johnnyr@ihu1m.UUCP (John R. Rosenberg) (09/16/85)
I have already posted this once, but the requests for this information
are still flooding in. If you have seen this already, sorry for
being repetitious. If not, then here is the information so many
have been asking for. I've received over 100 requests, so I
can't e-mail to all those who asked. Anyway...
Here is a summary of the responses that I got to me question
on contacts lenses. Even as I type this I have me new lenses
in my eyes. They are daily-wear soft lenses, and boy are they
great. Anyway, good luck on your quest for perfect
vision. Hope all of these opinions help.
I should mention, all the names have been deleted to protect
the innocent.
Good luck... John Rosenberg
ihnp4!ihu1m!johnnyr
********
If you live in the Chicago area, go to Dr. Harold Davis.
(Sorry, I don't have his address handy. He's in one of
the Western suburbs (Cicero?). I've been a patient of
his for over 20 years (I see him whenever I pass through
Chicago). He is extremely competent, and very well known
in the contact lens field.
If you do get to see him, feel free to say hello from me.
*******************************************************************************
Go with softlenses.
- everybody makes them
- all optomitrists have experience with them
- they're now cheap (< $100 including initial eye exam)
- they're comfortable (probably much more so than hard-lense antiques)
I've had Baush & Loumb softlenses now for almost eight years after wearing
glasses for six or so and I'd never go back. Don't even keep a set of
glasses anymore since I've never had any problems and if I screwed up a
lense or something I could get a replacement the same day (sizes are well
enough sttandardized).
As with any type of contact lenses it takes several weeks to get used to them.
You'll probably have irritated eyes until you get a "feel" for the methods
that work for you. I'll probably switch to permalenses in a few years but
their primary disadvantages now are higher cost and shorter lifespan (~ 1 year)
since they're the thinness of Saran Wrap. I can wait.
*************************************************
20/20 just did a segment on contact lenses this past
week. The difference between hard and soft lenses are comfort
at the expense of clarity. Hard lenses are uncomfortable to
begin with, get uncomfortable more quickly when you leave them
in for a long time, and there is more of a danger of damaging
your eyes if you don't treat them with respect. Soft lenses are
extremely comfortable if they fit right, give quite adequete sight
correction, though not quite as good as hard lenses, and require
considerably more maintenace.
I have soft lenses. I've had them for 6 years. For the first
3 years I had absolutely no problems with them. For the last 3 years
I've had problems with the lenses in my left eye. It seems to get
dirty much too quickly. When it gets dirty, your vision gets blurry
and the lenses feels uncomfortable. I don't know why this is happening.
I plan on going in to see my optometrist and see what he has to say
about it. With that said, I give soft lenses a 4 star rating for
comfort and sight correction.
When you do finally go to get lenses, you don't have to go
to a real eye doctor for them (an opthamologist). 20/20 found that
Sterling and the rest of the cut-rate lenses purveyors are just
as good as the expensive doctors.
******************************
Hi,
I recommend Bausch & Lomb BL70's. Two years ago I went straight from glasses
to wearing these. I wear them day and night and I don't have to clean them for
at least 3 weeks. I have a friend who surfs in his.
I've had allergies most of my life and (according to my opthomalogist(sp?))
as a result my eyes are dry. My optometrist was concerned that because my eyes
were so dry I would not be able to wear lenses at all. He recommended BL70's
and I've had NO trouble with them.
****************
In shopping for contacts, I feel you're really shopping for doctors.
With your eyesight, it sounds like you would be very easily fitted
with any type of lenses with a minimum of effort. That is, you probably
don't need to pay for a "premium" doctor -- as I'd advise someone with
astigmatism, _very_ bad eyesight or some such problem. You'll
probably do fine at a high volume discount type place.
As far as what kind you should get, your doctor may have
recommendations, but probably not. Almost nobody nowadays wears hard
lenses unless they have to (to correct special vision). They are
_much_ more uncomfortable than soft lenses. This, of course, depends
on the person more than anything (noone knows why, but comfort is
certainly tied closely to your tear production). Some prople can wear
hard lenses for 12-20 hours a day with no discomfort, others blink
and cry their way through 4 hours, then pop them out. You never know
unless you try.
Soft lenses are more expensive, especially because of their shorter
lifespan. One to two years is a good lifespan for softys, 2 to 10
years is more like it for hards. Soft lenses also tear easier.
Gotta go! sorry I can't finish.
*******************
Just a short note, before going through all the possibilities and deciding
which type of lenses are for you, check with your opthamologist. Certain
types of astigmatism cannot be corrected with any soft lens now on the
market, others can. You might want to see if this is a problem for you.
(sure is for me!) I have had hard lenses now for 17 years and would never
go back to glasses. (when I had to after eye surgery, I HATED them)
My husband got soft lenses after years of glasses (slightly nearsighted)
and is very happy with them. These are the ordinary kind, not extended
wear. He says they are a lot better for third base work than his glasses.
