[TubaMuffins]

I just got my first set of contacts yesterday, it takes me about 10 minutes to a put lens in each eye. For those of you who wear contacts, how long did it take you to get used to putting them in and taking them out? Any good general advice?

[Zimphire]

At first it takes practice. After awhile you can do it without any mirrors in seconds.

[ManOfSteal]

No.

[nerd]

I've tried 2 different times. I could get them in and out okay, in about 2-3 minutes. I can't wear them tho, my eyes dry out really bad with them in. I get really red eyes after they're in for about 4 hours. I also really hate glasses. Someday I'll get lasik, maybe after I quit spending my money on Mac things.

Brad

[iREZ]

Contacts suck, glasses can be cumbersome, lasik is ok for now but I'll get it in 5 years or so when I'm sure I'm not going to go blind due to some defect they never saw before.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Are they hard or soft contacts? If hard change to soft if you can - much better for dry eyes.

[Phanguye]

contacts rule... just dont ever take them out then you wont have issues

[kmkkid]

I wear contacts and I can take them out without even thinking about it (like 1 second in or out). I've been wearing them for about 6 years now. It grows on you.


Chris

[Rain]

Seconds to get the lenses in/out. It's really quick and easy once you figure out the "routine".

[fireside]

i used to wear them but then something happened and my eyes suddenly became super dry so after about 1-2 hours i need to take them out. i drink a lot of water, so i'm not sure whats wrong with me.

[Lancer409]

Originally posted by fireside:
i used to wear them but then something happened and my eyes suddenly became super dry so after about 1-2 hours i need to take them out. i drink a lot of water, so i'm not sure whats wrong with me.

staring at a computer screen all day (and or night) without blinking much to soak in all the MacNN goodness =P ...

I am too scared to deal with contacts (dust gets in ur eye and it'll hurt like hell til u get the contact out)

glasses are just so damn convenient (toss on/off) and no need for eye drops or rubs .. and no red eye. imagine taking contacts out when you are wasted ... or got crap all over ur hands (think more in terms of beer or vomit instead of excrement.. lol) ... but just dirty hands in general from u know .. living.. lasik sounds good but i'm waiting for the long term effects to come out

[Gankdawg]

Originally posted by Lancer409:
imagine taking contacts out when you are wasted ... or got crap all over ur hands (think more in terms of beer or vomit instead of excrement.. lol) ... but just dirty hands in general from u know .. living..

You've got a point but no matter how drunk I've been, I've never forgotten to wash my hands before taking out my contacts. Or I just leave them in....

[nredman]

anyone here buy contacts online? is 1800contacts any good???

i need to find some good weekly or monthly contacts.

[E's Lil Theorem]

I don't need contacts/glasses...yet.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Just be glad they are not the old school kind that were solid and glass.

[Stradlater]

I've never had a problem with contacts.

I've been wearing rigid gas permeable [hard] lenses for years, and they're great.

My eyes never dry out, are never irritated, in/out in seconds, and my eyesight hasn't deteriorated (as it can with soft lenses -- though this might not be the case anymore).

Oh, these lenses also work to make my eyes onion-proof. People will be crying left and right, but my eyes show no pain

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
Just be glad they are not the old school kind that were solid and glass.

The kind I wear, I guess I love 'em, though. They require less maintenance (they don't "dry out" for good if you forget to soak them in solution) and are much smaller and easier to put in your eye.

I just got new lenses last year, but the pair I'd been wearing before were over 5 years old and still going strong (not recommended, but my eyes were fine, and my wallet was finer).

[dlefebvre]

I wore contacts for years, until my eyes could not take it anymore. I'm back to glasses, but not for long. I'm getting Lasik surgery this friday.

[RAILhead]

No. Couldn't do it -- I tried four different brands and they all irritated me too much. So, I gave up and bought me three different "cool" frames and alternate depending upon my mood in the morning.



Maury

[passmaster16]

Originally posted by fireside:
i used to wear them but then something happened and my eyes suddenly became super dry so after about 1-2 hours i need to take them out. i drink a lot of water, so i'm not sure whats wrong with me.

