to a type of saline solution, it is possible though I'd imagine.
Jay

 

[Denward]

To Nick's Mom,

There is no such thing as riskless. Yes, there is a chance of infection, but there are millions and millions of people wearing contacts. I think the risks are greater if you leave the lenses in for weeks at a time. It just seems better to take them out frequently and soak them in disinfectant to kill any cooties.

Allergic responses are also possible. When I started wearing lenses, many solutions contained a preservative called Thimerasol. A nontrivial number of people must have had reactions to it, because they started selling 'Sensitive Eye' solutions that were prominently labeled Thimerasol-Free. I don't think Thimerasol is out there anymore.

The bottom line is that when you get contacts, you should be more diligent about annual eye exams.

 

[Ryan_M_M]

I got my contacts at 16. I've been wearing them for 8 years now. When I first got them, they were soft lenses that lasted one year to a year and a half. Nowadays, I buy monthly lenses and take them out at nite and soaked them in solution. Like someone else I can get about 2 months wear out of them. I found the first few years difficult with them, but now my eyes have become use to them.

 

[NickSo]

Hey guys, sorry for digging this up, but i have an update..
Today i got my eyes checked, then i went to a glasses store, and i bought a trial pair for $10!
I have them on right now, its not uncomfortable at all, though it took me like 15 minutes to get them in (I did it myself, i had to pay a whole $15 more if i wanted them to show me!), but they're in!
I can barely feel a thing, though they're a bit stronger than my glasses, and using the computer i have some eyestrain, but i get that with upated lenses on my normal glasses too..
BUt yeah, thanks alot you guys!

 

[Elizabeth S]

Good for you! You'll get used to them! It used to take me a long time to put them in in the beginning also -- I guess it's a hesitancy to possibly touch your eye. But now, it's like nothing! Same with taking them out.

 

[Mark Larson]

I guess I should also put my two cents in - I have astigmatism, and at 17 i got myself contacts (after much bugging of the parents i might add!), and they were uncomfortable as hell. I could only wear them at night, if i was going to be indoors. (Perfect for clubbing cos glasses would get steamed up as well)
If they suit you, they suit you well, but if they don't... Well, let's just say this is what Torture is.
I also scratched them out of my eyes couple of times (and one scary time when i thought it was gone inside completely!!

 

[NickSo]

Yeah, it feels fine for me so far..
Hey, just a question on caring for them...
I got this no rub lens cleaning solution...
But heres how exactly I think i store/clean my lenses:
1. Take right one out of right eye
2. Put the solution into my left hand with lens still sticking to the index finger of my right hand
3. Put lens into solution (in left hand) for 5 secs
4. Put right lens into case with solution inside
5. Repeat with left eye.
is this right?
Also, when i take it out, it always gets stuck in half, is this normal? do i just flip them back to normal when I store them in the case?

 

[Michael*K]

The cleaning method you describe is fine and yes, it is normal for the lens to be folded over on occasion when you remove them from the solution.

If your parents are still giving you a hard time, why not get them to talk to your eye doctor so he or she can debunk these silly myths they believe in?

The contacts may be the same correction strength as your eyeglasses. But they can seem like they are stronger because they offer a vast improvement in your peripheral vision.

Toric lenses are a little less comfortable than standard lenses because the lens is shaped a bit differently. One end is a little thicker than the other so the lens always stays in proper position. I use Toric disposables and there are more brands than the ones you mentioned. Some feel more comfortable than others. In fact, when I first changed over to Torics, I tried four different brands (the eye doctor gave me samples of each) and I finally settled on the Softlens 66 from Bausch & Lomb. After taking a week to adjust (they seem stronger than regular lenses because they actually sharpen the vision) they've been fine since.

By the way, if you are having some problems using the computer, keep some wetting eyedrops handy. When looking at a computer screen, you don't blink as much and the lenses have a tendency to dry out.

 

[NickSo]

Well, im not sure if mine are torics or not, coz at one place they said that if my cylinder was above -1.00 (im -0.50), i don't need it, but i got them somewhere else...
Anyways, my mom is okay wtih it, I dunno if my dad knows or not.. he DID see me without my glasses anyways lol..
yeah, i foudn it hard to use the computer after awhile, it got kind a blurry and pale... but everything else is so much more, like, 3D
I think mine are Frequency55 brand (the lens case says 55 at the top)
thanks

 

[Leila Dougan]

Glad you like your contacts! I had some for a few years and liked them as well. I'm not sure what the weather is like out there in Vancouver, but a word of warning: be cautious of the wind. You won't be able to even open your eyes facing the direction of the wind. Your contacts will become dried out very quickly and if you get any sand in there, OUCH! It'll happen a few times then you'll learn which direction to face when outside and it'll just become second nature.

 

[Brad_V]

I have an astigmatism but wear the regular disposable contacts because they are cheaper if I break one (but not cheaper over a year's time) and because the torics, being weighted on one side, can move around on your eye and blur for a moment. The regulars are fine for every day stuff, I just can't do something like bowl in them because my depth perception would be off a bit.
Nick, I know what you mean about things being more 3D. I wore glasses for so long, (still do half the time), and I don't know if it's the lenses themselves, or maybe minor scratches over time, or what, but while I can see a little sharper with my glasses, the world seems more alive and vibrant with contacts.

 

[Brad_V]

Oh yeah, and the cheapest place I've found for contacts (including shipping) is Vision Direct. 1-800-Contacts isn't even close in price in most cases. The cheapy regular Focus Dailies are just fine and can even be slept in, but lately I've been using the aqua-colored ones. They make my baby blues even more sparkly and blue. (Women actually notice things like that. They are a strange species.)