Contact lenses

Megan Peterson2 · 2004-02-03T11:01:22+00:00

Could someone please give me some advice? I just started wearing contacts a few days ago, so I'm wondering if it's okay to wear sunglasses during the day while…

Maria Morris5 Newcomer

4 messages
joined Dec 2003

#41 · Feb 18, 2004

Peter Morris58 said:Just a tip: don't bother with yearly lenses. Stick to the monthly ones. They cost more upfront, sure, but they’re cleaner and much better for hygiene. Plus, if you crack a lens or lose one, you’ve got a backup ready. I usually grab the packs with 3 pairs.👍

Same here. I use Surevue and they're great. Honestly, I couldn't deal with yearly lenses. I lose mine all the time. Sometimes when I take them out, they just fly away. Then I'm spending the whole night on my knees in the bathroom trying to find them—and since I can't see nearly as well without lenses as I can with glasses, it's a nightmare. Usually, I just give up and put in a new pair.

Susan James42 Active Member

62 messages
joined Sep 2005

#42 · Feb 18, 2004

Andrew Hernandez said:I HONESTLY HAVE TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU ALL!

This morning, my contact lens literally snapped in two right in my eye!
...but by the time I went out tonight, it was irritating me so much that I finally pulled it out and tucked it into a paper tissue...
When I went to take it out, I was absolutely floored. All I found on my finger was just one tiny little fragment of a lens.???

...I had absolutely no idea something like this could actually happen. This is a first for me.
I’m wearing those soft ones that have a 12-month replacement cycle.

.

It probably cracked after it dried out in the tissue. Once a lens loses its moisture, it loses all elasticity. It becomes brittle, almost like glass.
Never, ever, ever let a lens sit dry!!!!

Susan James42 Active Member

62 messages
joined Sep 2005

#43 · Feb 18, 2004

Matthew Morris2 said:My right eye has a pretty heavy prescription with significant astigmatism—roughly -3.5 sphere and -1.5 cylinder—so naturally, my vision through my contact lenses isn't quite as sharp as my left eye. I have a pair of glasses with the exact same prescription as my lenses, and everything was working perfectly until about a month or two ago. Now, when I look through my glasses with my right eye, my vision is significantly worse than it is with my contacts. I don't mean just that usual slight advantage lenses give you; I mean it's drastically worse. Has anyone else dealt with this?

...I'm experiencing the exact same thing over here. My gut feeling is that your prescription has shifted, and you might not notice that change as quickly with glasses because their correction is inherently "less precise" since they sit further away from the eye...

Sam Allen86 Newcomer

2 messages
joined Feb 2004

#44 · Feb 20, 2004

Hey guys, quick question!

I’ve been wearing both contacts and glasses, but my frames finally snapped, so I need a new pair. That means I need an eye exam. Apparently, for a prescription update, I have to be out of my contacts for a while (something about the shape of my cornea or whatever). I can manage being without them for a bit, but my prescription is huge, so I really only have the weekend to deal with this. Does anyone actually know HOW LONG I need to go without contacts? Some people say four days, others say three, and a lady at my local CVS told me "at least 24 hours." Does that mean if I book an appointment for Monday morning, I just need to ditch the lenses over the weekend?

Elizabeth Ruiz2 Member

31 messages
joined Dec 2003

#45 · Feb 20, 2004

Sam Allen86!

It’s happening to me again 😢 I was stuck without contacts or glasses for an entire week, but that was maybe three years ago, or even longer...

Now my prescription has gone up on both my glasses... and my contacts too. Without them, I can't see a thing. I have no idea how I'm going to manage this...

Susan James42 Active Member

62 messages
joined Sep 2005

#46 · Feb 21, 2004

Sam Allen86 said:Hey everyone, I have a quick question for the group!

