Contacts

Who all wear contact lenses?

I just got my first pair, O2 Optics, last Thursday. I'm having someone difficult time getting use to them. Right now my eyes are watering like crazy. I go back on Thursday for a follow up.

What kind of solution do you use to clean your contacts with? What kind do you were?

I've worn contacts since I was 13. All different brands. Now I have Frequency 55. The excess watering should stop after a couple days. Basically your eye thinks something is in it and producing tears is the only defense it has to get it out.

Saline solution, I've probably used at least 60% of the available brands on the market. Now I realized the cheap stuff is just as good as the name brand. Just like generic allergy or headache medecine, the ingredients are the same, you just pay extra for the name.

Contacts can be great, especially if you're self-conscious about how you look in glasses, but you gotta take car of em. After about a year of wearin contacts I started gettin lazy and not takin em out every night. After a while I would go over a week without givin my eyes a rest and some air. This eventually led to me having a stye (a bump underneath the skin of the eyelid) wich had to be taken care of. I'll spare you the details, but it wasn't pleasant. And ever since then, I've had eye allergies... TERRIBLE eye allergies. Watery, itchy, dry, everything. So now contacts are a chore for me. The moral: take em out every day unless you have the kind that don't require it or you have extrenuating circumstances where you can't easily take em out. Your eyes will thank you for it. :sunglasse

hmm I haven't taken mine out since may... don't tell my eye doctor!

When I used to have the permanent ones I would take them out every night and do all the proper stuff, but then I went to college and got disposables. I like the disposables much better. I buy the cheapest ones they offer where I go. I tried those fancy breathable ones for about two weeks and had nothing but problems with them.

I usually put mine in and wear them/sleep in them/ do everything in them. After about 2-3 months when they start to bother me I pull them out and pop in a new pair. Keep in mind these are supposed to be 2 week disposables. I have been doing this for about 5 years now and never had a problem. I have been in some filthy dirty nasty situations with mine in also. I've touched my contacts dirty etc. I have never had a infection or a stye. Guess I have resiliant eyes. I even got punched once at a bar and lost a contact... found it on the floor rinsed it off in the bathroom sink and popped it back in. That probably wasn't smart but its better than being blind all night.


Only things I find annoying with my contacts is that swimming can be a pain. water in your eyes might wash them out into the pool/ocean. Sometimes wind in my face will dry them out, sometimes it won't bother them. I recomend carrying around one of those little bottles of rewetting drops for awhile till your eyes get used to keeping them moist.



edit: I just checked out what brand I have. The box says UltraFlex II. My doctor told me they are his "workhorse" brand, meaning they are cheap and durable. Like I said he tried switching me to those overnight breathable ones and I hated them. My vision was constantly "clouding over" and they just felt dirty after the first day of wearing them. They were very uncomfortable for me. I couldn't even make it the full week trial and when I went back I had him switch me back to the ultraflex II. I've been wearing this brand for about 3-4 years and they are great.

Thanks for the info. It's good to know my eyes should stop watering after a while. I got them mainly because my distance was becoming blurry. The damn big E in the office was blurry. I use to be able to read the bottom line. Not uncomfortable wearing glasses, they become annoying to me. I'm also bad about using them.

I have fairly bad allergies so I think it'll take a little while for my eyes to get use to them. I tried my dads solution this morning and think it doesn't bother my eyes like Renu. But we'll see. He said the exact same thing about solutions are all the same.

I forgot, mine are the ones you throw out twice a month.

I don't think all the solutions are the same, I always used the Alcon Optifree and liked it but it got pricey so I switched to wal-mart brand. I was fine for about a year or so and then outta no where the shit started burning like a mofo. It was like pouring soap in my eyes. It also happened at the same time they changed all their labels so I don't know if they changed their formula or something but I couldn't take it and switched back to the optifree. That was back when I used solution, I rarely need it anymore. 1 bottle lasts me almost a year, if I don't lose it haha. I usually lose the bottle before its even half gone.

I would second what was said above - you should do a final rinse using Saline solution before inserting them into your eyes. Saline is the same fluid your tear's are made from, therefor putting it straight into your eye isn't a problem. A lot of contact cleaner's / solutions feel funny when you use them to rinse.

And it will probably take about 2 weeks to get used to them.

I use gas permeabe "hard" contacts which are much smaller and more fragile than soft contacts. After 8 or so years of wearing contacts, they take about 2 mins of maintenance a day and I rarely, if ever, have a problem with them. And they only have to be replaced about every year to 18 months. In effect, this brings the total cost of ownership down to stuff all compared to disposable ones. I think they're about $220 for a pair and I would use $15 worth of cleaners / fluid per month.


