Contacts
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For the first 40 years of my life, my eyesight was a perfect 20/20 - then things changed rapidly. Seemingly within weeks I needed bifocals to read. My distance vision was/is still fine, but reading without the bifocals is impossible. I've wore progressive lens bifocals now for nearly 6 years. Today I'm trying my first pair of multi-focal contact lenses. So far, so good. Getting them in and out is tricky for me. Hopefully I'll get better at it. They felt a little funny at first but now 3+ hours in and I almost don't even feel them. Time to go try to take them out. Any words of advice for a first time contact wearer?
I've been wearing contacts for the last ~10 years. My eyesight has never been terrible. I need them to read just about any lighted sign/surface. I can walk outta the house and drive to work before I notice I forgot to put them in when I sit in front of the computer screen. However, this usually isn't an issue because I wear them all the time anyway. I only take them out for cleaning if they fall out or if they start bugging me (if they are bugging me it is usually because I am not gettin enough sleep in which case I leave them out overnight and put them back in in the morning). I wear the acuvue overnight kind (I'm not sure of the exact name of the line I wear) that are designed to be left in for up to 30days and then replaced. However, I've been wearing my current set for probably closer to 9 months without issues. Every once in a great while (once a month maybe), I rub my eye and one will fall out. I just pop it in my mouth to rinse it off and pop it back in. Of course I make sure I didn't just eat a cookie or something before doing that but you get the idea. Last checkup was a month ago and the doctor was amazed at how well the contacts have performed (as well as the fact that my eyes haven't had problems) but advised that as long as it works for me and since it doesn't appear to be causing damage that He wasn't gonna tell me to stop but rather just make sure I notify him at the first sign of trouble if any arises. My last box of 3mo supply of disposable contacts has lasted me nearly 15mo now and the last small bottle of solution I bought exipred before I used all of it.
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...and dont forget to remove them before you go to sleep.
I did that a lot at first when they were still tricky to get in and out.
John
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Been there done that.. Good thing is that I only need to wear 1 contact. 20/20 in the other eye.
John
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Rob Caldecott wrote:
Soft or hard (gas permeable)?
Soft
Rob Caldecott wrote:
and much harder to get in and out.
I just spent 15 minutes in the restroom trying to take mine out without success. Grrrrr....
The knack will come. I hold my eye open as wide as possible with one hand and 'pinch' the lens out with the other.
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I knew a guy who went to the toilet after doing that.. :sigh:
Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.
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Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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The knack will come. I hold my eye open as wide as possible with one hand and 'pinch' the lens out with the other.
Rob Caldecott wrote:
I hold my eye open as wide as possible with one hand and 'pinch' the lens out with the other.
My brain keeps telling my hands and fingers to do that but my eye says "Woah! WTF! You've never done this before!" In about 30 minutes I can go home and try again.
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For the first 40 years of my life, my eyesight was a perfect 20/20 - then things changed rapidly. Seemingly within weeks I needed bifocals to read. My distance vision was/is still fine, but reading without the bifocals is impossible. I've wore progressive lens bifocals now for nearly 6 years. Today I'm trying my first pair of multi-focal contact lenses. So far, so good. Getting them in and out is tricky for me. Hopefully I'll get better at it. They felt a little funny at first but now 3+ hours in and I almost don't even feel them. Time to go try to take them out. Any words of advice for a first time contact wearer?
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Any words of advice for a first time contact wearer?
Here's my advise: 1. Always make sure you keep some Renew/Saline solution around, in case your eyes dry out, or your contact comes out accidentally. Keep one at the office, in the car, every bathroom in your house. When your contact suddenly drys up, the last thing you want to have to do, is hunt for that crap. 2. Never, ever, ever, stick your finger in your eye unless you've washed your hands first. Even if you have the thought "I'm not actually touching my eye with my nasty, dirty finger, I'm touching the contact", because the germs on your finger do not care, and they will infest your eye ball anyway. 3. Make it a habit to clean your contacts on a daily basis, even if they are extended wear, clean them daily. I ended up with a nasty infection on the inside of my eye lids because the cleaning solutions weren't cleaning my contacts as well as they claimed they could. 4. If you start to have problems with your contacts hurting your eyes, don't try to "stick it out", instead, remove them and contact your eye doctor or you could damage your eyes. 5. Always make sure you keep an "up-to-date" pair of glasses around, because trust me, there will come a day/time when your eyes just won't tolerate the contacts that day, for whatever reason (dry, itching, irritated, etc..) and you'll need those glasses. I wore contacts for the better part of 10+ years, and after scratching my eye several times and suffering two bad infections because I wasn't getting my contacts clean enough, I gave up on the damn things, started wearing glasses and I've never looked back (har har). Contacts aren't a bad thing, form good habits with them, and you should do fine; but give your eyes a break from them from time-to-time, they'll be better for it. :cool:
:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..
Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL -
For the first 40 years of my life, my eyesight was a perfect 20/20 - then things changed rapidly. Seemingly within weeks I needed bifocals to read. My distance vision was/is still fine, but reading without the bifocals is impossible. I've wore progressive lens bifocals now for nearly 6 years. Today I'm trying my first pair of multi-focal contact lenses. So far, so good. Getting them in and out is tricky for me. Hopefully I'll get better at it. They felt a little funny at first but now 3+ hours in and I almost don't even feel them. Time to go try to take them out. Any words of advice for a first time contact wearer?
Putting them in and taking them out will improve with time. Just need to overcome your eyes reflex to close when approached by foreign objects. I have tried many different cleaners and the like. I have been using Ciba Vision Clear Care for years and have found it to be less hassle and more comfortable than anything else I have tried. It's a little more expensive, but worth it IMHO.
Gary Kirkham Forever Forgiven and Alive in the Spirit The men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen." Me blog, You read
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For the first 40 years of my life, my eyesight was a perfect 20/20 - then things changed rapidly. Seemingly within weeks I needed bifocals to read. My distance vision was/is still fine, but reading without the bifocals is impossible. I've wore progressive lens bifocals now for nearly 6 years. Today I'm trying my first pair of multi-focal contact lenses. So far, so good. Getting them in and out is tricky for me. Hopefully I'll get better at it. They felt a little funny at first but now 3+ hours in and I almost don't even feel them. Time to go try to take them out. Any words of advice for a first time contact wearer?
I wore glasses for most my life, but have wore contacts for the last 6 years. Being new to contacts, the best thing i can tell you is to blink. and blink a lot. over time it will become second nature and you won't have to think about it. As others have said, take them out every night (i sometimes leave them in over the weekend, especially if i'm drinking) and put them in solution. When you do this, always wash your hands. Doing this will keep your eyes infection free, and will help to make them last longer. I think i'm setting a new record with the pair i have right now. Nearly a year with no tears or build ups.
Levi Rosol Blog By Levi[^]
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Putting them in and taking them out will improve with time. Just need to overcome your eyes reflex to close when approached by foreign objects. I have tried many different cleaners and the like. I have been using Ciba Vision Clear Care for years and have found it to be less hassle and more comfortable than anything else I have tried. It's a little more expensive, but worth it IMHO.
Gary Kirkham Forever Forgiven and Alive in the Spirit The men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen." Me blog, You read
Gary Kirkham wrote:
Putting them in and taking them out will improve with time. Just need to overcome your eyes reflex to close when approached by foreign objects.
Got home and had them out in 3-4 minutes. My wife has wore contacts for 25 years - takes her about 2 seconds.
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For the first 40 years of my life, my eyesight was a perfect 20/20 - then things changed rapidly. Seemingly within weeks I needed bifocals to read. My distance vision was/is still fine, but reading without the bifocals is impossible. I've wore progressive lens bifocals now for nearly 6 years. Today I'm trying my first pair of multi-focal contact lenses. So far, so good. Getting them in and out is tricky for me. Hopefully I'll get better at it. They felt a little funny at first but now 3+ hours in and I almost don't even feel them. Time to go try to take them out. Any words of advice for a first time contact wearer?
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Any words of advice for a first time contact wearer?
I've worn them for 24 years now and I pop them in and out in a split second, no mirror, even camping while lying in a sleeping bag in my tent etc. My wife just started wearing them a few years ago and she still needs to make a big procedure out of it, two hands, proper lighting, mirror etc etc. I learned to do it under adverse conditions when I worked in the bush (forest) and stayed at cheap camps where there was no shower and we were filthy all the time and sawdust in the eyes etc etc. All you really need is a clean and semi sterile index fingertip. I suggest you practice using only two fingers no mirror and one hand: index finger and second finger and thumb to grasp after you slide them down to remove them. It's a skill and the more you practice it the better you'll get at it. If you rely too much on perfect conditions you'll always be horribly slow doing it and will be screwed in less than perfect conditions. Put the lens on your index fingertip, put a drop or two of solution in it, pull down your bottom eyelid with your second finger, keep your head level, look up, way up, put the lens lightly onto the center of your eyeball, don't try to make it perfectly flat or anything. Remove your index finger but not your second finger, keep the bottom lid pulled down, look down *then* release your lower lid and close it "up" towards your top lid, this action will settle the lens down and in place. Don't open your eye yet, just look around a bit with your eye closed to ensure it's in place. Removal is opposite but slide it down while looking up until it breaks contact with your eye then grab with the thumb. After a while they will become completely second nature. Also don't fall asleep more than an hour with them in or you'll find they are stuck to your eye, everything is super foggy and they are impossible to remove without a bit of rippage (if it happens, drink lot's of water and don't try to remove them for half an hour or so until they unstick on their own). And I don't know if you can get bifocals in daily wear but they are **SO*** worth it. Nothing beats a disposable lens, I wouldn't even consider anything else.
