Hard contact lenses vs Soft contact lenses

Oriel

Putting this here to get the most exposure.
Also, before anybody starts a "ask your optician" message: I will be on Thursday, I'm looking for info here to prepare my options.


Folks,
I've been wearing contact lens for about 8 years now. I'm happy enough with them, now that I've got used to wearing them and cleaning them, but they tend to come out of my eye a little easily.
I'm going for an eye test of Thursday, and I'm tempted to switch to soft lenses. They are larger than gas permeable lens I know, and will take another age to get used to.
Do you advise I switch to soft lenses or stay with the hard lenses?
Also, can I get hard lenses, with the option to buy a few pairs of soft lenses a month to play football etc?

Cheers,
S.

Töpher

I love soft lenses. Very comfortable, and don't pop out, ever. Don't take long to get used to either.

APM

I must agree that soft lenses are the way to go. Although I never wore hard ones myself. Got used to them almost immediatly and they never fall out (playing football, in the gym, etc).

RoundyMooney

Neither. Lenses are not worth the bloody hassle. Neither are glasses when Lasik is so reliable these days.

Optimax FTW.

metrovelvet

Ive never worn hard lenses so I cant compare. But I just switched to hydrogel lenses which are amazing!!! The most comfortable ever. I think they are acuvue.

meowCat

are you sure that your lenses where fitted properly?
I have hard lenses too and have never had the problem of them popping out...

The only time I have had an issue was when I didn't manage to get the new ones out. And in the end it turned out that they had the wrong "bend"...or "coving" or however you call that. Also, hard lenses live for up to three years (at least mine do) and your eyes might have changed during this period.

Or your cleaning technique damages them? Ask your optician to supervise you cleaning them - just to be sure. I did it wrong in the beginning as well which ment my first set didn't last very long.

I wouldn't advise to switch to soft lenses. The general opinion is that hard lenses are better for your eyes, especially if you have to wear them on a daily basis.

Oriel

Well...erm yeah see I've kinda been wearing the same lens for 8 years... :eek:
I'm getting new ones cause I was taking photos at a gig on Thursday, I was just walking to the toilets when I touched my eyelid to remove an eyelash and the thing just popped out. Again, when I go to header the ball during football I need to close my eyes at the last minute to keep the damn things in.

S.

meowCat

sinecurea wrote:

Well...erm yeah see I've kinda been wearing the same lens for 8 years... :eek:
I'm getting new ones cause I was taking photos at a gig on Thursday, I was just walking to the toilets when I touched my eyelid to remove an eyelash and the thing just popped out. Again, when I go to header the ball during football I need to close my eyes at the last minute to keep the damn things in.

S.

EIGHT years?!!!! :eek:
That's disgusting. You should take better care of your eyes!!! It't not as if you could grow new ones if you've finished with this set...but you can always buy new lenses.

Gazza22

sinecurea wrote:

Well...erm yeah see I've kinda been wearing the same lens for 8 years... :eek:

:eek: !

You should have had an appointment with the optician years ago lol!....yeah well i'd recommend the soft lenses, they are much more comfortable.

Cake Fiend

meowCat wrote:

The general opinion is that hard lenses are better for your eyes, especially if you have to wear them on a daily basis.

I'd recommend discussing that with your optician - there have been significant advances in soft lens technology in the past few years.

I am currently hearting Acuvue in one-week extended-wear mode (changed from CIBA monthly extended-wear).

sinecurea wrote:

Well...erm yeah see I've kinda been wearing the same lens for 8 years... :eek:

Holy hell :eek:, I hope you realize you're playing Russian Roulette with your eyes.

nialo

sinecurea wrote:

Well...erm yeah see I've kinda been wearing the same lens for 8 years... :eek:
I'm getting new ones cause I was taking photos at a gig on Thursday, I was just walking to the toilets when I touched my eyelid to remove an eyelash and the thing just popped out. Again, when I go to header the ball during football I need to close my eyes at the last minute to keep the damn things in.

S.

That will screw ur eyes up. Change the lenses. Soft lenses where the way to go for me.. dry eyes can be a problem thou. Play basketball and if i had hard lenses id be screwed.. the amount of times i have gotten poked in the eye...

bealbocht

I wear "all day and all night" soft lense, and they are great. never wore hard lense, but for an in-experienced eye poker like me, these were great. You need to trial them all though, B&L are great , but tried another manfacturer once , and couldnt focus at all with one eye.

Oriel

That's the main reason why I'm thinking about switching.
To clarify, I do look after my lenses well, the case is kept clean and the solution changed appropriately.
I think I'd probably go for the monthly soft lens.

S.

meowCat

sinecurea wrote:

To clarify, I do look after my lenses well, the case is kept clean and the solution changed appropriately.
S.

That's not why I'm shocked about the 8 years. Nobody implies that you are not taking care of them properly. But you shouldn't extend the end usage date because the material naturally becomes porous after some years. Additionally, you might have some scratches on them, that you wouldn't be able to perceive withouth proper instruments to check them. But they do harm your eyes.

Anyway, I'd say it's best if you check this issue with your optician.

The Sweeper

Eight years with the same lenses????

