eyesight - who wears specs or contact lenses here?

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eyesight – who wears specs or contact lenses here?

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March 13, 2007 at 7:04 pm

#691874
6

General Lighting

@general-lighting

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just curious..

I have always been short sighted for years (since I was a boy…) its mostly a genetic thing as many with SE Asian ancestry are short sighted…

I tend to wear contacts these days (first those harder plastic ones then daily disposables) as I am fairly active and otherwise I get through pairs of bins like Harry Potter..

(I do have a pair of “designer specs” but don’t wear them often as they make me look like an Asian wideboy IT salesman from Essex)

Anyway, I got my eyes checked again this year – I got a letter from the opticians – then a week later I thought I had seen a “poor lost kitten” on someones lawn which turned out to be this…

(in my defence it was about 20m away when I saw it)
So I went for my eye test and I had got very slightly more short sighted…. (FFS I am blind enough as it is…) (

the opticians tell that my eyes are healthy though (just out of focus!)… so I recently changed to those new “continuous wear” contact lenses – the ones you can wear for up to 30 days (although I take them out for a night every week as the optician advised this)

I was a bit wary of them initially but after reading about 4 years worth of clinical trials (plus some rather gnarly pictures) and some of my friends also trying them I decided they were safe as the other kinds.. it is excellent being able to see at all times, even having to go to the loo in the night isn’t so bad (and I haven’t since contemplated notifying the presence of any more bird-scarers to animal protection charities :laugh_at:)

anyone else here with ropey eyesight?
March 13, 2007 at 7:17 pm

#881950
6

Angel

@angel

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I’m short sighted too

I wear glasses,because I can’t use contact lenses..

Had a nasty infection in my eyes a long time ago because I used lenses,so its

not an option for me anymore :hopeless:
March 13, 2007 at 7:47 pm

#881942
1

BioTech

@biotech

Member
My eye sight is getting fairly bad. Faces in the street look a little blured from about 20ft away. Haven’t had an eye test for about 15 years though. Scared what I might find out 🙂
March 13, 2007 at 8:15 pm

#881943
1

magneze

@magneze

Member
Yep, am short sighted too. Have been for years. Used to wear contact lenses but swapped back to glasses a few years back as contact lenses and all day VDU use made my eyes really tired in the evenings.
March 13, 2007 at 8:41 pm

#881940
6

General Lighting

@general-lighting

Moderator
Staff
Angel wrote:

I’m short sighted too

I wear glasses,because I can’t use contact lenses..

Had a nasty infection in my eyes a long time ago because I used lenses,so its

not an option for me anymore :hopeless:

ouch – sorry to hear this

unfortunately some earlier forms of soft lenses (although more comfortable) weren’t as healthy for the eyes as the gas permeable solid plastic ones are.

I reckon some of the websites I have encountered whilst researching the relative safety of various contact lenses would even gross out the SJ trolls :yakk:

I wore the gas permeable solid lenses from 1994 until 2005 and they were mostly OK but when there was dust in the air (or in summer) they could be absolute hell (plus were more likely to pop out whilst dry – nightmare) – not much fun at outdoor summer parties sometimes!

The soft daily disposable ones are healthier than other soft lenses due to their frequengt replacement – but many do not let sufficient oxygen get to the eye when worn for long periods ( by the end of the weekend, some people often thought I was a crack-smoker)

The new sort (called silicone hydrogels) are really good if you can wear them (you have to go for about 3 checkups at the start and one every 6 months rather than every year) – they let in nearly as much oxygen to the eye as not wearing any sort of contact lens; and this helps the eye’s natural defence mechanisms keep away all manner of nasty bugs..

since wearing them I’ve noticed my eyes are way less red than they used to be at the end of a long day, even after much staring at computer screens and then cycling out in the countryside…

Quote:

My eye sight is getting fairly bad. Faces in the street look a little blured from about 20ft away. Haven’t had an eye test for about 15 years though. Scared what I might find out 🙂

I have had to visit opticians at least once every year (since 1978!) and
eye tests are a lot less intimidating than they once were (there is all sorts of new technology in most opticians).

