Contact lense wearers..

LadyE

For anyone who wears contacts - Ive finally got contacts yesterday and have a few questions (things that come to you when you leave the opticians!)

Does it get easier in putting them in - it takes me between 10-15 mins at the moment, dont know if its worth the hassle!

Does the feeling of "dry eyes" ever go away..im sooo aware that they are there..my eyes feel so dry!! Ive bought some eye drops (water based) called systane, but it feels like I constantly need to use them! Will be be better getting an oil based drops?

And finally, sometimes my vision goes blurred, would this be the contacts moving slower than my eyeball, or my eye adjusting to the less of water covering the lense, or should i go back to the optician?

Oh another one, can I wear them in the shower

Sorry for all the questions..the dryness is annoying me so much!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

it gets alot easier putting them in, you just have to learn how to do it properly and then learn to trust yourself. It's a bit nerve wracking poking near your eye with a finger at first but you'll get over it.

the dryness will also go away soon enough, your eyes are just getting used to the feel of them and after a while (i forget how long it took me, but not very long) you will hardly notice them going on or coming off.

are these soft lenses or hard lenses? when I used soft ones the above was true and it didn't take long at all to get used to them but with the hard lenses... I tried for a few weeks, and then tried again a couple of years later but there was no having it. I hated them.

steveland?

Number 1, yeh it gets easier. You get the knack of it after a while. It took me about 30 minutes and a dropped and ruined set of contacts to get them in the first time... I looked like I'd been bawling crying because my eyes were completely red from them...

Number 2, speak to the optician who perscribed them for you. I had to get a slightly different brand because the ones they had in stock didn't feel comfortable at all.

Number 3, sometimes they can go a bit blurry, make sure they're lubricated enough using the solution stuff when you're putting them in and blink a few times once they're in there to get them to... "normalise" or something

Good luck

LadyE

I have soft lenses, monthly disposables, so handy but a pain...any idea if i can wear them in the shower?

LadyE

Sorry, I meant to say thanks for the reply there too. My manners are appalling

CantGetNoSleep

I wear mine in the shower, if water gets in your eyes though they can get a bit irritating

Not sure if you're meant to do this though

Daisies

Dont wear your contacts lenses in the shower/swimming/in a sauna etc. There are bacteria in tap water that can cause nasty eye infections. Also never use water to clean your lenses

Lil' Smiler

Any other questions try the forum in Science under Biology & Medicine!! Loads of people asking questions!!


At the moment, the weather etc could be causing your feeling of dry eyes... ie central heating in the house. I always use eye drops with mine and i've been wearing lenses for 13 years!!

It'll just take yours eyes a while to get used to the lenses. It takes about an hour or 2 fr them to adjust right on the eyes. Sometimes something as simple as a hair, a bit of dust or a bit of crap in your eye makes them go blurry!!


Good luck with them!!

unreggd

Daisies wrote: »

Dont wear your contacts lenses in the shower/swimming/in a sauna etc. There are bacteria in tap water that can cause nasty eye infections. Also never use water to clean your lenses

Its more for the reason that Water changed the shape of the lesnes!

pookie82

I was warned by my optician NEVER to enter a pool with them in or let tap water near them as you can contract a really bad infection which, at its worst, could become sight threatening, so my advice would be to whip them out getting into the shower. If soap gets in your eyes you'd need to take them out afterwards anyway.

As for them feeling that uncomfortable - you should probably go back to your optician about this as it's an idea to try a few different types before settling on one. I know that my eyes are quite sensitive but if they're scraping or I'm aware of them in my eye, it's usually because they're inside out or have a speck of dust on them. You shouldn't be constantly aware of them as that would defeat the purpose of going for the lense option and your eyes shouldn't feel so uncomfortable, unless it's purely an adjustment thing. I would definitely go back and see about trying a different brand.

You may need special ones for sensitive or naturally dry eyes. Do you have dry skin usually??

The bluriness usually only occurs, for me anyway, at night with lights. I have a stigmatism in my right eye which contacts can't correct as well as my glasses can, so my vision with them is slightly less than perfect but not a problem. I really don't think that the dryness you describe, the blurriness and the discomfort of being able to feel them all the time in your eye is normal. You should definitely talk to your optician again about trying new ones.

And it gets way easier to put them in!!! You'll be popping them in and out in no time without a secong thought.

Semele

From my experience the dryness and slight discomfort is usual for the first few weeks until your eyes get used to them. As time goes on you will learn to recognise various types of discomfort- if they're just dry, if there's a speck of dirt stuck to them etc.

What sometimes helps when you put them in is to keep your finger lightly on the lens while rolling your eye, or rolling your eye with your eyelid closed. I find this pops any air bubbles under the lens and makes sure they are in place properly, meaning they are automatically more comfortable from the start.

You will get much quicker at putting them in! I could do it in my sleep now whereas at first it took a magnifying mirror, a pile of tissues to mop my streaming eyes and much dropping of the lenses.

Also, learn to recognise if they're inside out when putting them in. There's very little difference in appearance but if you flip them inside out a few times you should see that they fall into one way better than the other. If they are in you eye inside out they wont fit the curve of your eyeball as well and will feel itchy. If you notice them being uncomfortable, its worth taking the lens out, cleaning it with a few drops of solution, turning it inside out and trying again to see if that makes a difference.

pinklady2

I opted to getting Laser done last year, as I was sick of my eyes being dry and the lenses sticking to my eye whenever I wore them..the best thing I ever done. But as you have just started wearing lenses it may get better for you everyone is different..:)