Your optician is going to give you a well-deserved earful on Thursday.

Has your prescription really not changed at all in eight years? And have you any idea how much damage you can do to the surface of your cornea wearing a lens that doesn't fit properly? Especially hard lenses - a soft lense would mould to the shape of your cornea, a hard lens will just press on the parts that it's not fitting to properly.

To be honest, after hearing you've worn the same lenses for eight years, I don't know what to say!

In one way I'd recommend daily disposable soft lenses. They can be good for dry eyes and you just take them out and throw them away at the end of the day. You can carry two spares with you all the time in case of accident.

I have keratoconus so I wear a hybrid lens, a hard centre with a soft gel skirt around the outsides. It means I don't suffer with the lid irritation that can happen with hard lenses, but do get the superior vision you get from hard lenses if you have an uneven cornea. But it also means I'm very aware of how important it is to wear a lens that's fitting you properly.

Soft lenses these days are far superior to what was on the market eight years ago in terms of letting your eyes breathe etc but they're not as durable as hard lenses - so if you're used to being gung ho and doing things like swilling the lens around in your mouth after you've gotten something behind it or what sort of jazz, non-disposable soft lenses will be a culture shock...

Faith

I get upset when I realise I've inadvertantly worn monthlies for 32 days! 8 years wearing the same lenses doesn't bear thinking about...

I use soft lenses but I do find my eyes dry out a lot with them. I'm going to switch back to dailies next month and see if that helps. Then I'm just biding my time until I can get laser.

My cousin was using hard lenses for about 10 years and then switched to soft ones. I think she's a lot happier with them.

koneko

Holy crap man, 8 years? I won't give out, others have covered it, but holy crap!

Sico wrote:

I am currently hearting Acuvue in one-week extended-wear mode (changed from CIBA monthly extended-wear).

How different are they from the monthly all-day-all-night ones (I'm using them atm)? I have to go in for my check-up soon.

Hydroquinone

I went from having hard leses for about 20 years (different ones, in case anyone's going to give me any guff!! ) to daily disposable lenses and I love 'em. They are the bees knees.

One word of warning; when you've been used to getting out hard leses, the soft ones are an absolute swine to remove. Don't let that put you off, after a pretty short time, I could get them out no problem - it just took a bit of practice.

metrovelvet

koneko wrote:

Holy crap man, 8 years? I won't give out, others have covered it, but holy crap!



How different are they from the monthly all-day-all-night ones (I'm using them atm)? I have to go in for my check-up soon.

You need to try ACUVUE OASYS HYDRACLEAR!!! They are amazing. I hate dailies - cant get them out. These are weeklys. But if you dont sleep in them you can wear them for two weeks.

el tel

koneko wrote:

Holy crap man, 8 years? I won't give out, others have covered it, but holy crap!



How different are they from the monthly all-day-all-night ones (I'm using them atm)? I have to go in for my check-up soon.

One of my best friends is an optician and he refuses to issue the monthly all-day-all-night lenses to his customers. The big chains generally have a policy to sell something to each customer but refuses to to do it when these lenses are concerned. I asked him why and he showed me a report produced by the manufacturer for optician practitioners. Basically the trials for these lenses are highly incomplete and they do not know for certain if they are damaging to the eye long term. Unless they are cared for with absolute thoroughness and competence then the risk of eye infection and corneal damage is very significant.

Siogfinsceal

hate permanent lenses way to much time spent cleaning them and disinfecting them and then if you lose them it costs loads to get a new set. I love my focus dailies. I think they are more hygenic as Im wearing a new pair each day rather than having to clean them and the best thing is if you lose a pair - just pop another pair in! at a euro a pair from www.getlenses.co.uk they are v affordable.

Cake Fiend

koneko wrote:

How different are they from the monthly all-day-all-night ones (I'm using them atm)? I have to go in for my check-up soon.

I used to find the day&nights got dry and scratchy toward the end of the month. Also, I've read a report (by Johnson & Johnson no less) that these kinds of lenses should only be worn for 20 days.

So far, the Acuvues have been more comfortable, and I've gone over the week a couple of times. They can be a bit sticky the last couple of mornings, but no actual irritation so far.

Specsavers don't do them to my knowledge, so I got them through getlenses.com (probably cheaper anyway).

I used dailies for about 6 months as well; they also rock my jocks, but you can't beat the convenience of being able to see properly straight out of bed.

Oriel

I got soft contact lenses there yesterday. And they're a BITCH to put in compared to GP lenses, but I know I'll get used to them. I went for the monthly ones, as I'm used to cleaning them anyways etc.

They're costing me £18/€30 a month though. What do you pay for yours?

Cheers,
S.

robinph

Siogfinsceal wrote:

hate permanent lenses way to much time spent cleaning them and disinfecting them and then if you lose them it costs loads to get a new set. I love my focus dailies. I think they are more hygenic as Im wearing a new pair each day rather than having to clean them and the best thing is if you lose a pair - just pop another pair in! at a euro a pair from www.getlenses.co.uk they are v affordable.

I got mine from visiondirect.com which works out even cheaper again as the prices are all in $. I think that the last lot I got worked out at just about 60cents a day for a pair after various offers were applied to the order.