TBH the worst you are likely to find out is that you may need vision correction for stuff like driving or close work (might reduce headaches and eyestrain from computer screen if you are getting this..)
March 14, 2007 at 12:14 am

#881947
1

PHARTY

@pharty

Member
Yeh Im short sighted and am meant to wear glasses but dont have any at the mo as Ive lost em the same as the 4 previous pairs
March 14, 2007 at 12:56 am

#881939
[deleted]

@[deleted]

Guest
i wear monthly lenses but not the ones u sleep in

i was interested in the all day all night ones but a bit sceptical.

so u recommend them then?
March 14, 2007 at 1:11 am

#881948
1

cheeseweasel

@cheeseweasel

Participant
I got monthly contacts a few years ago but took the piss with wearing them at first (I wore them pretty much every day from 7am til bed) and now my eyes have rejected them. I’m still OK to wear them for going out n stuff if its just for a few hours but otherwise they get really itchy and uncomfortable and its easier just to wear glasses. Also every spring some sort of pollen shit builds up on the lens and makes them itchy and unwearable for about 2 months! :omg_no:

I’d be careful about how long u hav them in for cos apparently this is quite common for peoples eyes just to say nope and stop accepting them. No idea about those ones u keep in ur eyes for 30 days tho, I’m no expert but it sounds a bit dodgy to me to hav something in ur eye for a month.
March 14, 2007 at 9:41 am

#881949
[deleted]

@[deleted]

Inactive
I am supposed to wear glasses, was told this when i was 14. I need to wear them for reading and using a computer, which i do nearly all day. But i havent owned a set of glasses since 6 months after getting my first pair. Got bullied and had them stolen at school so i thought fuck it wont wear them now!

I sometimes wear them novelty contact lenses to make myself look freaky! :weee: but they aint that comfortable……… ah and hard to remove when mashed! so me eyes kill the next day
March 14, 2007 at 10:41 am

#881945
1

Raj

@raj

Member
I used to wear contact lenses [the hard plastic kind, the daily ones and then the weekly ones ]
I could never wear the glasses – it was a recipe for an instant migraine so I was rapidly moved onto contact lenses by my optician…It was a great thing [the world had been blurry since I was about 12 when I grew several inches in one year and my eyes didnt keep up] to see the world clearly :weee:

The secret of wearing contact lenses for me was to keep a bottle of saline solution in my pocket at all times for those moments when they dried out a bit too much [the red eyes….] which instantly restores the permeability of the lenses and makes them more comfortable as well as allowing your cornea to gas exchange as normal. In a pinch a bottle of optrex drops will do The other thing is to be fanatical [where ever possible] with the cleanliness of your hands when you touch your eyes and with the cleaning ritual you have to go through to keep the lenses clean. I wore them for over 15 years and the only time I had trouble with them was the time I rescued a horse from a mud wallow it got stuck in and came out covered [from the top of my head to the soles of my boots:laugh_at:] in mud [my eyes were a bit offended till I took out the lenses and cleaned them…]

Mostly no one except opticians ever knew when I was wearing my contact lenses and even they used to comment on how well adapted to them I was 😉
March 14, 2007 at 11:35 am

#881946
1

So not a good look

@so-not-a-good-look

Member
Should wear glasses (Short sighted in one eye) But like Harty says keep losing /Breaking them,so dont have any at the moment:hopeless:
March 14, 2007 at 5:27 pm

#881941
6

General Lighting

@general-lighting

Moderator
Staff
cheeseweasel wrote:

I’d be careful about how long u hav them in for cos apparently this is quite common for peoples eyes just to say nope and stop accepting them. No idea about those ones u keep in ur eyes for 30 days tho, I’m no expert but it sounds a bit dodgy to me to hav something in ur eye for a month.

floozylouwoozy wrote:

i wear monthly lenses but not the ones u sleep in

i was interested in the all day all night ones but a bit sceptical.

so u recommend them then?

its definitely worth checking with your optician if you are suitable for these lenses, especially if you are short sighted enough to need vision correction at all times..

They don’t actually have to be worn continuiously, but even if you choose not to (or are advised not to) wear them overnight they definitely feel healthier and nicer to wear in the daytime and I have been wearing various different kinds of lenses for a long time now….

TBH I am actually a coward when it comes to medical stuff which affects me personally (it was only in the mid 90s I thought of contact lenses despite their becomeing reasonably affordable in the late 80s)

I was extremely wary of the concept (extended wear lenses had previously been tried in the 1980s and lots of people succumbed to nasty bugs) so I did a lot of research online before trying these…..

I do think though many opticians prefer prescribing them for people who are a bit “older and sensible” (lol) and the papers I have read mention that its more risky for younger males aged 18-26 who smoke…..

you do need to listen to your body and take them out when/if you get any discomfort (for instance once I had to have a “day off” wearing them because a friends dog had made me allergic (plus my sinuses were bunged up by other “particulate matter” :laugh_at:)

Also you need to have regular checkups, to take them out overnight if you are feeling a bit ill and (like raj says) to be extremely careful about the cleaning processes when you do clean them.

Don’t keep your lens case and solutions in the bathroom either (full of bugs/mould in most bathrooms)..
March 14, 2007 at 5:51 pm

#881944
1

stax

@stax

Member
i am long sighted and have worn glasses since i was 4.

have tried contacts but could not get on with them , well i could’nt even get one in!! sat there for like half an hour at the opticians tryin, every time i tried puttin one in i automaticaly close my eye, gave up in the end.
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