I’ve been wearing both contacts and glasses for quite a while now, but my frames finally gave out on me. Since I need to order a new pair, I obviously need to schedule an eye exam first. The catch is that I have to be without my contact lenses for a certain period before the appointment—something about letting the cornea return to its natural shape or whatever the technical term is. I can manage being without lenses for a little bit, but because my prescription is so high, I really only have the flexibility to do this over a weekend. So, I was wondering if anyone here knows exactly how long I need to go without wearing them? I’ve heard conflicting things; some people say four days, others say three. I even spoke with a woman at a clinic in New York City who told me "at least 24 hours." Does that mean if I schedule my exam for Monday morning, I could just skip my lenses over the weekend and be good to go?

Two days is plenty. A weekend is more than enough time to get things done.

Sam Allen86 Newcomer

2 messages
joined Feb 2004

#47 · Feb 21, 2004

Susan James42 said:Two days. A weekend is plenty of time.

thhhankss!

Henry Collins5 Newcomer

8 messages
joined Oct 2003

#48 · Feb 23, 2004

Sam Allen86 said:Hey everyone, quick question!

I used to wear both contacts and glasses, but my frames finally snapped, so now I need a new pair. That means I have to go in for an eye exam, and apparently, I have to be out of my contacts for a certain amount of time beforehand to let my cornea shape settle back to normal. I can manage being without lenses for a little while, but my prescription is so high that I really only have the weekend to deal with it. Does anyone know exactly how long I need to wait? Some people told me four days, others said three, and a woman at the clinic in New York City told me "at least 24 hours." If that's true, does that mean I could schedule an appointment for Monday morning and just stay out of my contacts over the weekend?

It’s hard to give you a set timeline since everyone is different. Most people say it takes about two or three days, but it really just depends on how sensitive your eyes are and which brands you've used in the past. Personally, I think your best bet is to head back to the eye doctor after two days; that way, they can check if your eyes have recovered or if you need one more day of rest. I also highly recommend having a pair of glasses ready to go. These days, even if you have a high prescription, you can get really sleek options because lens technology allows for much thinner glass. If you pick a smaller frame—which usually looks better anyway—they can trim away those thickest edges. Even though I live in my contacts most of the time, I always keep my glasses handy for situations just like this.

George Garcia Newcomer

1 message
joined Feb 2004

#49 · Feb 23, 2004

Hey, quick question for you guys: I don't actually need vision correction, but I've been thinking about trying those colored contact lenses!😲
I'm super curious!😕
Does anyone have any actual experience they can share with me?
And another thing... can you just, like, walk in and buy them, or do you seriously need an eye exam first?😕
How much are we talking?😁
Thhhankss!👍 🙏

Casey Palmer5 Regular

470 messages
joined Jan 2016

#50 · Feb 23, 2004

You can basically just "walk in and buy them." But honestly... I'm not sure how smart that really is. If you have some underlying eye issue you aren't even aware of, wearing contacts could actually make things a lot worse.

Personally, I felt much better having my aunt—who's an ophthalmologist—give my eyes a quick once-over before I picked up my prescription lenses. Your eyes are precious, after all 🙂 It’s really not that big of a deal, either. You can just swing by a decent local optometrist, it only takes a few minutes, and it won't break the bank. Plus, you'll get professional advice on how to handle the lenses, how to clean them properly, and all those little details...

stormyjackal13 Newcomer

3 messages
joined Feb 2004

#51 · Feb 24, 2004

I've been wearing soft contacts non-stop for nine years. I sleep in them, swim in them, dive in them. My personal record for keeping them in without any issues? Three and a half weeks straight. I used to rely on BioTrue and Acuvue Moist, but I recently stumbled upon the absolute best solution out there—Alcon Opti-Free Express no-rub formula. It’s perfect. Generally, experts recommend taking a three-week break from contacts once a year. As for the lenses themselves, my go-to has always been Bausch & Lomb. These monthly ones have been a total nightmare; every single month, just a day or two after they were supposed to be out, I’d end up with an eye infection. I am definitely not making that mistake again.

