Tell me about contacts?

[Smee]

Talk to me like I'm four years old. I have absolutely no experience with contacts. I have an eye appointment Monday. I know I'm due for more glasses. I'm supposed to wear them way more than I do, but because having something on my face bugs me so much, I don't wear them often. The ones I have now are comfortable enough; it's just the presence of something on my face. I hate it and all these years later have been unable to get used to it.

I don't have bifocals or funny shaped eyeballs that would make me need special contacts. It looks like they might be pretty cheap.

What do I need to ask about them? I am not even sure if I'll be able to wear them. I already can't put eye drops in my eyes; Husband has to virtually sit on me to do it. I have an uncontrollable blink reflex. Also, I am exposed to a lot of floaty, dandery things like flying dog hair (it's part of my job). Will this be a problem? I rub my eyes a lot. How long do I wear them, and can I sleep in them?

I really need help seeing, but I just can't seem to keep glasses on. After years of good intentions and trying, it's just not happening, at least not for more than brief periods. Does it seem like contacts are a viable option for me, or am I doomed to keep squinting and just giving up?

[3timesoccermom]

Smee if you want to see better, contacts will help - your vision is better with them than glasses. But your freaking on the eye drops is not a good sign. If you could practice and overcome this you could do contacts.

I use the old-style hard, gas permeable lenses, they last a long time - years sometimes, put in and take out daily but if you get some small thing in the eye it feels like a boulder in there. I rub my eyes fairly often and sometimes the lens will slip off the pupil but it's easily moved back. Natually, these lenses are very durable.

The soft contacts now are so soft sometimes you can even have something in your eye and not feel it so these would be a good option for you. There are many styles, daily wear, extended wear, etc.; some you can wear at night. I think (not sure) most of these you wear for 2 weeks and toss. Many people are guilty of wearing them far longer though.

They show you how to do everything in the office, putting them in, removing (oh, and they will not go up into your brain if they somehow slip off your pupil!!) then you would start with a short period of time and wear them in increasingly longer segments and return frequently so they can monitor your eyes. It does take a little time though and at first you are very aware that there is something on your eye - it's just an awareness though, not pain. Once you become accustomed to contacts you will get to where you do not feel them anymore. When you see someone squinting, blinking constantly or with red eyes there is a problem with them or their lenses - it should not be that way.

I don't know if everyone does them this way but our eye doc only sells contacts in 6 month quantities and our insurance pays for either 1 set of glasses or 6 month's worth of contacts every year. Many people will get their contacts elsewhere once they have the prescription from the doc but most of the time I just go through the doc because they have helped us out on very short notice so many times - and all 5 of us have prescriptions. Besides they are local and I try to support local business.

Your eye doctor will advise you on the best type for you and if you are a good candidate or not. Glasses can be a royal pain - I would never go back to wearing them full time but of course everyone that wears contacts should have a pair in case they scratch the eye or there is another problem where they can't wear their contacts for a few days.

You can wear them if you set your mind to it and you'll probably be amazed at how much better you will see. It'll be a whole new world! I promise you.

[meggers]

Talk to me like I'm four years old.

Awww, doesh muh wittle Smeezie want shome contacts?



Okay...never had 'em & can't wear 'em, but hope you love them.

[mystry72]

I like them a lot better than glasses except one thing, they cost far more, at least for me. (I have astigmatism.) The exam costs more for contact lenses, although I don't know how they justify it, it seemed like a regular exam anytime I've had one. But, at least my doc, always gives me a script for both the contacts and a pair of glasses, so your not stuck with them.

[Smee]

Awww, doesh muh wittle Smeezie want shome contacts?

Thanks for the info! Am I going to need to put eye drops in my eyes a lot with contacts? That may be problematic. I realized that I am able to sort of rim my eyelids with my fingers to get out eyelashes or other debris, so I'm hopeful I can get the contacts in. I just hope it doesn't involve eye drops.

