Getting Contact Lenses In and Out

So I've been wearing glasses since I was 15 (now 19) and I have been wanting to try contacts for a while now, I finally got around to booking an appointment and having a consultation today and I was amazed with how good my vision was with contacts! but the only snag is getting them out I don't have any problems with actually touching my eye but I just can't seem to look ahead like the optician told me whilst also trying to slide it off the coloured part of my eye... I't didn't help when the optician (I think he might have been just a sales guy?) failed to notice that the contact I'd been trying to remove for the past 30 minutes had actually fallen out and so I was just left with a sore watery eye for the rest of the day

Although now I do feel less guilty that I'm going to switch to Daysoft lenses (less then £10 a month delivered) as soon as the free trials over, saying that I near enough fell off my seat when they quoted me £38 for 1 Day Acuvue Moist

 

[size=large]The idea of contact lenses seems unnatural to me. But well done to you if tou can learn to put them on. I don't think I could ever do it. [/size]

 

Contacts are invaluable really, they allow for a lot more activities than glasses do, i've worn them for donkeys years - and yes, the clarity is always going to be superior because the lens is no longer an inch or so away the eye.

The daily lenses are extraordinarily expensive compared to the Gas Permeable ones i wear - mine cost about £90 per pair and last for years on end !

It seems that these days the opticians start people off on Soft lenses instead of the Hard or Gas Permeables - i suppose it's to make them more money, they'll be earning hundreds of pounds a year out of you, compared to a fraction of it from me !

 

Had exactly the same thing happen with my daughter, she thought she had one stuck in her eye went to local A+E who couldn't get it out referred us to another hospital 20 miles away only to find she didn't even have 1 in!!!!!!!, she'd made her eye so sore ended up with eye drops for a week, she has worn them since though.

 

Well that's worrying when hospital staff can't recognise that the eyeball doesn't even have a plastic lens attached to it.
What you're trying to remove if those instances is the cornea itself - unbelievably painful and dangerous

 

It's certainly not a nice experience trying to fish around in your eye and it certainly gave me pause for thought... although I think after a few times I will get the hang of it :WINK1: I like the idea of dailies because it means I don't have to worry about disinfecting the contacts and then also loosing one

 

Losing and/or damaging these does indeed mean ordering a new one, you then have to go around one-eyed or use your glasses for a couple of days until it arrives :P

 

My thoughts exactly Louise, especially when the nurse said she could see it and lifted it up!!!!! quite scary thinking back, who knows what damage they could have done, luckily at the other hospital it was a Dr who looked in her eye and said straight away she didn't have one in.

 

hahaha, I can see this happening to me alot

 

Getting soft lenses out is easy once you've got the knack. Put one hand under your eye and use your index finger to push the lower eyelid very slightly downwards. Then, with your other hand, pinch the lens between thumb and index finger and remove it. You should be able to do this without putting much pressure on your eye at all. You're probably getting too worked up about staring straight ahead. Just keep your eye still and you'll be fine.

I find Vision Direct is good value if you're buying lenses online.
http://www.visiondirect.co.uk/

 

I fully agree, contact lenses are a blessed invention! A foureyer for over 30 years I do appreciate the improvement of the quality of life.

Getting them in and out is tricky for about a month, by then you will have gotten used to poking your eyes and will have developed your own technique.

Some watchouts.... If you have handled fat- soluble aromatic substances... that is garlic and chillies... the thingies will stay on your fingertips for at least 24 hours, regardless of washing. Ouch! Long fingernails are not comfortable. Leaving the lens case exposed to toothpaste residue may wake your eyes up in a very surprising way. ..... and yes, all this is from a personal experience...

 

I have also suffered from the dreaded Chilli Eye. You can wash your hands a dozen times but still be sufficiently chillified to make your peepers sting.

 

Well I had my appointment today and it went really well, it was much easier then last time and so the optician let me leave with the 5-day trial and gave me a new appointment for next week. Interestingly I asked about getting a copy of my prescription and he said that I wouldn't be able to get it until the 3 month check-up which he also mentioned would be free if I got lenses from them or cost £40 if I didn't =/ I don't really mind too much but £40 is a bit steep...

 

Yes, I'm afraid that opticians tend to squeeze every last bit of money out of you because they know that once you have your prescription you will be able to shop around online. I didn't know they could withhold it for three months, however. First I've heard of it. [hr]
PS actually it sounds as if your optician is trying it on a bit, if this stuff I found on the web is accurate:-

http://www.lenstore.co.uk/faqs#faq1e