I have the same problem. I used to wear them all day every day since i was 13. Now I'm 24 and can't wear them for a few hours. And even at that my eyes are pretty red and irritated afterwards. They say over time you can develop contact lens intolerance. I think that in addition to 3 courses of accutane has dried me out to the point where I can't wear them. Kinda sucks cause I hate glasses and I'd like lasik but I was concerned that my dry eye condition could get a lot worse with the surgery...

[Xeo]

You'll get over that fear of touching your eye pretty quick. It gets easy fast.

I still use a mirror but have done it many times without.

[sworthy]

Originally posted by dlefebvre:
I wore contacts for years, until my eyes could not take it anymore. I'm back to glasses, but not for long. I'm getting Lasik surgery this friday.

If you're up to it, let us know how it goes. I'm hopefully going to do that soon as well.

[olePigeon]

Only downside to LASIK is permanent halo effect with lights.

Oh, and you're gonna be blind for about a week. Plus, once the antibiotics ware off you'll feel like you have something stuck in your eyes for a month.

My friend got LASIK.

[tooki]

Originally posted by TubaMuffins:
I just got my first set of contacts yesterday, it takes me about 10 minutes to a put lens in each eye. For those of you who wear contacts, how long did it take you to get used to putting them in and taking them out? Any good general advice?

You'll be able to do it fast once you overcome the blink reflex. Drain the lens, put it on a fingertip, and then aim right for your eye. Watch your finger, it'll keep you from blinking.

Oh yeah, some tips I picked up over the years:
- Use a tea towel to dry your hands. The lint-free nature of tea towels means you won't have lint on your hands that can get on the lens. (Lint between the lens and your eye feels like you have a rock in there.)
- Contacts can turn inside out, and are really uncomfortable if that happens. Learn to do the "taco test": take your hand, palm up. Now if you bend your fingers (at the first knuckle), you see the big fold at the top of the palm, opposite the thumb? Now, having identified that fold, open your palm, lay the contact on the wrinkle, and partly bend your fingers. The lens will bend with it -- if it makes a taco shell shape (or a clam shell, if you prefer), it's right side out, if it flips out, it's inside out! (If this makes no sense, I can take a little movie with my camera.)

tooki

[Spliff]

Originally posted by Stradlater:
I've never had a problem with contacts.

I've been wearing rigid gas permeable [hard] lenses for years, and they're great.

My eyes never dry out, are never irritated, in/out in seconds, and my eyesight hasn't deteriorated (as it can with soft lenses -- though this might not be the case anymore).

I can't wear contacts either; my eyes are too dry.

Why are rigid lenses still around? I thought that was old-school technology from the '70s. What advantage is there to rigid lenses over soft lenses?

[dlefebvre]

Originally posted by olePigeon:
Only downside to LASIK is permanent halo effect with lights.
Oh, and you're gonna be blind for about a week. Plus, once the antibiotics ware off you'll feel like you have something stuck in your eyes for a month.

My friend got LASIK.

I'm the fourth one getting LASIK at work in the last 3 months. If you go with customized LASIK surgery using the new generation of laser, the halo effect is not really an issue. The new lasers work on a larger surface than the previous generation. The halo effect is caused by the �operated� zone being narrower the dilated pupil, a major issue in the past. The Halo effect is now no more worse than the one you get with contacts. The only drawback is the steeper price of customized LASIK surgery (about $3,000 CDN for my prescription. I can't see a thing further than a few feets from my face).

The 3 persons at work who got LASIK were working the day after. They talk about feeling like having sand in the eyes for a few hours and an itchiness that lasted a few days. I can take a few days of inconvinience to spend the next 10-20 years without glasses or contacts. The cilinic I'm going to treated about 70,000 patients since 1993, so I'm confident.

[Agent69]

I have a thing about anything touching my eyeball. I can't even sit still for the puff test.

[jlemons]

I have been wearing contacts for about 28 years now. I have been wearing the soft lenses. You will get used to wearing them very quickly. You may have to wear them a little at a time to let your eyes get used to them but this should not be a problem. As far as putting them in, it gets easy very quickly. I can put them in without mirrors, or light. It becomes second nature after a while. As a matter of fact I never found the mirror very helpful. I would like to offer these words of advice.
1. Learn to wear the hard gas permeable lenses. These are much better for your eye than soft lenses. I know this sounds odd. It seems that soft would be better, but hard lenses float on your tears so your eye can breath much easier. They are not as comfortable as soft but when you get used to them you will not know the difference.
2. Never, and I mean never allow a doctor to tell you that a lens is an "extended wear lens". There is no such "safe" thing. I did this for years with doctors assuring me that I was doing the right thing while I was doing major damage to my eyes. I now have Kerataconis and because my eyes have not taken in oxygen the way they should have they may have trouble when I have a transplant, if I have to have one. I pray that it will not progress to that point.
3. Remember that you are dealing with your vision. Spare no expense when it comes to your vision. Buy the finest lenses and the finest solutions. I hope this helps. I just don't want people to make the same mistakes that I have made.

