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 use dailies, fairly occasionally (once a week maybe). Putting them in is quite tidy - at sink/mirror, always before putting mosturiser on my face so I don't have greasy fingers. Taking them out is more haphazard, I don't need a mirror for that so I tend to just pinch them out wherever and throw them away. Glad not to have to faff around with saline and little pots and so forth.

I use two weeklies and am very careful about hygiene. In fact my hands are getting really dry from washing them all the time since I started wearing contacts!

I switched from monthlies to dailies a few years ago. I had an eye ulcer with monthlies and that was awful and the remedy treatment is hourly eye drops during waking hours which is a nightmare. I was relatively careful but obviously not enough so switched.

I now use dailies. I put them in after my shower usually - I try to avoid showering in them where possibly as I know tap water getting behind them can be an issue. So I'm clean putting them in.
I'm not so careful at night taking them out but only touch the outside and not my eye.

The main hygiene issue I find is if they come out during the day as you have to deal with it there and then so cleaning hands etc isn't always an option.

I usulu just pop them straight into the bin though admit on occasions when I've got home late and and just ready to drop they've been left at the side of the bed or in the sink, but I do then move them first thing in the morning.

I

I started wearing contacts early on at university iirr, so been wearing them for about 23 years. I wear them from 7am til bedtime most days, I guess minimum of 15 hours a day. I rarely wear my glasses - I just find them sore to wear behind my ears though that was probably due to psoriasis behind my ears more than anything else.

I know that I wear them too long really but can't see that changing any time soon.

Are dailies much more expensive? I wear fortnightly ones but like the idea of dailies. Although they are more of a hassle to get in, so thin!

Daily disposables or I just wear my glasses.

I started out in my teens with the old style ones that lasted a year or so. I used to have to fizz them every night (week?) to remove protein.

In my 30's I moved to monthly disposables.
Yeah I'm always quite lax with my routines - quick run & that's it.

I wore monthlies pretty much continuously for years.

In my 40's and now a parent I wear contacts much less often. I have dailies to wear when I fancy it & throw them in the bin when I am done. Nice and easy.

Though now I need to look at bi-focals ................

I'm a swimmer and I have always worn contacts when swimming. I had no idea this was not recommend due to eye eating bugs or something equally awful until very recently. It's a pain and contacts with goggles are great when swimming.

I have gas perms and maintain good hygiene by washing hands before putting them in or taking them out. Clean the container regularly with hot water and so far no infections nor lens problems.

I can't wear lenses now as eyes too dry. But wore them for 17 years without an infection.

And I am embarrassed to admit I may have licked them in an emergency and used tap water lots. I had gas permeable lenses.

Don't follow my example though people, I was just lucky.

Also wore them swimming and didn't clean case enough. This was a long time ago.

I wear dailies have done for about 12 years. I love them they are so convenient no cleaning or worrying about calcium build up like I did with my first pair when I was 18. I wash my hands before putting them in and also as I take them out. I don't really think of the hygene aspect of them as they are so disposable. I do have a rule though that if I drop one on the floor it's lost but if it lands in the sink or on my clothes I'll wash it and wear it. My dd 13 wears the monthly lenses and I've had to really emphasise the importance of cleaning them properly and keeping her hands clean. Hopefully she does wash them beforehand!

I use daily disposables and am usually pretty good at taking them out - however after a few drinks I have been known to awake in the AM wondering why I can see so well!

My house is also scattered with old dried out lenses....

Worn them for 25 years, always soft contact lenses. Most of that time been monthly ones and I try and put a new pair in on the 1 st of every month.. I use a bottle of solution until its empty. Don't clean per day, just put in case. Never wash my hands particularly for taking them out of putting them in

I wear daily disposables from specsavers. Firstly i just want to say how flexible specsavers have been with me over the years. When i first started wearing lenses in around 2000, i went onto the contact lens plan with monthly lenses. I'd frequently tear lenses nicking them in that little cage holder thing. Specsavers regularly replaced lenses without question and i got all my vouchets etc towards glasses and aftercare.

I switched to daily disposables as i was conscious that i was tearing lenses that i perhaps wasnt cleaning the lens holder enough and i just avoided wearing the monthly ones as after two weeks they'd start to feel gritty.