From what I understand, the doctor will give/sell me a trial pair to start with before actually filling a prescription to buy a lot of them. Does this sound right? If nothing has changed since my last exam and I don't need bifocals or other specialty lenses, it looks like I can get them there for around $160 a year (or $80 for six months). Does that sound reasonable? It's waaaay cheaper than I expected and even cheaper than glasses which my insurance pays for up to $250. From what I understand, my insurance doesn't cover contacts because it's considered cosmetic, but if it's cheaper, I can't imagine why they won't. I'm going to double check. I've never been interested in contacts before, so it's possible I'm misunderstanding something. Either way, I'm willing to let them pay for new glasses and buy the contacts out of pocket if I can wear them. I am concerned with how much more ($$) is involved in this special exam for contacts, though. If my insurance doesn't cover it like they do (100%) for regular exams, it will be an expense I didn't count on and budget for. I guess I'll find out tomorrow, but I'd still love to hear others' experiences.

[couponmommyof3]

Here's my 2 cents-

Cheapest place I have EVER found it is 1-800-contacts! Smack down, every single time! Even with sales at certain eye places, still 1-800-contacts! I just ordered them offline.

With you not being able to put in eyedrops it will probably not be easy for you. My sister who NEVER wore contacts decided to wear them for her wedding, so she bought a ton of dailys and wore them once a week to help her get used to it. Well, she likes them so much that now a year later she wears contacts every day. They were NOT easy at all for her to get them on. She was either blinking too much and dropping them and all kinds of crazy stuff, BUT like I said, she loves them now.

Assuming you get the regular 2 week ones that most people wear, you just take them out at night, NEVER ever sleep in them, and make sure you wash them well. Whatever your job you shouldn't have a problem.

Your doctor should give you a trial pair at no cost.

Do you currently wear your glasses at all? I suggest to everyone that wears contacts to also have a pair of glasses on back-up. I used to just use the same frame for years but just got new lenses to keep up with my prescription.

NOW-here I hope everyone reads

Seriously, NEVER-DO NOT WEAR YOUR CONTACTS LONGER THAN YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO!!!!

I used to work in an eye doctor's office and the very awful, nasty disgusting things that can happen to your eyes make sure I tell everyone to be good with their contacts.

My story-I wore glasses from 16 until now. After I had my first DD I decided to get contacts, LOVED them, after I had my DS for some reason I just can't wear them anymore, I mean I never did try the more expensive ones, but the cheaper 2 week ones I just couldn't wear anymore, like I knew they were there and my eyes couldn't 'breathe'.

Good Luck!!

[Smee]

I do have a good pair of glasses. I wear them when driving because that is the one time I feel like I absolutely have to. I mean, with anything else I can't make out (tv, reading, whatever), I can pretty much give up on it, but I can't very well decide mid-trip that I'm tired of trying to see to drive, you know? My insurance will cover a new pair of glasses, so that is an even extra pair. I just don't wear them often enough because their presence on my face bugs me. I love how clear things are when I wear them and wish I could stand to wear them all the time.

I promise to be good to my eyes. With stuff like that, I'm generally a stickler about following directions. My husband has really expensive eyes with various surgeries and issues, and he has drilled me to death about proper care for eyes and related equipment (he wears glasses). If it says two weeks, I'll not wear them a day longer. Even if I slacked, he would nag me enough about it to make it not worth slacking. A major contributor to my weak vision or maybe even the cause, I believe, is from a really bad eye infection I had years ago. I don't know if it's causation or correlation, but my eyes were perfect before that, but the infected one too forever to clear up and my vision never recovered afterward. That experience alone is worth making sure I care for them properly and don't expose them to yuck.

Thanks!

[Mama Stu]

I wore contacts for years. The old hard ones(and I am not talking the gas permeable ones-these were just hard contacts). Think 40+ years ago. I LOVED them, wore them all the time. But, then when I got pregnant with my third child, I couldn't wear them. So, I went back to glasses. That was 25 years ago.


I think you will be way happier with contacts than with glasses. Just my two cents. If you take care of them, they don't get scratched, broken, ect..., like glasses can and do. I think they are cheaper in the long run and better for your eyes.

[Spongebear]

The only thing I can tell you about contacts, is that there is no way in heck im putting them in my eyes. Just seeing someone else putting theres in, im about to faint. Sorry im not help.

[Spongebear]

Did you make this? Oh my