[tooki]

They have gas-permeable soft contacts now, too.

tooki

[jcain]

I wore contacts for several years, then a few years ago started having problems with dry eyes. It eventually got bad enough that I quit wearing them and went back to glasses. However, I talked to my opthalmologist about it, and he prescribed a different brand for people with dry eyes ('Extreme H2O'). They've been great--I no longer have any problems. If you haven't discussed it with your doctor already, do so. It could just be a matter of finding the right lenses for you.

[dlefebvre]

The Extreme H20 would have been my option if the LASIK clinic had refused me. They don't take any chances and usually refuse about 25% of candidates.

[sugar_coated]

Just be careful at all times they sometimes tend to fall off.

[Webscreamer]

I saw my aprents do it my entire life, so when I got em, I just popped them in first time np.

[Kilbey]

Originally posted by olePigeon:
Only downside to LASIK is permanent halo effect with lights.

Oh, and you're gonna be blind for about a week. Plus, once the antibiotics ware off you'll feel like you have something stuck in your eyes for a month.

My friend got LASIK.

Your friend had a bad LASIK experience. Not the norm in my experience.

You will not be "blind for about a week"! I had 20/15 vision immediately after surgery. A little pain during surgery but virtually none after. 4 years after and I now have 20/20. Not bad. The Dr. only guaranteed 20/40. I requested that he shoot for 20/15.

Plus I have zero "halo" effect. My night vision was blurry for a couple months after surgery, but is perfect now.

This comment seems odd:

Plus, once the antibiotics ware off you'll feel like you have something stuck in your eyes for a month.

Do you mean painkillers? I never felt like anything was stuck in my eye. Antibiotics are only to keep any infection away.

It's funny how people will search for a bargain for LASIK. Why would you want to save a few bucks with a discount surgery?!?! I paid a little higher than market value, but I really shopped around and got the best, most experienced surgeon in the area. Not the best value.

I got LASIK done because I hated contacts and despised glasses. I am an outdoors person and I hated always worrying about my contacts and my glasses. Wearing a backpack and sweating on the trail is miserable if you're wearing glasses.

[LookSee]

I third the Extreme H20 recommendation. I could wear them for 12 hours (some days even longer!) with no problem. I don't wear them anymore because I prefer the convenience of Focus Dailies (these I can only wear for 8 hours, or less if my eyes are feeling particularly fussy). A lens technician told me that the Extreme H20 is exactly like another brand that starts with a P - Proclear?, which is more widely available than H20. But he may have only said that because they don't carry H20 in their office

Putting the lens in is the easy part. Getting them out is a bit more difficult because after 3 years I'm still a bit squeamish about touching my eyes

Originally posted by RAILhead:
No. Couldn't do it -- I tried four different brands and they all irritated me too much. So, I gave up and bought me three different "cool" frames and alternate depending upon my mood in the morning.

What brand of solution were you using? I thought I couldn't wear contacts either until I switched to Opti-Free solution (I was using Renu and Complete before that). My siblings had problems with their contacts too until I told them to trash their bottle of Complete and use the Opti-Free. So, you (ie. those who found contacts irritating) might want to give contacts another try, but this time use it with O-F.

[macroy]

Like everyone said - you'll get used to it. I dont' remember what I was like when I first got contacts (like almost 20 years ago). But I do remember what a pain in the ass it is to take them on and off every day You should NEVER leave them in over night - I don't care what type you have. Its just not natural - protein deposits, dirt etc... but I've gotten Lasik since then (before the wavefront laser - shucks).

I was also 20/15 immediatly after my procedure. Went home, took a long nap, as was seeing great afterwards. Had slight "halo" effects at night as well as being a bit more sensitive to bright lights - but that also went away after a month or so. Its been almost two years since, and I'm seeing fine.

