Contact lenses.

[wheresthetorch]

Having worn glasses for the last 45 years, I'm considering a contact lens trial at my next eye test. It's not so much about vanity, more about convenience, e.g.:

• Being able to wear sunglasses
• Able to get cheap cycling glasses
• Not having to keep taking my glasses off to look through the eyepiece of my telescope
• Having to keep cleaning my glasses during the day
• Glasses steaming up going into a pub in winter
• Rain on glasses when it's wet.
• Etc . . .

So I was just wondering about people's experiences of contact lenses. I have varifocal lenses in my glasses, so don't see how that would work with contacts, as surely you are always looking through the same part of the lens?

Anyway, your views and thoughts are welcome, especially from anyone who uses or has tried contact lenses.

 

[Julia9054]

Varifocal contact lenses work by having concentric circles and your brain sort of adjusts!
I wore contact lenses for short sight with no problems from the age of 22 up until 2 years ago when the whole reading glasses thing started to become apparent. Tried varifocal contact lenses for about a year - felt that for me they were a compromise and did neither job satisfactorily. I particularly didn't feel that my far eyesight was sharp enough when driving at night so I gave up on contact lenses all together and now have varifocal glasses.
Another option for you (not for me because vanity!) might be distance contact lenses and reading glasses
For me though, neither my near sight or my far sight is particularly bad and in good light conditions, when not driving and when not at work I often don't bother at all.
I have single vision distance sunglasses for cycling but have to lift them up to see my phone! I enquired how much varifocal sports sunglasses would be and since the answer was about the same price as my car, I didn't bother!

 

[Heltor Chasca]

I am very pro. Love them.

Long story, but chainsaw accident saw me ram raiding the local opticians to get a splinter out. They did a check and found I wasn’t driving legal. Glasses didn’t work with my job so I went on a lens trial. I had a few different makes, sizes etc and settled on a 30 day disposable make. I buy them every 3 months. You get used to them very quickly. I don’t get red or dry eyes anymore because you effectively have a little shield over your eye. I have also been body boarding in quite big waves and they were fine much against advice by the opticians.

 

[sleuthey]

I wore them for 8 years. If you want convenience then my advice would be to spend an extra few pounds per month and have the type that you leave in your eye for a month without needing to remove at night

 

[TheDoctor]

Just started a trial with them, using Toric daily disposables. I only need correction for one eye.
They don't quite correct for my astigmatism, so while I'm legal to drive in them, glasses give me better vision. It also took me a long while to get it out the first time, so I had a very bloodshot eye for the next few days. The lens is a lot more comfortable than the last time I tried them, in 1997 or so.
I will persevere, but I don't expect I'll be using a lens all day, every day.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Worn for 30+ years
Hards, at first
GP's for a lot of years
Softs for about 6 years

Astigmatism here

No problems, barring the odd fly in the eye
Oh, & a scratched cornea, due to a branch in the eye, in a XC race (Harriers v Cyclists, at Bingley), but that injury would be the same with/without lenses

I suggest always wearing 'sunglasses' (of a favoured variery/tint) when riding, a fly in the eye, or grit is far more dangerous on a bike than when walking

 

[Julia9054]

Just started a trial with them, using Toric daily disposables. I only need correction for one eye.
They don't quite correct for my astigmatism, so while I'm legal to drive in them, glasses give me better vision. It also took me a long while to get it out the first time, so I had a very bloodshot eye for the next few days. The lens is a lot more comfortable than the last time I tried them, in 1997 or so.
I will persevere, but I don't expect I'll be using a lens all day, every day.

I wore them for so many years you could drive a coach and horses across my eyeballs!

 

[wheresthetorch]

Thanks everyone - some really useful thoughts there.

So . . .what's it like sticking something in your eye (intentionally) for the first time?

 

[tom73]

I've been thinking of giving them a go too. Being caught out in heavy rain is no fun in glasses.
Guess you don't know unless you try.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Thanks everyone - some really useful thoughts there.

So . . .what's it like sticking something in your eye (intentionally) for the first time?

Like your first ride with clipless pedals


You'll think you've cracked it, then drop one on the bathroom floor, or down the sink....
(thus speaks the voice of experience....)

 

[Globalti]

I tried hard micros but gave up when they started getting cloudy. Then months later I discovered that the optician had forgotten to explain the importance of regular cleaning. Anyway they were always uncomfortable and I hated having to carry the little bottles and the container around. The vision was sharp though.

Then years later I tried soft disposables but that got off to a bad start when the optician only tinkled his dirty fingers under a tap before sticking them in my eyes and gave me a filthy cold. I couldn't get on with them either, too much faffing around and if I got a face full of dust I'd be in agony. So back to glasses again. Been wearing them 53 years so I don't mind them.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Been wearing contacts for over 40 years and the technology has moved on a lot since the boil to sterilise days (tiny little electric powered autoclaves).

I use once a day disposable lenses from Specsavers.

They are very soft and very comfortable.

Great for all outdoor activities where glasses may be a PITA.

Takes a week or so to get used to wearing them and putting them in and out soon becomes second nature.

 

[rualexander]

I got my first glasses in november, finally decided I was no longer seeing well enough to be legal to drive. In the end I was borderline, optician said some days I would be legal other days I'd be illegal, so had to get specs.
Specsavers were doing a free trial for contacts so I gave them a go and they are great.
I got a monovision prescription where you get a lens for distance for one eye and a lens for reading for the other eye.
Sounds crazy but it's actually ok.
In the end I only wear the distance lens in my right eye and nothing in my left eye because my left eye is reasonably ok for distance and reading anyway.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I got my first glasses in november, finally decided I was no longer seeing well enough to be legal to drive. In the end I was borderline, optician said some days I would be legal other days I'd be illegal, so had to get specs.
Specsavers were doing a free trial for contacts so I gave them a go and they are great.
I got a monovision prescription where you get a lens for distance for one eye and a lens for reading for the other eye.
Sounds crazy but it's actually ok.
In the end I only wear the distance lens in my right eye and nothing in my left eye because my left eye is reasonably ok for distance and reading anyway.

I did this the hard way:

1994 returning from Dominican Republic holiday and my left eye was sore, itchy and seeping pus. Straight from Gatwick Airport to Tunbridge Wells (where we lived then) eye clinic and next thing I know it I'm admitted, lying on a bed with an IV in my arm dumping in Antibiotics.

Emergency Dr then said Eye Surgeon had been contacted and was on standby to remove said eye in around 2 hours if it did not respond to the IV AB's.

Eye was infected with this nasty critter:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16645957

Fortunately eye rallied round and after 5 days in hospital I was discharged - follow up was weekly visit to scrape scabby stuff off of eye surface and 2 weeks of no sleep longer than 30 minutes. Drug regime (4 or 5 different tab's/ointments) had to be administered on a cycle of 30 minutes. Had to re-learn to drive and down climb in the mountains due to stereoscopic vision impairment.

25 years later I have a small patch of vision loss in the eye (hardly noticeable) and a slight protuberance on the eye surface (invisible to naked eye) that stops me wearing a lense in it so I just use one in the right eye.

Don't notice any difference between wearing my one lense and my glasses. Benefit is is that I can wear the one lense for distance and shut my eye and read close up with my left eye - handy when in the supermarket trying to read how much sugar/fat is in all the yummy stuff that I then put back on the shelf (most times!).

Cause was probably infection entering via a small scratch when putting in contact lense!

 

[wheresthetorch]

I got a monovision prescription where you get a lens for distance for one eye and a lens for reading for the other eye.

Is that really a thing? Sounds crazy, yet also makes sense!