Contact lens advice

[Flowerpower70]

I want to try contact lenses. I have been told by several people, friends and some colleagues who said I look better without glasses as I have "nice eyes" that you can't see when wearing glasses. I have petite features so glasses are hard to find. I have never tried contact lenses and need advice. Can you get infections and are weekly or monthly better. I need them for distance. My friend said dailies rip easily but I don't want to go with monthly as you can get infections if not cleaned properly. I also tend to get watery eyes in the wind. Please does anyone have any recommendations or advice regarding contact lenses

@Summer19 I used Acuvue dailies for years and then my optician recommended the ones I have now which are called Alcon daily for astigmatism.
There are many options though my
Optician is brilliant at encouraging me to try new products that might be better so there will be something right for you .

I had some trial lenses previously that were absolutely hopeless despite being the same prescription- she said they were like marmite and some people loved them - it's pretty hard to know I think !
Hope you can experiment and find the freedom of never thinking about them ..

It appears I'm in the minority. Having made the switch from soft to RGPs, I do still use soft lenses for water sports (dinghy sailing and paddle-boarding) where there's a chance my head could end up under water, but I find my vision is definitely not as sharp - and the sensation of them clinging to my eyes isn't pleasant. Wild horses couldn't make me give up my RGPs. Each to their own, of course.

The ones that are being discontinued (along with other strengths) are my specific prescription below

Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism with Hydroclear Plus

-5.00
CYL -1.25
Axis 40
Base Curve 1.6
Dia 14.5

I buy from both Feel Good contacts as well as Lensstore as prices can change a lot.

Apparently my prescription is one of the least ordered so the reason for discontinuation, so when my batch runs out I will have to find another type, shame as I have used these for years.

I must add, when my DH went to try contacts not that long ago, the person showing him how to put them in and out and how to look after them I thought was pretty rubbish, compared to what I had all those years ago. He was able to get them in and quickly shown how to take them out, but able to leave the opticians without taking them out and put back in again IYKWIM. I showed him how I do it which he thought much better.

Gone are the days thankfully of the faff of Oxysept 1 then Oxysept 2 for cleaning!

Thank you so much! I have more or less given up wearing contacts, but based on this thread I am going to ask my opticians for some more trials!

Have worn hard lenses and now RGP for about 48 years, my kids wear monthlies and husband dailies. We all get on fine, but kids say occasionally the monthlies don't last the month.
I have one lense for reading, the other for distance. Took a week or so to get used to but no longer need reading glasses.

Yes, I did the one eye near, one eye far thing successfully for about 10 years but eventually it stopped working. I then switched to both slightly undercorrected which means I can now read in them again and they are fine for pretty well everything else but I have top up glasses for night driving on unfamiliar roads to sharpen up road signs and markings.

Use both hands to remove. Use the pads of each pointer finger and slide them together. I learned like that as when I first got lenses I had long nails.

I have had lenses for about 25 years. I hate glasses they are annoying and like you I have small features so getting glasses that don’t ‘crowd’ my face is a pain. I have had one infection due to seawater when I was in a boat on holiday. I have monthly ones that you can wear overnight but I find they get a bit dry if you do that and fall out the next day. Just have clean hands when you touch them and follow the cleaning instructions. It’s just a bastard if you drop one and it gets carpet fibres/dust on it or you can’t find it!

I ping my lenses out using my eyelids (index and middle finger sideways on upper and lower lid) rather than picking the lenses out directly, it's how I was taught with RGPs and the habit has carried on with soft lenses, I don't think I could pinch them out directly or slide one around on my eyeball. But I do put them directly onto the iris, hold the upper lid up with left middle finger, hold lower lid down with right index finger, look straight ahead (can't actually see anything) and pop the lens onto the iris from the right index finger.

It is a bugger if you drop them, I always have my glasses and phone to hand so I can use the torch to find it, but I do sometimes have to ask a Dc to help search.

