explain to me about contact lenses!

[PineappleDanish]

DD is 14 and has been wearing glasses since she was about 3 or 4. Her problem is seeing things close up (can never remember if that's shortsighted or longsighted). Her eyes aren't so bad that she's blind without her glasses, she has always taken them off for things like swimming and soft play without an issue.

She's now said she quite likes the idea of contact lenses, not for everyday, and not for school, but for a different option when she's out with her friends or doing something special and doesn't want to wear her glasses. Neither DH nor I wear glasses apart from for reading and we haven't a clue what her options are?

She has her annual optician review in Feb so we can discuss it then, but I suspect they will try to sell me the most expensive solution which maybe isn;t the right one for her needs, given that she doesn't want to wear them every day.

My 14 hated wearing her glasses and took to contact lenses like a duck to water. She wears them all day, every day. £1 a day is a small price to pay for a teenage girl to be confident in her appearance in my opinion.

Just to add, I get my monthly ones through Specsavers and as part of the scheme you get a free contact lens check every year and also a free annual vision test with a huge discount off glasses if you want to have them as well (I got a pair of £100 ones for around £30).

Yes, I must admit to licking my old rigid gas permeable ones occasionally, or rinsing them under the tap, but they were more prone to getting dust behind them than soft ones and I wouldn't do either now, no way.

I'd forgotten about the discount on glasses if you buy lenses through the shop. Last time I checked I think my monthlies were about £12/pair online or £15 through the optician, saving £36 but checkup was about £50. I also like how easy the shop scheme is and they will see me for extra free checkups any time I have a concern, plus the glasses discount, it's a no-brainer for me.

@PineappleDanish you’d be amazed. The worse culprits were people who used to wear gas permeable (the hard ones) and then swapped to soft.

I’ve seen lenses covered in what looked like white fungus in people’s eyes. Massive blobs of protein deposits. Lens cases covered in layers of dirt!

just to say you absolutely can buy lenses online once you've paid the optician for consultation and fitting. Daysoft are the company you want for dailies, much much cheaper and they are exactly the same as the ones the optician will sell you on the expensive direct debit scheme.

package recycling is fine if you are in an urban area.

dailies or not, never wear when swimming or showering.

Thank you for the link on the recycling, I never knew that!
I get my lenses online after the initial prescription.

@mencken that is not correct at all. A contact lens from one brand can be very different from another one, even with exactly the same specifications.
The material, thickness, edge lift, optical zone, transition zones and optical quality vary and affect the fit.
A poorly fitting contact lens can rub in the surface if the eye causing discomfort, redness and increased likelihood of infection.
Daysoft lenses do suit some people, but there are usually much better lenses. You would rarely get an optometrist wearing them.

It’s also illegal to buy optical appliances online for under 16s.

Don’t lick lenses

People would DO that????

Well sometimes you get a bit of grit in it and you don't have your glasses on you so you cant just take them out and swap to them so it's the only option! I do it about once a month maybe.

If she ever goes down the route of wearing them all the time.

I have gas permeable ones. These are seriously old school! They let more (the maxium?) oxygen into the eye.

I wear glasses more now but in the past would wear lenses for up to 18 hours a day.

Gas permeable cost about 180 and the solution/cleaner is approx 8 a month.

The lenses last years (until you lose or break one).

You can usually find them if you drop it (had a few fun hunts).

I once got it vacuum suctioned to the bottom of the lens case and cracked it trying to get it out. Even the optician could not get it out.

@DappledThings that causes a risk of going blind. In 20+ years I save never licked or rinsed my lenses. I carry a small bottle of solution and blink contact eye drops.

Yeah, I know. But it's such a rare occurrence it's a tiny risk. If I bought a bottle of solution it would expire before I'd used about 5% of it.

I used to carry a tiny bottle of solution just in case but it never got used. Since switching to soft lenses 15 years ago I've virtually never needed to take one out during the day to clean it, the one time I do recall doing so I was at work so I used cooled boiled water from the kettle. I always keep a pair of glasses in the car so I could get home without them if necessary.

same lens = same lens. Plenty of online equivalence tables.

35 year contact lens wearer here, from rigid to GPs to monthlies and occasional disposables. Zero damage or eye infections and been using the equivalents for years.

would have loved to continue with GPs but optician said I'd had my 20 years and so had to give up, tolerance was plummeting. Switched to soft lenses and prescription rocketed as cornea shape changed. Argh!

I'm not discounting ordering lenses for her online in the future. But for the first few years I'd rather get them from the local optician, with the benefit of their advice and expertise. At least until she starts paying for them herself!

Don’t lick lenses

People would DO that????

I used to work for a high street optician and was their contact lens specialist.
We used to have a guy come in for regular check ups. He never cleaned his lenses. He would just suck them and then stick them to the mirror, in the morning he’d peel them off, suck them and put them in his eyes.
He was a doctor.

Regarding buying them online, if you stick to the same brand then it’s fine. However not all brands are the same. Even other ones that are the same size and strength won’t be the same.
It’s not worth mucking about with your eyes for the sake of a few quid.

I had GP from 18 yrs old until I was old enough to pay for the expensive thinned out lenses in my glasses. I'm a bit lazy so kept using my glasses and then had to build up tolerance for nights out in advance.
I've now got soft disposable dailies for when I want to wear them without having to build up tolerance and a 90 day bulk purchase will last 18 months minimum as I only tend to wear them when it's sunny