Do you wear contact lenses – are you truly revolting or a strictly hygiene only? Share with Specsavers – you could win £250 NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

The team at Specsavers would love to all about your habits (good or bad) with your contact lenses.

We all know hygiene and eyes is very important – so do you tend to toe the line and follow instructions to the letter? Or are you a bit {ahem} lax in that department? How about when you were younger – or had different lenses? How do you dispose of disposable lenses? Does your DP wear them and leave them lying around when they should be in the bin?

Specsavers say "Here at Specsavers we like to make is easy for contact lens wearers - wearing contact lenses gives you freedom and convenience. And at Specsavers, when you buy contact lenses you get more than just the lenses. Our all-inclusive package not only gives you some fantastic benefits but is also an easy way to pay for your lenses. We'll give you a pair of glasses from our £45 range or designer frames from just £35, full aftercare, future sight tests as recommended by your optician and we'll deliver your lenses and solutions, at no extra cost."

Share your habits – good and bad - and everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 voucher from here

Please note Specsavers may use your comments - anon of course - on their pages on MN, on their social media or possibly elsewhere - please only post if you're happy with this.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

I wear monthly disposables and glasses. If I'm in the house all day I don't bother putting in my lenses but even if I have to pop out to the shops etc I always put in my lenses.
In the morning I always wash my hands and give my lenses a good clean but at night I have to admit to not bothering doing either.
Rarely I've forgot to take them out and work up in the morning with such dry eyes!

I wore monthlies at university but hygiene wasn't great so gave up and went back to glasses. I tried to start wearing them recently but had a disaster with incorrect prescription and poor customer care at Specsavers. I complained ( with complete justification) online when encouraged to feedback but was then made to feel really uncomfortable when going back to the shop so I gave up!

I used to have gas permeable lenses about 25 years ago and whilst I cleaned them daily I didn't always do the protein removal process which I think I was supposed to do every month. Now I have daily disposable ones as I only wear them when I go out or for sport so they are much easier.

I wear glasses and have been offered contact lens but I think there very fiddly and I would be worried about getting specs of dust/dirt on them and scratching my pupil.

Lindasayss I've worn soft contacts for 15 years and you don't get things on your eye that scratch it. If anything it slightly protects your eye! The only worry is your finger scratching your eye but after wearing them for a couple of weeks you get so good at taking them in and out that doesn't happen.
If you keep longer wear ones clean or wear dailies then there's no issue.

I'm not keen on lenses as I hate anything coming near my eyes. That said, I am obsessive about my eyes so I probably go overboard with the cleaning than needed. Better to be safe than sorry is the motto I live by.

I raise my hand and will be the first to admit that I don't take care of my contact lenses properly and will even sleep in them in extreme cases. Yes I've had infections and I really know I ought to do better, but it's just I haven't found the perfect solution yet.

I've worn soft lenses for 25 years - started back in the day when they were £80-£100 a pair and need regular treating with de-furring solution to keep them functioning properly!

Now use monthly disposables - take them out and put them in clean solution every night, must admit I don't always clean them as such. I do make sure my hands are clean before putting them in and out though - drying on a well worn towel or tea towel stops fluffy fingers.

I love my lenses - only problem is I let my glasses go to rack and ruin as I really begrudge spending hundreds of pounds )I have a high prescription) on something I use so little.

Last year the optician suggested my 10yo daughter try them as evidently they can slow down the progress of short-sightedness. I was very dubious and mulled it over for a few months before I gave in. She has fortnightly disposables and looks after them well, but like most kids her priorities in the morning are Minecraft and her guinea pigs so she frequently doesn't wear them, which drives me nuts as they cost more per month than mine.

Am reconsidering the regular ones and thinking of just getting her a set of disposables each time her prescription changes so she can just wear them on special occasions.

I am pretty good about hygiene. Probably don't change the fluid often enough though.

I switched from monthly lenses to daily disposables before spending a summer working outside all day and sleeping in a tent, and the washing facilities were somewhat inadequate. I wasn't confident I could look after my lenses properly in that situation. I liked daily disposables so much I've never switched back.

I am scrupulous about eye hygiene, more so now as I'm suffering after effects of secondary infection form a bout of tonsillitis which left me temporarily unable to wear contacts.

I use dailies make sure ands are thoroughly washed before and after inserting/removing them. I did once not too long ago chop fresh green chillies and then decide to remove my contacts... tat was a lesson well learned!

DP also wears dailies and he throws his away in the bin immediately.

