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Contact Lenses - are they really worth the bother?

Started by 23 Daves, July 04, 2007, 09:25:06 PM

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23 Daves

So - is anyone else on this fair forum so vain they feel the need to wear contact lenses, then?  I am, you see, but following an incident which took place yesterday evening, I'm beginning to wonder if I've got it all wrong.

I was putting one of my lenses in when all of a sudden it split, and I managed to get a small part of it out but the rest somehow got lodged quite deep under my eyelid.  I stood by the bathroom mirror frantically tugging at my eyelids and rolling my eyes around like a rabid dog, but the fucker just wouldn't budge.  It was hopelessly stuck, and every time I blinked I could feel my cornea being scraped and aggravated.

I rushed down to the branch of Specsavers I registered with back in November only to find that they'd lost all my registration details (and insisted I was either a liar or mistaken and had never had any dealings with them) before finally telling me that their optometrist had just left for the day anyway and the whole argument was pointless, and I had to go to another branch right over the other side of London.  This I did, getting drenched by rain in the process.  When I arrived at their other branch I was greeted by the winner of the Passive Aggressive Customer Services Technique Award 2005 who told me off for turning up just as they were about to close without having any records on me ("We want to close, you know!")

He finally agreed to let me see an optometrist, who did the usual trick of shining bright lights into my eyes, and then finally scraped under my eyelids with Q-tips (which was really uncomfortable, I don't mind telling you) only to declare "Nope, there's nothing in there.  Whatever was there has gone.  I think you've just scratched your cornea and that will account for your discomfort.  Just go home and get some rest".

This I did, except my eye was really sticky this morning and had green residue around it.  I continued to feel discomfort throughout the day, and still felt a persistent scratching under my eyelid.  As a result of my bad experiences with Specsavers yesterday, I consulted an online contact lens forum about how to dislodge the stuck lenses instead of going back to tell them that they might be wrong, and tried a different (and really simple) removal technique they suggested there.  Hey presto, the lens popped out in a couple of minutes, completely coated in goo and pus.  No Q Tip scraping required.  I'm now worried that I might have developed a slight eye infection, though the discomfort has (obviously) gone.

This is the first time in six years I've had any trouble with mine, not to mention dealt with so many inefficient arseholes posing as branches of opticians, so I'm wondering if infections, and bits of lenses getting lodged, etc, are common enough occurrences for me to stop bothering anymore.  Has anyone else any nasty tales to tell?  And does anyone else agree that Specsavers are total and utter shit?

Deadman97

Quote from: 23 Daves on July 04, 2007, 09:25:06 PM
So - is anyone else on this fair forum so vain they feel the need to wear contact lenses, then?  I am, you see
And me, wouldn't be without them- glasses on weekends, lenses on weekdays.
QuoteI managed to get a small part of it out but the rest somehow got lodged quite deep under my eyelid.  I stood by the bathroom mirror frantically tugging at my eyelids and rolling my eyes around like a rabid dog, but the fucker just wouldn't budge.  It was hopelessly stuck, and every time I blinked I could feel my cornea being scraped and aggravated
Yeah, does happen. The only way is to leave it for a bit, you'll cry it out eventually. Poking yourself in the eye isn't going to do any good.
QuoteAnd does anyone else agree that Specsavers are total and utter shit?
My continued use of Specsavers is akin to poking myself in the eye, though. Everything they do or say is subject to being fucked up, I hate them.

I get my contact lenses with Dolland & Aitchison.  They're not bad, although they've been badgering me with phone calls to arrange a contact lens appointment every week for a while in spite of the fact I told them I was seeing an eye consultant first and would then see them afterwards.  They just don't listen to a word I say it seems.

As for seeing the eye consultant, well, that was an experience.  I had to get cysts removed from my top and bottom lids of my left eye.  Getting the local anaesthetic injection into the soft tissue around my eyes was bad enough, but the anaesthetic didn't work, so I could feel every cut into my eyelid which wasn't something I want to repeat.  The continuous bleeding and pus pouring out of my eye for the next half an hour was something to behold as well.

The Widow of Brid

I've got contact lenses, the ones you can sleep in and wear for three or four weeks on the trot without worrying. I've had no bad experiences.

I used to go to Specsavers when I wore glasses though, and agree that they're an absolute bunch of shitehawks.

CaledonianGonzo

I've suffered the 'half-a-lens-stuck-down-the-back-of-the-eyeball' problem a couple of times as well.  On one occasion I wasn't even sure if had gone behind the eye or just fallen onto the floor and I forgot about it for a couple of weeks until I woke up one morning with it stuck to my cheek, covered, like yours, with green pus.