:)

I have worn contacts for 18 years, never got an infection or anything. I wear the disposable accuvue 2. Tried the accuvue advance, supposed to be breathable, couldn't keep them in after a day, they have issues holding shape for me anyway. Solution I use alcon optifree as well, tried other brands and liked the alcon best. As for getting used to them, try gradually extending the time you wear them, 4 hours the first day, 5 the second, etc.. It really worked for me.

a word of caution about sleeping with your contacts in for an extended period of time. i used to do that since my eyes would burn and sting and tear up something fierce when i put my contacts in the next morning after leaving them out.

i started sleeping with them in and only taking them out every week or two. i sure am paying for that now :( i have multiple ulcers in my cornea cuz of this. they were so severe i couldn't be in any form of light, i couldn't keep my eyes open, and keeping them shut was just as painful. my eyes constantly watered, it looked like i was crying for like a copule weeks straight. i couldn't wear my contacts for 6 weeks cuz of this *got some pretty cute dolce & gabbana glasses tho*. the doctor said they might come back now that i've had it once and he was right..it's been about 4 or 5 weeks and they're back already.

idk what sort of solution i use now, i used to use that stuff from bausch and laumb *sp?* but it got taken off the market so i have something in a green bottle..

another good thing to do is every few months, stick your contact case in a pot of boiling water for 2-5 minutes, that'll kill the germs that could've gotten on there and help keep your eyes healthier.

I wouldn't suggest boiling your contacts - who knows what they will do to dissferent sorts of contacts :o

I just got contacts not too long ago too. The same brand, O2 optics. I actually took really well to them, no watering or irritation of any kind. I use 'Complete Moisture Plus' solution made by Amo. It's the only kind the doctor recommended - seems to work very well.

It might take a while to get used to your new contacts, so just give them time. Also, make sure your hands & towels are very clean & free of lint when handling contacts; nothing is worse when you get lint on the inside of your contacts, stings like crazy.

I've worn contacts for about twenty years. I use the cheap saline to store and rinse mine daily. I don't use any cleaning solutions - ever because these are soft disposable contacts that are supposed to last two weeks. As I do take them out every night, I get about two to three months use out of them.

I've had my contacts for about a year. Had to get them so I could drive. Mine get changed every 30 days. I don't know how I survived without them. I use that Complete Moisture Plus stuff too. Super good and you get a free contact lense case woohoo

another good thing to do is every few months, stick your contact case in a pot of boiling water for 2-5 minutes, that'll kill the germs that could've gotten on there and help keep your eyes healthier.


As far as I know you shouldn't boil soft contacts. Boiling is the old school way of cleaning the hard contacts. By old school I mean like 1970's-80's.


edit: oops just noticed you said case....

i had contacts but i couldn't get used to them. my eyes were always dry and bothering me, espcially if i was smoking or riding my bike. i gave up and went back to glasses. now i'm looking into lasik.

I've had contacts for about a year now. I like them a lot more than my glasses, which get in the way a lot and get dust on them, then my eyes focus on the dust and I get all pissed off and throw them and bend them.

My eyes watered for the first 2 or 3 days and the contact for my left eye was a bitch to get in and would pop out all the time. Now they never fall out and are real easy to get in.

...now i'm looking into lasik.

:werd: Lasik is way cheaper than when it first came out. I think its like $300 per eye now vs like $1500 per eye before. Hopefully I'm eligible for it. My vision is horrible and I know Lasik can only correct up to a certain amount

I've worn contacts for over 21 years now. Back then I had to disinfect them with a heat unit:lol: my how times have changed. Back then I was unsure of the chemical type of disinfecting as my girlfriend at the time and ome of my friends had problems with the chemical disinfecting. They said it burned and irritated their eyes a lot. But now I use the Wal Mart brand of solutuin similar to Baush & lomb's Renu line of salines. I looked at my box for the brand and it said "Soflens Toric 66" by Bausch & Lomb. I've used their products and lenses the whole time I've had contacts and am very satisfied with them. The ones I started out with back in 1985 could be kept in your eyes for 30 days and nights. In the early '90s my optometrist suggested switching to ones that I remove everyday(daily wear.) Now I have 30 day disposables that come out each night.

I wear Acuvue Advance for Astigmatism, n i have no clue what solution i have. I know its not ReNu. It's a blue bottle with a yellow chalk-drawing of an eye.

you'll get used to your contacts. I was fine after several hours, didn't bother me ever again, but everyone adjusts differently. Make sure you don't go to sleep with them (although I always do, lol).