I tend to leave them in the bathroom, I need a bin in my bathroom my DD's especially my youngest really enjoys playing with them when she comes across tem, so she's now in charge of throwing them in the bin if she finds them, not play squishy squishy with them....

Gas permeable lenses here. I've been wearing them for 40 years. At times when there is something behind one (this is VERY HURTY), I have been known to take one out, lick it to clean it and put it back in. I wash my hands before inserting them in the morning because my hands are covered with makeup. In the evening, I don't wash my hands, I just pop them out and cover them with solution.

About once a week I do the proper cleaning routing that is supposed to be done daily.

I am quite rigorous about hygeine, always wash hands before cleaning and clean them properly morning and evening. I use monthlies.

Only problems I have are when camping (especially festivals) as cleaning anything properly can be tricky there.

I once broke a contact lens in the car whilst driving on the motorway. Half of it came out. I couldn't see the rest of it in and presumed it had fallen out. My eye was hurting for about two weeks so eventually I went to my optician (specsavers) and he looked and found the other half. He gave me a bit of a friendly telling off about leaving it so long and said next time come as soon as you have a problem! I will take his advice.

I have continuous wear lenses after daily disposables began to dry my eyes out too much. I love them. Will there them for about a month, my eyes let me know it's nearly time-sometimes I need to remove after 3 weeks due to dryness, sometimes ill get 5 weeks. Once they come out ill just wear my glasses for a spell depending on my next occasion. The lenses go in then. I love not having to think about them once their in. No faff of removing after falling asleep with them in, no solutions to pack for a night away. They're great.

I am the only contact lenses wearer in my household and I usually follow the instruction for care and cleaning of my lenses. I use monthly ones and make sure to clean them properly when taking them out.

I need to say that sometimes I sleep with my contact lenses on as I am too tired to take them out.

I have been on a contact lenses scheme with Specsavers for over 13 years and very happy with it.

so glad to read katie & shakey's posts. The quick lick is a staple for me esp when working in dusty environments. Good news on my new lenses - Specsavers are getting me a new set - hopefully these ones are as good as my current pair well licked, always clean & clear & no infections in over 20yrs

Continuous wear. I wear them for about three months longer than 30 days...

I have monthly lenses but only wear them 4 days a week if that. they are great for a night out or if its raining but i prefer my vision with glasses.
I am ok with the hygiene side...but do tend to leave them in a bit too long.

I've been using daily disposables for close to 20 years. Before that I had hard ones and really struggled.

I wear them for too many hours a day. I tell the optician it is 7am till 9pm but in reality it is 6am to 10 or 11pm. I am good now at taking them out before going to sleep on the sofa, but when my dc were babies I probably accidentally slept in them once a week.

If you are having trouble removing a dry lens or one you've slept in then put some eye drops in to moisten the lens and it will be easy to remove. No pinching your eye or ripping lenses.

I wear Daily disposables as the thought of storing and reusing the same lenses for a month seems disgusting to me. I wash my hands thoroughly before putting them in and dry them on tissue or non-shedding fabric. I don't always wash my hands before taking them out though, especially if I've been out late or I'm wearing loads of eye makeup that needs washing off. I'd never sleep in them and if they fall out during the evening I'd rather take out both and get by without than try to wash and reuse them.
I throw Them in the bin or the toilet when finished with.

I've worn lenses for 38 years - first hard ones, then gas permeable and now a combination of GP, daily disposable and glasses, depending on what I'm doing (if on the computer all day I stick to glasses).

I scrub my lens case weekly and boil it in a small saucepan for 10 mins. Nightly I rinse it out with boiled water from the kettle, which I also use to rinse the lenses. Daily disposables I put in the bin because I don't want them to end up in the sea and being eaten by turtles. I'm serious

I always wash my hands and shake dry . Today I was wearing the GP and had a sticky lump on one but didn't have any solutions with me so I washed my hands, took it out, cleaned it with spit & put it back in. Job done!

In the old days of hard lenses they got dry & I used to lose loads of them. I stayed overnight at parties & put them in the sink in water & hoped no-one pulled the plug out, etc. Once fell asleep on a train in France, woke up in Calais with a lens missing & had to come all the way home with one eye blurry!

I've worn rigid gas permeables for the last 20 years. Last few years though, have been lazy as have kids so have stuck to wearing glasses and lenses are occasional use. Saying that I never de protein them!!! So far so good. Have also not used them so frequently due to the fact that I scratched my corneas twice somehow and it was painful!!!!

Oh and I wash hands and shake!!