Not pleasant.  Um...whats the way to get rid of one if it happens again?

And people think the grossest part of having contacts is just putting your finger in your eye.  No chance.

23 Daves

Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on July 04, 2007, 09:36:49 PM
Not pleasant.  Um...whats the way to get rid of one if it happens again?

Listen up and listen good, because this advice - quoted from some forum run by a pharmaceutical company - honestly works really quickly:

1. drop your multi-purpose lense cleansing liquid into your eyes rather than other liquid. because this liquid lubricates lenses and can be absorbed by lenses so that lenses becomes more 'puffed up', slippery and hence more easy to move on eye ball.

2. turn you eye ball downwards, namely look down, as much as you can then press your two fingers on the upper border of eye lids where you can feel the bone of your eye. Then lookup as much as you can. The reason for using two fingers is simply a way of increasing the stopping area in side the eye lid to prevent lense from sliding back when you lookup.

3. keep doing step 2 for a couple times and, can even try, position your two fingers slightly on different positions along the upper border of eye lids. Within a minute you will feel 'that thing' sneak out


I was amazed at how quickly it dislodged, and it's quite common sense when you think about it as well.  If the optometrist had just advised me to do this instead of ramming Q-tips into my eyes it would have been much more helpful!

Quote from: aaaaaaaaaargh! on July 04, 2007, 09:32:14 PM
As for seeing the eye consultant, well, that was an experience.  I had to get cysts removed from my top and bottom lids of my left eye.  Getting the local anaesthetic injection into the soft tissue around my eyes was bad enough, but the anaesthetic didn't work, so I could feel every cut into my eyelid which wasn't something I want to repeat.  The continuous bleeding and pus pouring out of my eye for the next half an hour was something to behold as well.

I've had that particular "operation" (if it could be called that) done as well, and I agree it's not exactly a barrel of laughs.  At least the anaesthetic actually worked in my case, though... I don't envy you, put it that way.

The nurse held my hand while the consultant was doing her stuff.  Don't know if the handholding was one of the BUPA perks or not.  Consultant was encouraging me to grit my teeth/swear to help me get through it.

John Self

Holding a patient's hand, whether it's public or private sector, is a potentially sackable breach of boundaries, aaaaaaaargh!: she was obviously very much in love with you.


Quote from: 23 Daves on July 04, 2007, 09:25:06 PMSo - is anyone else on this fair forum so vain they feel the need to wear contact lenses, then? ... Has anyone else any nasty tales to tell?

Well my eyesight is somewhere between normal and smug, but on the subject of eye-wear and vanity, I have started wearing glasses recently, when I'm out sometimes. You know, if I feel the occasion may warrant a look of studiousness or condescension.

But I do have to put them on about 5 minutes before I leave the house, as I got them secondhand from Portobello Market, and I have to assume the previous owner actually did need them, seeing as just after donning them I sometimes get a slight headache and my legs go a bit wobbly. But it soon passes, and is not altogether unpleasant: in some ways it could be seen as a cheap and handy replacement for a shot of tequila.


Vanity: It should come with a price

Eight Taiwanese Teenagers

Quote from: Mrs Trousers on July 04, 2007, 09:36:01 PM
I've got contact lenses, the ones you can sleep in and wear for three or four weeks on the trot without worrying. I've had no bad experiences.


Same here... except for once in a while when I get a dodgy lens that just won't sit right. I'll get it out, clean it, lubricate my balls (eyeballs), leave it a day, put it back in, and within a couple of hours it causes pain again. Funny that this thread should arise just this evening as I have had to discard a contact lens just one week into its lifespan because it was persistently irritating me. I might have given it another chance at the whole wash/lubricate thing if I wasn't in a restaurant at the time. I'm glad I don't have terrible eyesight or I couldn't have seen what I was doing or got home!

23 Daves

This is my problem - my eyesight is just woeful.  I've been told I move around like a zombie without my glasses on or lenses in, so if one slips out of my eye whilst I'm out and about (which has happened before) it's particularly unfortunate.  I shudder to think what sort of vision I'm going to have by the time I'm in my late forties - I think I'll almost certainly have to get laser surgery by the time it gets to that point.

Katayun

I find I appreciate contacts most when I'm stuck out in bad weather with raindrops obscuring my vision at every step. Then when I finally get out of the bad weather my glasses then steam up in a great comedy moment that others find oh so amusing.

