Contact Lenses

dont have contacts but best of luck if it was painful they would'nt be succesful.

I've been wearing contact lenses for many years now and their great. The technolgy has come on in leaps and bounds in the last 10 years. When I first started wearing them the were yearly lenses and it really pissed me off having to clean them every night and to put them in acid once a week to get rid of the protein build up on them and I was always getting eye infections but nowadays since switching over to dailys no problems.:D

Okay their abit more expensive than monthy disposeables but no clening and when their only for one day their also very thin and comfortable. for 60 day worth cost €75 in specsavers but that could last me 3 months as I don't wear them every day.

There so much better than glasses sure you won't know your self

Right, I've been wearing contacts for about 12 years at this stage and I've tried out many different kinds.

When you begin to wear them for the first time, or after a huge gap from the last time, you should build up your wearing time gradually. 2 hours the first day, 3 hours the second day, 4 hours the third day etc etc. This is to allow your eye to become used to the lense. If you wear them too long too soon you will be irritated and red.

Remember what your optition tells you about cleaning them. Different types of lenses need different solutions. I have the old style 2 year lenses that you clean and wear again. These types of lenses need to be soaked with a protein removal tablet once a month because a persons tears contains a certain amount of mucus which builds up a gritty substance on the lense.
If you use the monthly, weekly or daily lenses its sufficiant to use the all in one sollutions only. BUT remember the "No Rub" thing on the box is lies... you need to rub the lenses with the solution gently to get rid of any dirt.

I also have the montly Johnson and Johnson Colours and although they are more flimsy than the 2 year lenses they are more comfy to wear and more convenient to look after. If i drop them too, they are easier to find because they are coloured blue.

* It's recommended that you NEVER go on an airplane wearing your lenses because they can dehydrate rather quickly and become uncomfortable.
* It's recommended that you give yourself a break from wearing the lenses at least 1 day a week.
* Also, it's recommended that you try not to wear the lenses for longer than 10-12 hours a day.
* Unless you have the special "wear all the time, even when you're asleep" lenses, please try not to go asleep with your lenses in. They will become dehydrated and when you wake up it will look like your room is full of smoke (they become sort of foggy - I have learned this thru drunken stupidity of falling asleep wearing said lenses)
* For the first few months make sure you have your glasses and a spare lens case with you all the time in case you need to remove the lenses because of discomfort.
* Also I find it's useful to buy those special little capsules of eyedrops to carry round in my bag or pocket just incase i feel the lenses drying out.
Just so you know... your eyes will start to feel a bit itchy and may even feel like you have a bit of sand in ur eyes when the lenses start to dehydrate.
* Sometimes the lense might slide upwards away from the coloured part of your eye. Dont worry about this, it can't disappear round the back of your eye and get lost. Just close your eye and move ur eyes around like mental and the lense should slide back into place eventually. It took me 20 mins once but it didnt hurt.

If everything is fine you should not even realise you have a lens in. They really are THAT comfy.

I've also checked out the laser surgery treatment too. And I have discovered that the best place to have it done is in a clinic in Terenure in Dublin. It costs approx €2,000 per eye. And it is really designed for people older then say, late 20's. This is because a persons eyesight will not settle down until their late 20's early 30's and theres no point doing laser treatment on a teenager because it will have to be done again in another few years.
I know it's possible to get it done much cheaper in the UK, BUT, 80% of patients need to return for some touch up laser treatment and it's just more convenient to hop on a bus or jump in your car instead of hauling yourself over to the UK again for a 20 minute consulation.

I didnt mean to ramble on so long... but I've learned all this info the hard way and I hope it helps anyone thinking about contacts or laser treatment.

That's really cool to hear.

If you have vision that can be corrected with contact lenses, then they really are far superior to specs. The return of your peripheral vision is amazing - I'm not surprised you feel the way you do.

Now, if only you could just stop pushing that invisible pair of glasses up your nose...

I got lenses a few months ago and use them now usually only for sport. I ended up getting dailies as my eyes were over-sensitive and the solutions caused my eyes to go very red.

Initially I tried wearing them to the pub and stuff but the smoke really got to me and I had to take them out. Another thing I find is that in front of a computer my eyes dry out really quickly and therefore I cannot wear them when using a computer. In saying that I don't wear my glasses in front of the computer either. Has anyone else had this problem?

Originally posted by neev
You really should cut down the hours you're wearing them, you're doing the same thing I did and now my eyes are irreversibly damaged. Have you been for a full eye exam lately? Maybe you should consider it just to be on the safe side.

Great advice in the rest of the post though.

Another thing David Lynch-don't shower or swim while wearing your contacts. Water contains bacteria that will stick to your contacts.

Also if you're wearing them on the beach, wear sunglasses or preferably just wear your normal glasses- you DON'T want to get sand or salty water on your contacts!

Yeah, I probably won't learn anything until I do some damage. I swim with them in too

As for the shallowness factor, it's mostly within people's heads. People might not think they're nerdy or unattractive, but it's a cultural thing that nerds wear glasses, and when the girl goes to kiss the nerdy guy, she removes his big, thick-rimmed glasses, and voila! - he's a complete hunk.
Contacts serve the same purpose as breast implants. They're not strictly necessary, and don't change a person inside, but give them an extra confidence, restore something that they imagine is missing.
And regardless of what people say, they do change someone's perceptions of you, particularly on first impression. People who first met wearing glasses comment that I seem more approachable and open without them, and people first met me wearing contacts comment that I seem more intelligent and less intimidating with glasses on.

People are funny.