Couple of things to add to those already mentioned:

1. Get yourself a cheap magnifying mirror - I've been using one for the last few months and it makes putting in and out so much easier.
2. My optician recommended me to start using comfort drops - I hadn't really noticed much discomfort but did notice the difference when I tried them. Very cheap from the supermarkets.

Everybody does it differently — I put mine in and out by touch, I never use a mirror! My DM who has worn them for many years always uses a mirror.

I also know somebody who uses a contact lens inserter, but I'd be worried about poking myself in the eye with it.

Do they make your eyes water? Even the slightest bit of dust or eyelashes in my eye or the wind make my eyes water

No they don’t for me. Just give them a try and see for yourself. My 15 year old son started to wear them for sport and now wears them every day. Having said that, my 16 year old son wears them for sports but hates them. Not really got to the bottom of why - he says he can’t see properly in them - and takes them out as soon as he’s home from his match.

@Flowerpower70 my eyes have never watered with contacts in. Sounds like you have dry eyes though, you can get drops to use with your contacts.

I've worn them daily for nearly 17yrs without an issue. (probably would have been cheaper to get my eyes lasered years ago though!) I'm - 2.75/-3.25 with an astigmatism, though I wear normal lenses.

I use silicone hydrogel as much oxygen gets to the eye.

I'm always taking chunks out of mine. Fat fingers! Dailies are more flimsy than the bi-weekly, which are actually the same as the old monthlies, and can be worn for a month according to my optician. Dailies dry out quicker, but are easier for holidays etc

Against all advice, I shower and swim in mine. How else can you see otherwise??

Mine are -2.75 I should get eye drops hope the contacts are ok will let you all know how I get on thanks

Good luck op. It sounds counter intuitive but runny eyes means they are dry. No idea why!!

Ps. I can put mine in without a mirror now. V handy when getting off a long haul flight, I take them out when I get on and put a fresh pair in when we land.
Pps. I swim in mine with goggles. And shower. And go surfing in the sea.

I've been wearing the two-weekly ones for years. I found the dailies slightly too floppy to be able to put in quickly, and with dailies I never have a case to take them out for a few hours if I want a nap or whatever reason.

Tbh I almost never wash mine. I just bung them in the case overnight with some solution (asda, sainsbury's, etc), and I'm fine. Never had an infection.

I have to put mine in without a mirror because my prescription is so strong I need the mirror about 2" from my nose to see anything and then my hands don't fit in. I have the same problem if I try to put on eye make-up without my lenses in, just can't do it. Magnifying mirrors don't help me.

Showering I make do without but do have to hold shampoo bottles etc up to my nose to read the labels. If I needed to shave my legs (I don't) I'd wear glasses. For swimming I have prescription goggles, in the sea I either wear glasses or keep my head out of the water but I don't do water sports.

I wear dailies, but only get four pairs a month, as I only wear them to go out. I can buy an extra box when I need to and I think I pay £12 a month. They've never ripped in eighteen months. I've had monthly ones before, I never got an infection, but it was just a pain cleaning them when I just wanted to go to bed!

You don't have to take them out for a nap. I leave mine in and I nap almost daily. Literally never had an issue. Can do a couple of hours without any problem. They are daily disposables.

Are your eyes not dry if you sleep in them? Mine are to the point of discomfort.

@Beljin never. I mean I might need to give them a bit of a rub but then I'm fine.

I wouldnt sleep the night in them but up to a few hours is OK.

I do literally wear them from getting up at 5.30am till the moment I sit on the side of the bed to go to sleep at 9pm. Every day. I had to wear glasses in hospital recently and it was horrible. I felt ugly, old, and they irritate my head behind my ears!

I’ve been wearing rigid gas permeable for a long time - 65 years. They probably weren’t gas permeable originally and I wore the same pair for 10 years at the start- didn’t know I had to have check ups and was very stupid. I think but life was too busy.in old age I’ve found my eyelids were not helping to get them out so I now use little squidgy tubes. I’ve never been to specsavers but prefer independent opticians recommended by an eye surgeon.