Just got contacts today!

[jamesbond007]

Today marks the first day since the beginning of 3rd grade of when I haven't had to wear glasses! I still make the motions of pushing up my glasses even though they are not there anymore.

My prescription is pretty bad. Glasses: -8.25/-7.00, Contacts: -7.00/-7.00. My glasses got to be pretty thick since I have smaller frames, which let in a LOT of peripheral light and glare. As a photographer, this got to be somewhat annoying at times. The winters up here make wearing glasses a big pain, since they fog up. Plus, now I can go scuba diving with my brother without having to get prescriptive goggles!

The first thing I noitced is my perception of depth. My 24" monitor now appears to be a 30" and my arms look longer to me. I am not sure what caused this, but for those into photography, it's like going from a crop body to a full-frame one.

Anyone else out there have comments on contacts? Touching the my eyes isn't so bad and I think the tradeoffs are well worth it. I did have one friend who got a contact rolled back under the eye and had to go to the emergency room, but she slept with them in and then rubbed her eyes. Youch!!!

Have a great day,
~Travis

 

[apac]

Regarding depth perception, you're probably used to your vision being distorted by glasses for so long. For example, I can't play sports with glasses on because they throw off my depth perception, but I have no problem with contacts. I think it has something to do with the glasses lenses being slightly further away from the lenses in your eyes, whereas contacts are right next to them.

You'll occasionally rub your eye and have the lense go above your eyelid. Don't freak out, it won't be anything like your unfortunate friend, all you have to do is find a mirror and rub around a bit until it goes into the corner and falls out.

If you have daily contacts, don't sleep with them in. Your eyes need to get oxygen while they're off.

 

[Drako]

I wish I could still wear contacts.

I wore them for about 10 years from college years and on, but my eyes get too dry, so they really iritate my cornea. I'm back to glasses now, and still thinking about the eventual laser eye surgery.

 

[xdreadpiratedoug]

Did you look into Lasik before going with contacts?

 

[jamesbond007]

The ones I have right now are trials from Acuvue; daily-ones, I believe. I definitely won't sleep in these...well, I'll do my best. Falling asleep to TV is one of my favorite ways to go under!

Lasik lasts ~10 years the last time I checked, but it isn't too attractive to me. I'm not a real fan of having my eye cut and flipped back. My uncle had a VERY bad experience. His eyes, 2 or 3 days after the surgery, came 'unglued' or whatever and the flap that they cut came undone! He panicked and had to go back for an emergency op or something. Just the sheer thought scares the living bejesus out of me! I'm waiting for the method where they don't need to cut.

Just wish I could wear these longer. I got them this morning, but it was recommended that I wear them only for 5-6 hours, then tomorrow is 6-7 and so on. Won't be for another few days before I can wear them all day! They are very comfortable and I am having a blast! This morning I poured a glass of soda and it fizzed and bubbled all over, but I didn't have to worry about cleaning my glasses after the sip! There's a lot of little things like that which make abandoning glasses so attractive.

 

[zig3695]

ive been using acuvue2's for uh... more then 10 years i think. probably 12. they are soft two week disposables. i used to take them out every night and during showers. that was when i was a kid. now, i take my contacts out never. they only come out when they fall out or get dirt in them. ive actually had the same pair in for i think a year now. im not kidding. they still come out though! i get worried sometimes... but the eye doctor always tells me "you take good care of your eyes" and i just look away, confused because thats nowhere near the case.

 

[pulse8]

Emergency room for a rolled up contact in the eye? I've had that happen before and just rubbed the lid until it came out. It's not pleasant, but I don't think it's emergency room worthy. It's not going to roll back into your brain or anything.

 

[markgm]

You can't lose a contact behind your eye, so if it ever goes under your eye lid just give it a few minutes before you start to panic. Usually closing your eye and rolling it around will let it right itself.

Anyway, anytime I get a new prescription my perception is off for a few weeks until I get used to it. Once I banged my hand into a store shelf I thought was 2 feet in front of me when it was really 6 inches. I thought I broke 2 of my fingers it hurt so bad!

 

[pontifex]

reminds me i have ot go in and get my trial pair and have them show me how to put them in and take out. i'm scared...

they called for me to come in 2 weeks ago and i haven't done it yet, mainly because i was still off from the surgery then though.

 

[Supermercado]

I wore glasses for 10 years before I got my contacts 7 years ago. I like contacts so much better than glasses. Not having them on my face is one thing - my glasses never stayed put and always slid down even after having them adjusted. I like that I can wear regular old non-prescription sunglasses. The field of vision is better - things aren't clear in front of me and blurry off to the sides and above and below.

I had a hard time getting the lenses in and out the first time I tried but it very quickly got easier and now it's nothing at all. I've worn contacts pretty much every day for the last 7 years and have never once had them go below an eyelid or anywhere else. I don't really rub my eyes or anything and the only time I sleep in my contacts is if I fall asleep in my chair. It's only a couple hours then so I just use some rewetting drops or take them out when I wake up and put on my glasses. That's something that's worked well for me: I wear my contacts when I'm going out anywhere but most of the time when I'm at home, I wear my glasses. If I'm doing work around the house, though, I typically wear my contacts so if I'm sweating, I don't get drops of sweat on my glasses.

Definitely love having contacts, though, but glasses do have their uses.

 

[HammerCurl]

I've fell asleep with my contacts in an assload of times. Maybe once did it get stuck in the corner of my eye falling out after a good rubbing. I got Acuvue Oasis about 7 months ago, theyre pretty cool. They definitely dry your eye out less, I wear mine about 16 hours a day and you can sleep with them in for a week. I still take them out before bed, but I usually feel too lazy to take them out if I've been drinking. Anyway, you should still take them out before bed, although I've overworn my softmeds(before accuvue oasis) an assload of times and never got any real eye problems. Just keep your hands clean if you need to rub your eyes, a few friends of mine had some corneal ulcers from improper cleaning. You probably know this, but don't reuse contact lense solution that you've let you contacts soak in.

 

[toekramp]

I have some monthlys that I'm not required to take out besides to throw away. I just wake up every morning, put one drop of solution in each eye (not really necessary, but helps for comfort for the first few minutes) and go on with my day. Helps a lot with infection and what not because you're only touching them once with your nasty fingers.