On daily disposables very often since kids/pregnancy ive been too busy or my eyes are too tired to wear lenses and so i started stockpiling them. Many times you froze my plan so that i could level out again.

As it stands now, im not on a plan. I like having lenses but use my glasses a lot and didnt want to be committed to a plan. I pay for lenses as and when i want them and ive been given high tech silicone lenses to try on and off without commitment. Im never treated any differently despite not being on a formal plan and im called to remind me for eye health checks. The service has been amazing.

Im a stickler for eye hygiene hence i use dailies and wont keep them in for prolonged periods. I review them loads and test others to ensure that ive got the most comfortable healthy lenses i can.

I'm very lax with mine
I wear daily disposables, but don't wash my hands when putting them in/removing. I've forgotten to take them out a few times. And I wear them too long eAch day.
I don't know why I am so bad about this, one of my biggest fears is sight loss. (Resolves to be better behaved).

My ex-partner was just vile with his contact lenses, he left them lying about everywhere, when he remembered to take them out that is!

I tend to use my contact lenses only sometimes as they irritate my eyes when I use them for too long. I use the disposable lenses and generally wear them on nights out. I need to be meticulous when wearing them, wash hands thoroughly, no lint towels, etc as my eyes are pretty sensitive.

I wear monthlies from specsavers... have done for around 13 years now. I'm not as hygienic as I should be I admit but I have got better at cleaning my lenses before putting them into the solution at night. I never look in a mirror to put them in / take them out and the days I do wear them (about 5/7) I wear them for too long. But I don't get TOO many issues. Sometimes I get dry eyes but this has got better since having the 2 days a week wearing glasses. I hate wearing glasses.

I wear two weekly lenses. I wash my hands before inserting them and usually before removing them. I do the rubbing them in the solution bit before putting them in rather than when I take them out as I do that when I'm too tired. I don't keep a note of when I first put them in so I sometimes wear them for too long. It annoys me that they tear easily so sometimes I have to extend the two weeks to cover a broken one (I buy a year's worth online). Ideally I would wear daily disposables. I have been struggling with comfort in my left eye, it feels scratched, but have just had 2 recent contact lens checks and all is fine. My lenses always look cloudy when I put them in and often it takes about ten minutes for them to feel comfortable. I used to wear monthly lenses and never had this trouble.

I've been wearing contact lenses for 20 years. I must admit in my late teens and early 20's my lense hygiene was appalling and I ended up with a corneal ulcer which was awful and the doctor at the eye casualty scared the life out of me telling me I was lucky not to lose my eye. I've been quite strict about cleaning my lenses since then but admit to wearing them for too long. I hate wearing my glasses though but because of my prescription new ones are bloody expensive. I can't remember the last time I left my house with glasses on!

I use the Specsavers peroxide solution for my monthly disposables which is really simple and easy to use (apart from the one time I forgot that I hadn't left the solution long enough to neutralise - Ouchy!) so no excuses for poor lense cleaning really and as they are delivered in 3 month supplies I don't end up wearing them past their shelf life anymore.

I do remember as a teenager going out for one (or five) too many drinks and ended up staying at a friends house but had nowhere to keep my contact lenses. I vaguely remembered that alcohol would clean them and keep them hydrated so put them in a saucer of vodka over night. When I got up the next day they had expanded to the size of 50 pence pieces

Daily disposables from Specsavers are the answer- that way I can be truly revolting and strictly hygienic at the same time!
A new sterile pair every day- then take them out at night and flick them across the bedroom. The dried little lenses get hoovered up from the carpet once a week!!

I wear daily disposable lenses, for hygiene reasons and convenience. I've used contacts for about 22 years, started with three-monthly disposables but found the cleaning a faff. I put them in after my shower and usually take them out just before bed. I know I should spend more time without them but glasses/sunglasses give me a headache.

Daily disposables here. I always wash my hands before putting them in but not before taking them out. They suit me so much better than the monthlies - I was a bit lax with those!

Only wear lenses occasionally now, as my eyes can no longer tolerate them much, but I always follow instructions to the letter! I started with gas permeable lenses in my teens, moved to monthly lenses, now on the thinnest of daily disposables but really only wear them on holiday when I want to go snorkelling now as my eyes get too painful.