Being able to wear any cheap pair of sunglasses you wish to haggle a small man for on holiday is good too.

SOTS

I think i'll stick to glasses. Anything to avoid me having to touch my eyes a lot.

mothman

Vain? Is that a serious opinion of people who wear contacts?

Never liked glasses. And as my eyesight got worse, the lenses in my specs got thicker. One eye had already reached Coke-bottle proportions. So when I tried contact lenses, it was a revelation. Initially I had 90-day lenses, washed every night and left to soak in a saline solution with a litte pill dropped in to sterilise 'em. Pain in the ass. Then, ten years ago I switched to dailies and haven't looked back. At least a quid per pair per day but I can afford that and it's worth it.

I should have had the laser-surgery 4 years ago when I could really afford it in one hit. Still sometimes wish I had, but at the time something held me back.

Losing a lens up in your eyelid? Happens all the time. Hurts like hell but if you manipulate the eyeball in the right way it'll come out after a few minutes. I wouldn't let one bad experience put you off; however, I'd get your eye looked at properly anyway, or you could end up with an infection that might mean you don't have any choice about giving up lenses, you'll have to whether you want to or not.

Glebe

I've been wearing glasses since I was about twelve. I'm short sighted, but I don't wear them out in general (I bring them with me to the cinema, etc). As my eyesight gets worse, I'm starting to think I should. I was gonna get contact lenses before, but it wasn't recommended, because I had scratched my cornea and got infections in both eyes on and off for a while. After all these years, I am still a little bit self-consious about wearing them out, which I admit is pretty silly. The thing that really bothers me is getting them dirty, I never seem to be able to keep them smudge-free. Even if I could afford it, I'd be wary of getting laser surgery, since it's in it's early days and the long term effects are not known!

Fielding

I used to wear glasses* B-) The worst thing about them was going on pub crawls during autumn and winter. When I entered the warm atmosphere of a pub from the cold outside the glass part of the glasses (the lens you might call it) would go misty with condensation.

I'd either have to wipe them with an appropriate cloth - which wasn't always to hand, spend the first few minutes of being in the pub standing by the door waiting for them to demist, or take them off and feel my way around a throng of drinkers. That literally was the worst thing about wearing glasses (along with the crippling social embarrassment caused but we all get that for one reason or another).

I changed to contact lenses and haven't "looked" back since. Never had a major problem...yet. I did once have one fold over and go in my eye but it didn't stay there very long.

Some people are squeamish about seeing me putting them in or taking them out - but I don't really understand why. You get pretty adept at 'plucking' them out your eye of an evening. So I rate contacts highly. I feel much freer without glasses - like how you can lean your head against things without the glasses obstructing and don't have to worry about smudges on the lens (or condensation).

*I am actually wearing glasses as I write this because I don't usually wear contacts this late when I'm at home, but you know what I mean.

gazzyk1ns

Quote from: mothman on July 04, 2007, 11:19:41 PM
Vain? Is that a serious opinion of people who wear contacts?

Heh, my thoughts exactly. Try playing football or going for a run in glasses. Or indeed doing pretty much anything, really, do you ever truly forget you're wearing glasses? I didn't when I wore them (about 3 years, constantly); the build-up of sweat/skin oils on the bridge of your nose, the ease of temporarily blemishing the lenses even if it's just by steaming up, and probably most of all, the lack of all-round vision, meant that they were pretty much a constant inconvenience.

I'm on CIBA vision Night&Day now (there was a contact lenses thread before, I think I started it in fact), which Vision Express and I think at least one other "supermarket" optician sells for about 160% of the price you can get them for off the net, if buying a year's supply. I kept my monthly DD with Vision Express though, because that includes something like two appointments per year (which is obviously healthy, and indeed necessary for buying contacts off the net anyway... well, sort of, they need a prescription which is less than 6 months old) and anything you need, like emergency lenses if you need them. I took them up on that offer a couple of months ago, too.

These new-ish "wear constantly for a month" ones really are great, I remember ETT saying he had them in the old thread. Is there any reason not to switch to them? The cost difference is pretty insignificant (I think they might even be cheaper with VE, I can't remember), and... well, you hardly ever have to bother with anything eye-related, just remember to change them roughly once a month. Waking up and being able to see perfectly within about 30 seconds without moving is great too, especially obviously when you're staying out anywhere. They also let far more oxygen through to your eye than any other type.

ziggy starbucks

Quote from: gazzyk1ns on July 05, 2007, 12:40:00 AM
Heh, my thoughts exactly. Try playing football or going for a run in glasses. Or indeed doing pretty much anything, really, do you ever truly forget you're wearing glasses?

its like that advert on daytime TV for laser eye surgery. It shows you all the things you can do once you have the surgery, implicitly saying that you couldn't do them when you had glasses. These things include teaching your child how to ride a bike, picking up your kid from football practise and mountain biking through the woods.