:werd: Lasik is way cheaper than when it first came out. I think its like $300 per eye now vs like $1500 per eye before. Hopefully I'm eligible for it. My vision is horrible and I know Lasik can only correct up to a certain amount
This reminds me of the saying,"You get what you pay for." I live not to far from the border with Canada, and our newspapers and radio stations are full of ads for Lasik surgery in Canada for as little as $290US per eye. In my area the cost is still around $1500/eye. Our local paper recently ran a big story about these Canadian surgeons. It said that the price in the ads are usually deceptive as only a few people are eligible for that price, most others prescriptions are worse, requiring extra work. The article also stated that if problems should develop, you would probably have to travel back to Canada to have it fixed as no local eye doctors want to service patient who travel across the border for these surgeries. In many instances the doctors performing these surgeries fly in for the day and do a bunch of surgeries, then go back to where they came from, so the chance of getting the doctor who performed the surgery to do a follow up ar slim. They compared some of the sites that perform the surgeries to be run like assembly lines. I had thought of going to Canada for the Lasik surgery, but after reading that article and talking with some people in my area, I think I'm going to eventually have the surgery here in NY. I hate paying more for something than the next guy, but when it comes to something as important as my eyes, I don't mind paying more for better results.

^That doesn't surprise me. But I think overall, the price of Lasik has come down alot since it came out. In the meantime, I'm gonna head down to Columbia and get me some of that plastic surgery. I hear its only like $75 to make me look like Denzel

Ive worn em for about 3 years. Youll get used to em. My first day it took about an hour to get both in. Now if it takes more than 5 seconds per eye something is wrong.

This reminds me of the saying,"You get what you pay for." I live not to far from the border with Canada, and our newspapers and radio stations are full of ads for Lasik surgery in Canada for as little as $290US per eye. In my area the cost is still around $1500/eye. Our local paper recently ran a big story about these Canadian surgeons. It said that the price in the ads are usually deceptive as only a few people are eligible for that price, most others prescriptions are worse, requiring extra work. The article also stated that if problems should develop, you would probably have to travel back to Canada to have it fixed as no local eye doctors want to service patient who travel across the border for these surgeries. In many instances the doctors performing these surgeries fly in for the day and do a bunch of surgeries, then go back to where they came from, so the chance of getting the doctor who performed the surgery to do a follow up ar slim. They compared some of the sites that perform the surgeries to be run like assembly lines. I had thought of going to Canada for the Lasik surgery, but after reading that article and talking with some people in my area, I think I'm going to eventually have the surgery here in NY. I hate paying more for something than the next guy, but when it comes to something as important as my eyes, I don't mind paying more for better results.
We were just talking about this the other day.

My dad is deciding between 2 doctors right now. One of them my friend happened to have hers done at 4 years ago. Hers was close to $4k, but she came out with 20/10 vision. My dad had heard about the same doctor so he'll probably go to him. My mom says a few people at work know people who opted for the cheaper ways and they're eyes are all sorts of fucked up. I'd rather go to a surgeon who has a great reputation and outcome and be in the hole $4g's than take a chance for only a grand.

Today my eyes are slowly getting use to them. I can tell the prescription on both may be slightly off, but the right eye is definately having an issue. I'll work that out on Thursday with the doctor.

Thanks for all the advise and different opinions it's helped out a lot.

Ace, it's funny you mention the time. This morning it really only took me a few minutes to get them in. Then at work, somehow, one popped out of my eye. It was wierd. That one took me damn near 10 minutes to put in.

I've tried contacts multiple times... I've used Acuvue, Soflens, Formula55 (all toric lenses). I always end up disappointed because my eyes get really dry, and often get very red, even though the fit is "correct" according to the optometrist.

I've needed corrective lenses for about a dozen years, but I find it's just easier to wear my glasses than to fuss with the cleaning and tearing and redness.

^Sounds like me. Maybe its the toric lenses. I don't even know what toric lenses are, but my right eyes uses toric and my left eye is aspheric. I know toric is more expensive so I assume that means that eye has more wrong with it.

The toric thing wouldn't explain why the left eye is agitated during the day, but the right is always worse.

:werd: Lasik is way cheaper than when it first came out. I think its like $300 per eye now vs like $1500 per eye before. Hopefully I'm eligible for it. My vision is horrible and I know Lasik can only correct up to a certain amount
i have an astigmatism so that's why i didn't go right for lasik, they have to wait for my eyes to stop growing or some shit, i'm not really sure exactly but i've been getting my eyes examined every few months waiting until i'm eligibgle for surgery then i'm gonna do it, hopefully insurance will help cover some of the cost.

I've tried contacts multiple times... I've used Acuvue, Soflens, Formula55 (all toric lenses). I always end up disappointed because my eyes get really dry, and often get very red, even though the fit is "correct" according to the optometrist.

