Where can I get contact lenses before lunchtime tomorrow?

[Startuplife]

Just arrived at a hotel 5 hours away from home to discover I’ve packed two sets of the same contact lenses! My eyes are quite different strengths and it’s the strong ones I’m missing so there’s no way I’ll get away without wearing them.

I usually order them online but do have my eye tests done at Specsavers so will they sell me some? Or anywhere else I can get them urgently? I’m in a pretty big city so easy access to most places.

The other thing is, if you have astigmatism (meaning the CYL and AXIS fields of the prescription are filled in) and you wear toric (astigmatism) contact lenses, the weaker contact lens might actually make your sight worse in the wrong eye.

If it's just shortsightedness or long-sightedness (i.e. the SPH part of the prescription), then it'll correct it a bit but not all the way (assuming you haven't got one long-sighted eye and one short-sighted eye, in which case it'll make things worse).

Yes this happened to me once and because I order from Boots I just went into a local Boots optician and they gave me a lens for free. I was really impressed and grateful.

I did have my prescription on email from them though as they send an email every time they dispatch the new box of lenses so I had that in my inbox.

It's all very restricted here — couple of years ago I was in the Netherlands, in a shop that seemed to be more or less equivalent to Wilko's, and they just had contact lenses out there on the shelf to buy. Not just cosmetic ones either, but proper corrective lenses.

In a way I guess it's quite convenient, but given how many people in the UK seem to struggle to understand safe contact lens use even when prescribed by a qualified professional who presumably instructs them on what not to do, I think maybe we can't be trusted with the freedom of buying them 🤣

Try lenstore.co.uk they are very quick. Definitely next day during the week. I once orders on a Sunday and arrived Monday morning. They also have an express delivery service, I've only ever needed to use the normal

You can't put lenses in tap water.