"Creating your own blog is about as easy as creating your own urine, and you're about as likely to find someone else interested in it." -- Lore Sjöberg
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For the first 40 years of my life, my eyesight was a perfect 20/20 - then things changed rapidly. Seemingly within weeks I needed bifocals to read. My distance vision was/is still fine, but reading without the bifocals is impossible. I've wore progressive lens bifocals now for nearly 6 years. Today I'm trying my first pair of multi-focal contact lenses. So far, so good. Getting them in and out is tricky for me. Hopefully I'll get better at it. They felt a little funny at first but now 3+ hours in and I almost don't even feel them. Time to go try to take them out. Any words of advice for a first time contact wearer?
I tried contacts over 20 years ago and reacted badly to every solution I tried. It got so bad I ended up tearing a lens one morning trying to put it in. Turns out that my older brother had a similar problem as does my youngest daughter. (I've had the same glassed for five years and even then my prescription had barely changed. About a year ago, my near sightedness went south. My boss and I were staring at some widget and realized that neither of could read the darn tiny label.)
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Gary Kirkham wrote:
Putting them in and taking them out will improve with time. Just need to overcome your eyes reflex to close when approached by foreign objects.
Got home and had them out in 3-4 minutes. My wife has wore contacts for 25 years - takes her about 2 seconds.
I guess I have been wearing them for about 35 years. The other thing is not to wear them more than you have to. I take mine out when I get home from work so my eyes can rest. I will where them later if I am out and about.
Gary Kirkham Forever Forgiven and Alive in the Spirit The men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen." Me blog, You read
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Mike Mullikin wrote:
Any words of advice for a first time contact wearer?
I've worn them for 24 years now and I pop them in and out in a split second, no mirror, even camping while lying in a sleeping bag in my tent etc. My wife just started wearing them a few years ago and she still needs to make a big procedure out of it, two hands, proper lighting, mirror etc etc. I learned to do it under adverse conditions when I worked in the bush (forest) and stayed at cheap camps where there was no shower and we were filthy all the time and sawdust in the eyes etc etc. All you really need is a clean and semi sterile index fingertip. I suggest you practice using only two fingers no mirror and one hand: index finger and second finger and thumb to grasp after you slide them down to remove them. It's a skill and the more you practice it the better you'll get at it. If you rely too much on perfect conditions you'll always be horribly slow doing it and will be screwed in less than perfect conditions. Put the lens on your index fingertip, put a drop or two of solution in it, pull down your bottom eyelid with your second finger, keep your head level, look up, way up, put the lens lightly onto the center of your eyeball, don't try to make it perfectly flat or anything. Remove your index finger but not your second finger, keep the bottom lid pulled down, look down *then* release your lower lid and close it "up" towards your top lid, this action will settle the lens down and in place. Don't open your eye yet, just look around a bit with your eye closed to ensure it's in place. Removal is opposite but slide it down while looking up until it breaks contact with your eye then grab with the thumb. After a while they will become completely second nature. Also don't fall asleep more than an hour with them in or you'll find they are stuck to your eye, everything is super foggy and they are impossible to remove without a bit of rippage (if it happens, drink lot's of water and don't try to remove them for half an hour or so until they unstick on their own). And I don't know if you can get bifocals in daily wear but they are **SO*** worth it. Nothing beats a disposable lens, I wouldn't even consider anything else.
"Creating your own blog is about as easy as creating your own urine, and you're about as likely to find someone else interested in it." -- Lore Sjöberg
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John C wrote:
they are stuck to your eye, everything is super foggy and they are impossible to remove without a bit of rippage
:omg: Maybe I want to re-think this.
No it's only a problem if you *try* to take them off before they are ready. They dry up a bit and stick to your eye so that they don't move independantly when your eyes are closed like they normaly do and you'll feel it. All you do is drink some water to trigger your body into releasing more to your eyes, wait half an hour and they'll loosen right up and come off normally. (I started wearing them back in my party hard core days and there were many nights I passed out with them in. On good nights I'd remember to borrow a couple of shot glasses and toss them into some water to save them (there were no disposable back then)).
"Creating your own blog is about as easy as creating your own urine, and you're about as likely to find someone else interested in it." -- Lore Sjöberg
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Yeah, I've done that before.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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For the first 40 years of my life, my eyesight was a perfect 20/20 - then things changed rapidly. Seemingly within weeks I needed bifocals to read. My distance vision was/is still fine, but reading without the bifocals is impossible. I've wore progressive lens bifocals now for nearly 6 years. Today I'm trying my first pair of multi-focal contact lenses. So far, so good. Getting them in and out is tricky for me. Hopefully I'll get better at it. They felt a little funny at first but now 3+ hours in and I almost don't even feel them. Time to go try to take them out. Any words of advice for a first time contact wearer?
Lucky you. I've tried wearing contact lenses twice. My vision is sufficiently screwed up that they can't correct it adequately, so I develop profound eye fatigue wearing contact lenses. Now that I'm (ahem) middle-aged, I've also got presbyopia on top of the myopia and astigmatism. Anybody got a dog?
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I knew a guy who went to the toilet after doing that.. :sigh:
Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.