[Kenneth]

No.... I have glasses on.

[Too Artificial]

I use the Opti-Free solution as well. Was using Renu until my eye doc recommended the change. He also has me using SupraClens as a daily additive to my solution while I'm storing the lenses over night. This has been working out well for me.

As a side note, my eye doc is just insane about eyecare. Everytime I go see him he always has new studies to tell me about. I dig it though, I mean, that's what I want from my doctors.

[Millennium]

Originally posted by Zimphire:
At first it takes practice. After awhile you can do it without any mirrors in seconds.

I used to wear contacts, and this is also what I found. It took me a couple of months, but eventually I got to the point where I could do it blind on the first attempt. I had a tough time getting to that point, though.

[Too Artificial]

Oh, make sure you get some good eyedrops to use throughout the day to help control dryness. I tend to dry out late in the day if I don't use them, which seems to be frequently because I'm dumb like that. The good drops cost a little more but are worth it.

[dlefebvre]

I got my Lasik surgery yesterday. It went very well. The operation itself is nothing, it's the first few hours after the operation that were very annoying. It felt like I was chopping onions for 4 hours and I had sand in my eyes. I was told to kep my eyes closed for 6 hours and blink a few time every 15 minutes to keep my eyes wet. Later last night my vision was a lot better, it felt like everything had a little glow/halo around it but I was told this would last a few days.

This morning was great. I woke up and evrything was clear. The itchy felling is 99% gone and the glow effect is starting to resolve. I still didn't fully realised that my vision will be perfect 24/7. no more cleaning contacts, no more fogged glasses, no more rain, dirt or sweat in glasses, no mor looking for glasses. Wow!

Since I was told not to abuse coputer or TV in the first few days. I have to go to my post-op follow up, so I will be resonnable and bid a good day.

[V]

Lucky bastard!

I've been refused in 2 clinics out of 3 in 2002 (Lasik wavefront) in Montreal Ca.

I'm shortsighted (7) and a little bit astigmatic. My pupils are wide! 8.5 mm

I'm kind of a bad case. I'll try again in 2 or 3 years, or when I'll hear about new technologies

[dlefebvre]

I have a friend who was refused 3 years in a row before he could do it. He was astimatic to a very high level. Basically they told him, come back next year, the new laser will be able to correct your problem. He was finally acepted last year. We both went to Laservue in Montreal.

It seems your wide pupils are the problem, I was shortsighted (-7.75 and -7.50) and a little astigmatic too, but my pupils are 6 mm.

I hope the technology evolves and allows you to do it soon.

[Big Mac]

Originally posted by Agent69:
I have a thing about anything touching my eyeball. I can't even sit still for the puff test.

I can't sit still for it, either! I feel like a tool refusing it, too. Good thing I'm not the only one.

[wdlove]

When contact lenses first came out they had a lot of problems, such as teary eyes. So I just stayed with my glasses.

[sugar_coated]

Humans would have discovered contact lenses a long time ago if they did not have a nose.

[justdafacts25]

Hello from a newbie!
Hi out there. I wanted to introduce myself to everyone. I’ve been searching the web for info about lasik and found this board. I’ve never thought about joining a board before, but after reading through some posts, I’m happy I did. I just want to say thanks to everyone for the support you offer here.

[Kevin]

Zoooooooooooooombie threaad.

[Dakar²]

I always feel like we're getting punk'd when someone does something this weird.

[kmkkid]

Originally Posted by tooki 

- Contacts can turn inside out, and are really uncomfortable if that happens. Learn to do the "taco test": take your hand, palm up. Now if you bend your fingers (at the first knuckle), you see the big fold at the top of the palm, opposite the thumb? Now, having identified that fold, open your palm, lay the contact on the wrinkle, and partly bend your fingers. The lens will bend with it -- if it makes a taco shell shape (or a clam shell, if you prefer), it's right side out, if it flips out, it's inside out! (If this makes no sense, I can take a little movie with my camera.)

tooki

I know this is an oooooold thread but, taco test

You can tell if it's inside out just having it on the tip of your finger and looking real close.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

I can't sit still for it, either! I feel like a tool refusing it, too. Good thing I'm not the only one.

I hate the puff test. Can't even prepare yourself for it. It sucks.