I've needed corrective lenses for about a dozen years, but I find it's just easier to wear my glasses than to fuss with the cleaning and tearing and redness.
Over the 21 years I've worn contacts, I have come to notice there are many different types of optometrists, or eye doctors out there. I've had good experiences with some, and not so good with others. There are some, in my opinion, that shouldn't be in the practice. A good example is the last eye doctor my wife and I went to. First off, he had so many people working in his office, it got confusing at times. We actually had some tests performed 2 or 3 times by different employees. When I questioned why the same test was being administered, they said they couldn't find the results of the last test,( even though the test was performed only 1 week prior. It took 4 visits before we were actually outfitted with our new lenses. It was a very tedious process. The eye doctor was very opinionated and didn't seem to listen to our concerns. He came across to us as "knowing what was best for us." He even scheduled one of our appointments for a Thursday afternoon and when we got there they were closed. When I asked him about it he said," Oh, didn't you know we are closed on Thursdays?" I said no because there were no office hours posted on your door, and besides, our little appointment card ( at which time I pulled out of my pocket,) clearly showed the Thursday appt. made by his office. He tried to tell us the person who made the appt. is no longer employed by him. Yeah right. My wife's contacts didn't seem to fit properly, as mine did too. Mine eventually worked out, but he had to re-order my wife's. She told him the brand she had used for years which worked out great for her, but he told her he knew what he was doing, and what was best for her. The office staff even seemed to have an issue with us as we tried to put our new lenses in and were having problems doing so. They were saying, " Practically all our patients don't seem to have problems putting in their lenses like you do. My comment was, " I've been putting in and taking out contacts for 20 years and NEVER had this much trouble!" Needless to say we won't be going back to him in the future, and I have told all my friends and associates about them. One friend even told me about similar problems he and his family experienced with them, along with the dirty looks and "comments under the breath"by the employees as his daughter tried unsuccessfully to put in her lenses. The only reason why we tried this particular doctor was he was listed in our insurance handbook as taking our insurance, and there wasn't too many other eye doctors in our immediate area that did. We also complained to our insurance company about him. So to sum it all up I'd have to say,"Make sure you find an eye doctor you are comfortable with and listens to you and your needs."
I could also elaborate on his charges. He tried to charge us $660 for both our visits and lenses. When I questioned him, he said that the lenses he wanted to try out were new and expensive. When I pushed further about the charges, he "realized" we were overcharged.YEAH RIGHT. He refunded over $300 to us after that incident. (Sorry this is so long. I wanted to post this experience so that nobody else would be subjected to someone like him.)

^Name? Office? Company?

I don't think anybody wants to go to this guy on accident

^Name? Office? Company?

I don't think anybody wants to go to this guy on accident
:lol:Here it is: Bruce Levinson, optometrist. Family Eye Care of Cny. He was part of a larger group of optometrists, but broke away from them during the time of our multiple visits, to start his own practice. Probably was thrown out by the other doctors.

i have an astigmatism so that's why i didn't go right for lasik, they have to wait for my eyes to stop growing or some shit, i'm not really sure exactly but i've been getting my eyes examined every few months waiting until i'm eligibgle for surgery then i'm gonna do it, hopefully insurance will help cover some of the cost.
Unfortuneatly, most insurance companies do not offer coverage for this type of surgery, as they deem it as " cosmetic surgery":disappoin . Hopefully some companies might "see the light"(pardon the pun) and start offering some coverage. What I've seen some people do is pay for some or all of the surgery through a flex account set up with their employer. If you are not familiar with these types of accounts, here is a quick rundown. At the beginning of the year, you elect to withhold a certain amount from your paycheck, which is then set aside to pay for certain expenses. There are accounts to pay for child care or elder care, mass transit or parking expenses, and health and medical. They are not taxed by the IRS as long as they are used for their respective purpose. You usually have until the end of March of the next year to use it, or you lose the money. I'm not sure if there are limits to how much you can set aside "pretax" but if you have a good paycheck every week, you could concieveably set aside enough for the Lasik surgery. For more info, check with your personnell or human resources dept. where you work.

^Sounds like me. Maybe its the toric lenses. I don't even know what toric lenses are, but my right eyes uses toric and my left eye is aspheric. I know toric is more expensive so I assume that means that eye has more wrong with it.

The toric thing wouldn't explain why the left eye is agitated during the day, but the right is always worse.
Toric lenses are for astigmatism. My eyes have different "glasses" prescriptions, but my "contacts" prescriptions are identical. All I know is that if I pull the outside corners of my eyes back, I can see more clearly.

What's really funny is that I recently had to renew my driver's license, and I didn't want them to know I wear glasses (b/c I don't have a medical restriction requiring me to wear corrective lenses) so I went in w/o my glasses on, and I was able to do everything they asked of me w/o squinting. Yeah me!