bdot@hogpd.UUCP (J.BARRETT) (10/07/83)
I have the extended wear Hydrocurve II soft lenses. I had problems with the normal soft lenses and couldn't wear them more than a few hours at a time. My new lenses are GREAT!! They are more hydrophillic (higher water content), thus easier for me to wear. I hear they have been recently approved for 1 month wear (any concurrence??). I like the convenience of not having to fiddle with them all the time. I paid $170.00 (including exam) for mine, not really expensive.They have been thoroughly tested and are safe to wear. I suggest going to your eye doctor for them though, I had a bad experience with one of these chain stores and try to avoid them for contacts (I go there for my glasses though). John Barrett AT&T Info Systems
rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (10/10/83)
After wearing "regular" soft contact lenses for a year, I decided to try the extended wear lenses. My incentive was not so much the famed ability to see when you wake up, but the notion that I didn't have to go through the process of insertion and removal so frequently. I have had a number of problems with these lenses: 1) I was told to put wetting/saline solution drops in my eyes on a regular basis before going to sleep and after waking up. Despite this I awakened many times in the middle of the night due to extreme dryness in the eyes. 2) After wearing the lenses in my eyes for several days straight (< 5) I had severe pain in one eye and was unable to wear any lenses for a week. My problem (which others have had as well) is that my eyes do not produce enough tears to keep the lenses wet while I sleep. Thus I am unable to wear these lenses during sleep, at least not with great frequency or for multiple nights in a row. I *am* able to wear these lenses for close to 20 hours at a time, which is a great improvement over normal soft lenses (where my limit was about 11 hours), so I continue to use them. Hopefully, newer technology will arise that will let me wear lenses continuously. This problem is far from universal. Many people have little or no problems adjusting to these lenses. But if you are not currently wearing lenses, or are having dryness problems with existing lenses, you should probably check with your eye doctor. A good eye doctor will know whether or not you are suited for these lenses in the long term. Rich P.S. Has anyone else out there had similar extended wear lens problems??
ignatz@ihuxx.UUCP (Dave Ihnat, Chicago, IL) (10/13/83)
I have extended-wear lenses; my lenses are provided by Hyrdo-Curve. My lenses are stated as good for two+ weeks without removal, but I tend to remove them for cleaning once a week, and enzyme cleaning every two. Basically, the wear is trivial; break-in isn't. You put them on, and you wear them. No break-in schedule, no grief. IF...they fit. You have two problems with extended-wear lenses. First, they're going to remain on your cornea for extended periods of time, so you had best get a good fit. Secondly, while they seem to have no trouble with extreme refractive error, they have limited ability to correct astigmatism. About 18 months ago, I tried extended wear lenses and abandoned them because they couldn't correct my modest astigmatism. The current set reflect the technology of last January, and are toric lenses capable of correcting mild to moderate astigmatism; but remember, as with any lens that corrects astigmatism, that they will tend to rotate somewhat during wear. I haven't found this annoying enough to offset the comfort, natural feeling, and clarity of vision provided. These lenses haven't been without problems, however. First, it's difficult to find optometrists or opthalmologists who have enough training or experience with these lenses to properly fit them. And, there tends to be some quality control problems. As far as my discussions with the Hydro-Curve rep have informed me, there are basically two approaches to producing extended-wear soft lenses. The Hydro-Curve type are made by dripping the goo onto a spinning form, then modifying it slightly with external tools for toric shapes (needed only for astigmatic correction). This provides a greater yield, but more quality control problems; I've gone through about 3 lenses on each eye, and will probably insist on a minor change for the last one. Bausch and Lomb mold blanks, then freeze them and turn them down on lathes; this precludes effective astigmatism correction. (WARNING: This is from either the Hydro- Curve rep, or my optometrist--who buys from the HC rep. Proverbial quantum of salt...) Oh, yes; remember. DO NOT USE HEAT DISINFECTING METHODS with extended wear lenses!!! I was told to by my optometrist; this the reason for at least two of my lens changes. It seems that the plastic browns and hardens when heated... The overall vote? It's worth all the time, effort, grief, and frustration. I paid $300, and will do it every year, if I have to. (You have to have very bad vision to understand what it means to be able to see, naturally, when you wake up in the morning; to participate in sports events without glasses, or fragile hard lenses, etc.; and not to have to worry about dozing off on the couch, and so forth...) Hope I helped, Dave Ihnat ihuxx!ignatz
mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) (10/14/83)
What about swimming? Showering? Washing your hair? Do you have to take out the lenses for these (or other) activities? I find that sometimes I need to take out a lens and clean it off with saline, when it's got a speck of something on it that flew into my eye. How much of this is neccesary with the new extended wear lenses as compared to the regular one day lenses? Are they just as easy to put in and take out?
pc260@ucsfcgl.UUCP (10/18/83)
The extended wear lenses have been around for several years now. The advantages are fairly obvious. There are a number of disadvantages. They are thin, soft and quite fragile, and tear easily and need to be replaced. (expensive, but you can get insurance) Some people get protein buildup that occurs within a couple of days, and makes the lenses not much better than ordinary soft lenses. They are the only possibility sometimes for old people who cannot manipulate lenses because aof arthritis or whatever (other than spectacles of course). Don't forget amongst all this that a fairly common opinion amongst ophthalmologists is that many people can wear contacts for about 10 years and then just start to have problems that cannot be resolved, for no obvious reason. The ongoing discussion of radial keratotomy is of interest, but may be misleading as of this date in that it is USUAL to have to wear corrective lenses after the surgery to get 20/20 vision This can however be a huge improvement to someone who has had to wear coke bottle bottoms. There is another procedure whose name I forget but is some type of keratoplasy where the cornea is shaped in a way similar to shping lenses. This is much more experimental than radial keratotomy. Peter Harrison ucbvax!ucsfmis!harrison