As I don't have a kid, don't take any kids to football practise and don't mountain bike through the woods, I'm going to stick with my glasses.

You crypto-eyesight-facists

TheWizard

I've just recently moved and attempted to move my DDebit with SpecSavers to a different branch and a different bank account at the same time which is obviously the most confusing thing to do ever. I cancelled one direct debit, and got a letter saying if I didn't come for a check up soon I wouldn't get any lenses the following quarter sent to my old address. Because this happened on the same day they cancelled my account and I was unable to give them my new address a second time, pay over the phone or do anything despite owing them for a month's fees and being told my a plethora of people to go into my old local branch pay, then set up a new account at what I would want to be my new local branch. How very helpful of them.

Those replacements for the usual ones earlier this year were just shit, like putting a button on your eye. Mine would get read after about five hours, really helpful for a four week lens. I'm looking for new suppliers now too, after getting a pair of the old ones to last me a month.

I also had an eye ulcer over my pupil which resulted in the anaesthetic being put in my eye and watching through it as the doctor at the eye dept. of the hospital took a scraping with tiny needles six times. Didn't hurt at all but I didn't have sweat through it and I would have happily held a nurse's hand during it.

gazzyk1ns

Quote from: ziggy starbucks on July 05, 2007, 12:46:37 AM
its like that advert on daytime TV for laser eye surgery. It shows you all the things you can do once you have the surgery, implicitly saying that you couldn't do them when you had glasses. These things include teaching your child how to ride a bike, picking up your kid from football practise and mountain biking through the woods.

ACTUALLY I think you'll find I'm right, actually. Unless you're a female, in which case you'll not be trying to head the ball anyway. Someone in my ex-running club refuses to consider contacts, saying that it's no bother to wear glasses; I always as him if he's sure that's true whenever he has to try to carry on running whilst taking them off to de-mist them, or indeed when it does so much as spit or drizzle. Or at night when there's fog. Or... well, again, or anything, really.

Quote from: TheWizard on July 05, 2007, 12:49:10 AM
Those replacements for the usual ones earlier this year were just shit, like putting a button on your eye.

I got the same lens I always wear, I don't know whether the fact that I only needed one due to losing it after about a week was a factor or not. For dire emergencies I still have literally a hundred or so daily disposables left from when I wore them, I switched mid-supply, and all they did was alter the monthly DD and sort me out with my new lenses.

no_offenc

I have absolutely no idea how people can stomach touching their own eyes.  But you lot obviously are fine with it.  Makes me feel pretty unwell, though, and as a result of this I am a speccy get for life, which suits me, because I look ridiculous without the things.

gazzyk1ns

I've not been able to convince one of my oldest and best mates that you just get used to putting contacts in within about a month, in about 15 years of trying. It's horrible when you first try, you obviously keep closing your eyelid out of sheer instinct at the vital moment, and on the occasion you manage to not do that, you don't know exactly where to place the lens, or how hard, or when it's ok to let go. But again, you just get used to it, 'snot a problem.

El Unicornio, mang

I've heard good stuff about that LASIK procedure from friends who've had it done. Bit expensive mind. I have perfect eyesight in one eye and terrible vision in the other so I might have to just get one contact. Or a monocle.

Rev

Quote from: no_offenc on July 05, 2007, 01:16:41 AM
I have absolutely no idea how people can stomach touching their own eyes.

You don't touch your eye.  There's a frigging lense on the end of your finger!

I'm also in the 'can't hack glasses' camp.  It's not so much the fogging, it's the limited field of vision for me.  Particularly these days, since it was decided that all spectacle frames must be small and rectangular.

The only bad experience I've had with contacts in my 15 or so years of using them is no longer possible, but fuck me, it was a killer.  Back when you used to stick them in a peroxide-based soak overnight, then use a neutralising solution before wearing them, there were several mornings where I was half-asleep and forgot to do the second step during the normal routine.  Oh, that ten seconds between realising what you've done wrong and being punished for it, but being unable to stop it...