(Never try for third base if my husband is on it! He does apologise when
he picks the guy up though :-))
Good luck
*********************
I had Bauch & Lomb daily wears for about 1.5 years. They were OK, you get
real used to digging in your eyes taking them out every nite. I then bought
B&L extended wear lenses. Had those for about 1.5 years now. They are the
way to go.... Daily maintenence consists of putting 1 drop of lens
lube in the mornings. I take them out every 3-4 weeks to enzyme clean them.
I recommend the B&L because: 1) you can enzyme clean them (makes them
last a lot longer) and feel better with less protein deposits 2) you can
heat disinfect them (faster to do and probably better for your eyes)
2 is especially important if you are one of those people that are allergic
to thisemoral (sp?) which is used as a preservative in a lot of the
eye care chemicals. I am not, but one could develop these
allergies after a while.
I am very near sighted (need -6.25 correction, in other words they tell
me that there is a big E at the top of the chart, I cannot see it) with
contacts I see 20/20, no fogging when I come in from the cold, vision is
usually very clear (if you sit in a draft and they dry out things tend
to get bleary until the lenses re-hydrate).
For sports I bike and swim. You can lose them swimming if you are not
careful, I haven't yet but came close a few times.
Good luck,
**********
I had glasses for about 27 years. I finally got soft contacts - daily
wear. (they're like stars, they come out at night). I use a chemical
steilizing process - a basic pain in the a**. I am also very near-sighted,
to the point that the glasses are the last thing off at night, and the
first thing on in the morning - I use them to find the contacts.
Don't get me wrong - I enjoy my contacts. I even suffer through imperfect
vision to wear them - I have embedded astigmatisim (sp?). I have perfect
20/20 or better with glasses, and not nearly as good with contacts. I just
got sick and tired of big, heavy glasses.
Soft lenses are easy to get used to (a day or two), but hard to maintain.
My wife wears hard lenses (has for 14 years or so. Her first pair lasted 13
years). They are easy to maintain, but take a period of weeks to get used
to. Extended wear lenses are interesting, but some doctors are wary of
them. (caution in the face of malpractice suits??). They require about
the same maint. ritual as daily wear soft, but only about every week/month/
quarter/.. depending on who you talk to and how careful they are.
I spend about $6.00 per month in solutions to care for my lenses. I think
I would go for hard lenses the next time. They are so simple to take care
of, that they would be woth the extra trouble of getting used to. Extended
wear soft would also interest me as an alternative.
**********
I have gas-permeable lenses which are the newer type of hard contacts. They
are better for your eyes than hard lenses but they still provide the sharp
vision that hard lenses provide. I love them.
My wife on the other hand has the ultra-thin soft lenses because her eyes are
too sensitive for the hard lenses. She is also happy.
*************
I have been wearing eye correction of some sort for at least 22
years. I have been wearing contacts exclusively since September
of 1979. I started out with regular soft contacts. The daily
cleaning was a real pain, but the quality of eyesight was so much
better than glasses, I kept using them. I started wearing
extended wear lenses since December of 1984. They are fantastic!!
I clean them when they get dirty (every 4 weeks, in general) and
other than that 4 hour cleaning, I have them in 24 hours a day. I
put cleaning drops in my eyes in the morning and before I go to
bed, and any other time that my eyes are a bit irritated. For me,
contacts have been a blessing. I can't imagine how I went for so
long without wearing contacts. The brand I currently have is
Coopervision contacts. I don't know if they are any better than
other brands.
Good luck.
********
For pretty much the same reasons you cite, I went to contacts a few
years back. Bliss. I have a mild astigmatism to go with
nearsightedness, and that does matter. I wanted extended wear lenses,
and there is only one company that makes them, and they are a bit dear.
I had no problems adjusting to lenses, but this varies from person to
person. If your optician tells you otherwise, you're being snowed.
I clean the suckers once a week, sometimes forgetting. This is well within
the safe zone of use. I've had one replacement set after a year of daily use.
Cleaning is about ten minutes. Not supposed to swim with them in,
because they might float out, but I've done it anyway with no
problem yet. No insurance. I figure that if the insurance company can
make money on the deal, I lose it. Besides, it's not that big a disaster.
Sleep in 'em, play in 'em.
Shop around. The optician [if that's the word. Eye doctor, anyway] can
give you a perscription to have filled somewhere else, and by law
must if you ask. Getting the scrip filled through the doctor isn't
always cheap, and there are probably reliable lens shops in your area.
*******
I have Bausch and Laumb (sp?) soft lenses (softies) which I
have been using about 3 years. They are quite comfortable for
about 16 hours at a time. Mine are not the extended-wear kind.
Physicians will usually sell "packages" that is, exam, lenses,
extras. All (non-extended wear) softies require daily sterilization,
either through
chemicals, dry heat, or wet heat. Chemical sterilization means
soaking your lenses overnight in rather strong chemicals. I
found that my eyes would not tolerate this, so I went to heat
sterilization. Wet heat is when you steam heat you lenses (inside
their case) in distilled water steamer. Dry heat is when you put your
in a dry heat unit. I find dry heat to be the most convenient.
Once a week or so, you give your lenses a super-market avaliable
enzyme treatment.
Physicians are generally good at explaining lens care. After
all, your comfort and satisfaction depends on it.