Raymond Booth9 Newcomer

2 messages
joined Mar 2004

#52 · Feb 27, 2004

I've been wearing these super soft Biofinity monthly lenses, and I usually stick to Complete ($30 picked up at CVS) to clean them. Honestly, every other solution I've tried just makes my eyes sting like crazy.

Has anyone here ever tried Johnson's contacts?

Sean Doyle Member

31 messages
joined Dec 2002

#53 · Feb 28, 2004

Raymond Booth9 said:Is anyone actually using Johnson's contacts here?

I picked up a small pack of the two-week Johnson's once—just to see—but they were honestly a disaster for me. They caused way more irritation than any other brands I've tried in the past.

Maria Morris5 Newcomer

4 messages
joined Dec 2003

#54 · Feb 28, 2004

Raymond Booth9 said:Anyone here using Johnson's contacts?

yeah - surevue

jadesailor14 Regular

314 messages
joined May 2006

#55 · Feb 28, 2004

Matthew Morris28 said:My right eye has a pretty heavy prescription with strong astigmatism—around -3.5 sphere and -1.5 cylinder—so naturally, my vision is a bit weaker in that eye compared to my left even with contacts. I have glasses with the exact same prescription as my lenses, and everything was totally fine until about a month or two ago. Now, when I look through my glasses, my vision in the right eye is significantly worse than it is with my contacts. I don't mean just that usual slight edge contacts give you; I mean it's drastically worse. Has anyone else dealt with this?

Once my eyes started aging, I ran into this! It wasn't even about my prescription changing, but rather my axis shifting. With my contacts, everything was a solid 5+/5, but with glasses? Total disaster. I was basically blind as a bat!
In situations like that, having a great optician is absolutely vital. I actually tossed three different pairs of glasses from high-end, expensive boutiques in downtown Chicago straight into the trash. Meanwhile, a cheap pair I picked up in New York City works perfectly for driving, whereas the expensive ones made it hard to even walk around my own apartment!

Harold Gomez65 Member

43 messages
joined Sep 2003

#56 · Mar 3, 2004

Sean Doyle said:It’s this tiny little suction tool, maybe about an inch long, shaped somewhat like those little drain cleaners—what do you call them again? I can't quite recall the name 😳—that you press against the lens (the semi-rigid kind, right?) to gently pull it out.
Back when I was wearing semi-rigid lenses, I actually used that little gadget whenever a lens would slip off my iris.

Goodness, that little suction tool honestly terrifies me. I’ve been wearing soft contacts for four years now, with a prescription of -3.50 in one eye and -3.75 in the other, but my vision has actually worsened by a full diopter in just the last year. My ophthalmologist told me that if my prescription drops again, I should probably switch to hard lenses since they supposedly don't allow the prescription to fluctuate as easily, which has left me feeling quite anxious. To be honest, seeing that little device looks absolutely dreadful to me; they seem so small and rigid, and just thinking about the possibility of having to use one gives me the chills.😱

Matthew Morris28 Active Member

55 messages
joined Jan 2005

#57 · Mar 4, 2004

Honestly, don't even sweat the little suction tool thing. You’re barely gonna use it—maybe just once in a blue moon if your eye gets too watery and you can't grab the lens because your eyelid keeps pulling. Getting those hard contacts in and out is actually super easy once you "get" the technique. It takes like 2 seconds to pop them in, 2 seconds to take them out. Boom. Done.

The only thing that might be a tiny bit annoying at first is if they feel a little less comfy, but since you've already dealt with stuff in your eye before, it shouldn't be a huge deal.

What actually worries me is if my prescription shoots way up despite wearing the lenses. Like, do I just make a one-time life decision and go get laser surgery, or do I just sit there and cry? Or cry and then... what? Especially since your job basically depends on being able to see.

Contact lenses

🔗 Similar threads