Glebe

Quote from: gazzyk1ns on July 05, 2007, 12:40:00 AMHeh, my thoughts exactly. Try playing football or going for a run in glasses. Or indeed doing pretty much anything, really, do you ever truly forget you're wearing glasses? I didn't when I wore them (about 3 years, constantly); the build-up of sweat/skin oils on the bridge of your nose, the ease of temporarily blemishing the lenses even if it's just by steaming up, and probably most of all, the lack of all-round vision, meant that they were pretty much a constant inconvenience.

I have on rare occasions in the past actually gone looking around the house for my glasses, only to realise I'm actually wearing them. Yeah, the greasey build-up around the nose/eyes is irritating at times.

I have to admit, I always go to SpecSavers, and end up plumming for the two-for-one-with-two-different-frames option.

23 Daves

Quote from: mothman on July 04, 2007, 11:19:41 PM
Losing a lens up in your eyelid? Happens all the time. Hurts like hell but if you manipulate the eyeball in the right way it'll come out after a few minutes. I wouldn't let one bad experience put you off; however, I'd get your eye looked at properly anyway, or you could end up with an infection that might mean you don't have any choice about giving up lenses, you'll have to whether you want to or not.

That's more or less what my boss said yesterday, and she asked if I wanted to take some time out to go back to the opticians to get my eye looked at.  Unfortunately, that would have meant going back to Specsavers and going through the whole "But you never registered with us!" rigmarole all over again, and given that they couldn't even find a great big chunk of contact lens stuck in my eye two days ago I don't hold out much hope of them noticing an infection today.

My eye seemed much better this morning, I'll see how I get on with it today.  I've been washing it out with some medicated solution that Mrs Daves rather fortunately had from an eye infection she managed to get a few weeks ago, and that should clear out any impurities that are left over.  If I'm walking around looking like Thom Yorke next week though, we'll know something's gone horribly wrong.

As for "vain", that's definitely the reason I wear lenses.  I hardly play any sport - I go jogging, but I don't find that wearing glasses gets in the way of that very much unless it's raining. 

Braintree

I've been thinking about getting contacts(price allowing) due to believing I will look cooler and prettier but you have put me off...

emo_bliss

Quote from: John Self on July 04, 2007, 09:49:49 PM
Well my eyesight is somewhere between normal and smug, but on the subject of eye-wear and vanity, I have started wearing glasses recently, when I'm out sometimes. You know, if I feel the occasion may warrant a look of studiousness or condescension.

But I do have to put them on about 5 minutes before I leave the house, as I got them secondhand from Portobello Market, and I have to assume the previous owner actually did need them, seeing as just after donning them I sometimes get a slight headache and my legs go a bit wobbly. But it soon passes, and is not altogether unpleasant: in some ways it could be seen as a cheap and handy replacement for a shot of tequila.


Vanity: It should come with a price

Ahh, excellent! I've been considering buying glasses for vanity purposes for quite a while now, my only concern being any detrimental effect which the lenses may have on my eyes. However, seeing that you haven't had any problems, I think it's safe enough for me to go ahead and do it. One question, though - is it still possible to buy glasses from the likes of, say, Woolworths? Presumably I won't be able to purchase anything from Specsavers or whatever unless I have a prescription.

23 Daves

Quote from: Braintree on July 05, 2007, 09:21:47 PM
I've been thinking about getting contacts(price allowing) due to believing I will look cooler and prettier but you have put me off...

All right, here's my final conclusion after having had a few days to calm down - I do think it's worth it.  I remember the first time I started wearing contacts I was genuinely thrilled not by the fact that I thought I looked better (although that admittedly did have some bearing) but also due to the fact that there was no longer this easily-smudged "window" between me and the world.  It felt as if I'd been living my life in some sort of greasy glass-fronted office block and somebody had just thought to get the window cleaners in -everything seemed much less obstructed and more clear somehow.

If your lenses do ever get stuck, honestly follow out the advice I posted above.  It really works.  Or, look up "contact lenses" and "stuck" on google instead of wasting your time going to Specsavers.

In fact, never bother shopping at that particular establishment.  Ever, no matter how much they tempt you with "cheap offers".

Fry

I'm also in the contacts 'camp'. The only reason for this is I do (did) alot of sport, and I broke a pair of glasses a minute.
I must say I have never had a problem with specsavers - although those replacement lenses a few months ago were a massive pain in the arse.

I also hate wearing glasses, everything about them. Especially these thick rimmed abominations I have at the mo'.
What are these always in lenses - I've never heard of them before.

mothman

heheh, I used to love freaking my flatmate out by poking my own eye (or rather the lens in it, I can touch my own eyeball relatively easily nowadays but it's still hardly pleasant), it really got to him for some reason.