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Contacts
Mai-Kero
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I have pretty terrible vision.
I think I'm going to need a new pair of glasses soon, so I'm thinking, because I've heard it's a bit cheaper, to go with contacts this time after my next eye exam.
A few questions:
Are contacts, in fact, way cheaper than a normal pair of glasses?
Do contacts correct vision just as well as glasses?
How long can you leave contacts in?
Can you sleep with contacts in?
I think I'm going to need a new pair of glasses soon, so I'm thinking, because I've heard it's a bit cheaper, to go with contacts this time after my next eye exam.
A few questions:
Are contacts, in fact, way cheaper than a normal pair of glasses?
Do contacts correct vision just as well as glasses?
How long can you leave contacts in?
Can you sleep with contacts in?
Mai-Kero on
0
Posts
It depends on the lenses that you get, but I would say that it probably comes out slightly cheaper (of course, this depends on how long glasses usually last you, because no contact lasts forever).
When I used contacts, I never noticed any difference in my visual fidelity from that of wearing glasses.
Once again, this depends on the lenses you get. Some variants can be left in for a month, others need to be taken out every time you go to sleep at night.
I wouldn't recommend it unless you're using lenses specifically designed to be used in this manner.
It's been a while since I used contacts. Though it wasn't a serious problem, they would occasionally irritate my eyes and if I ever forgot to take them out it was hell the next morning. Also, it can be a pain to learn to put them in properly.
For reference, I am 20/100 in my left eye and 20/110 in my right.
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I don't know about price or their effectiveness however... perhaps with this little post & bump someone who has personal experience can answer more effectively... but if you don't get those disposable contacts, I'd say take them out and clean 'em every night.
Also, the price totally depends on how long you wear each pair of contacts for. I have lenses that say you should change them every 1-2 weeks. With proper care, which in this case means taking them out for about 8 hours every night, they always last me at least a couple months. I've worn pairs for over 6 months before with no problems. If you can get away with doing that, it's pretty cheap. Keep in mind that cleaning solution probably costs about $10/month though.
What kind of insurance do you have? because contacts always seemed more expensive to me. I guess it depends on how long your glasses last - I can go two years on one set of $90 frames easily, and replacing the frames and lenses together with that fancy non-reflective coating shit never costs me more than $50 out of pocket because I have private health cover. Also, I'm entitled to two new pairs a year, which is nuts. Maybe check your benefits first. Also, any decent glasses place will be able to answer all your questions in detail, just wander in and ask.
This must depend on your eyesight, mine give zero distortion as opposed to my glasses which give a little, and they make everything super-sharp. My eyes had changed quite a lot and I don't regularly buy new glasses, so when I put the contacts in for the first time it was almost overwhelming just how sharp all the grass in the fields looked. Which raises a good point - if you're under 21 your eyes might still be changing, and contacts will keep up with that change as you get new ones all the time, whereas glasses do not.
Some contacts correct just as well as glasses, though I only have -1.75 vision across the board and I was recommended to go with monthlies as dailies wouldn't be as good, though I have an astigmatism so that might have something to do with it. You also need an examination before getting contacts as you might, like me, have delicate eyes. I didn't think I did before getting this examination as I have never had any kind of irritation, but it means I have to use peroxide instead of saline to keep mine in and it's pretty important I change it every day. I can wear them for a day or a night out but not both and not every day. It might be the case you need both glasses and contacts.
Anyways I'VE never had problems wearing glasses for a week or so at random intervals while wearing contacts, but I know people do(for me it IS something that's awkward briefly, but I've never gotten sick or anything, but my vision isn't quite as bad as Hlubocky), and the reason is when you wear glasses your eyes adjust to a slightly different depth perception. To demonstrate that, just look at something at a moderate distance and without changing your focus or blinking, move the lenses away from your eye. Poor vision notwithstanding, the size and perspective change a little. If you wear glasses all the time, your eyes adjust and it's no problem
Anyways, my vision is 20/20 with contacts or glasses, and with contacts your periphial(ahh spelling screw it)vision is corrected as well, which is something.
Now here's where I have good expertise and can be useful, until about a year ago I wore the "standard" contacts that you take out every night and dispose of after two weeks. Your eyes feel like crap if you sleep in them, and sleeping in them too often can actually scratch your cornea, the results ranging from never being able to wear contacts again to requiring a corneal transplant. I've heard of people sleeping in them for a week and getting screwed, and people sleeping in them nearly all the time being fine, so I guess the odds of that happening depends on your eyes and it's less likely to result in damage. It's uncomfortable though, so no reason to do it
NOW I have the ones you sleep in and wear for a month. They're as advertised and work fine, sometimes my eyes are a little dry in the morning but normally fine, HOWEVER, they're stiffer(made from a more permeable material which is..strangely...stiffer)and harder to put in, more uncomfortable at first, and harder to take out a month later. However once they get settled in they're as comfortable as can be. Still, I wouldn't recommend them for your first set, the first few weeks you have them you'll be waking up early in case you have trouble putting them in
They're not gonna be CHEAPER than glasses of course(especially with buying solution. Though with the monthlies it's not necessary)not in any way I understand really
tl;dr: I don't think it's really cheaper, but hell why not? Well because it's not cheaper, but besides that, hell why not?
Also, you guys who think you have bad vision are cute. Try -11.00 with astigmatism, haha. I'm pretty much useless without my contacts in.
EDIT: I'm convinced contacts are way cheaper than glasses (assuming you need a new prescription every other year or so; if not, this won't hold true), as long as you take care of them. You can easily wear the 1-2 week lenses for 10 times as long as is recommended, with no ill consequences. I'm not really sure how much mine cost, but it looks like they cost about $20/box from 1-800-CONTACTS. I can make one box last about a year, as long as I don't lose any.
I wouldn't say that. I actually got the number from wiki just now but it's about 4% of contact wearers suffer ill effects, and I'd wager that like 80% overwear(I did too) and sleep in them when they're not sposed to. So odds are nothing will happen but if something DOES happen, it's usually pretty bad(there doesn't seem to be much that can go a "little" wrong with eyes)
And to clarify, the monthly ones you sleep in are still soft contacts, I don't believe I've ever been offered the choice of getting the RGP ones. They're getting to the point now with the hydrogels and crap that they'll probably have quarterly soft ones out before too long(which is what some of the RGP ones are I think)
I've worn them for many years, and I definitely prefer them over glasses, although I still keep a pair of glasses around for when I don't have my contacts in (that pair is about ten years old now, so I've definitely spent more in that period on contacts than I have on glasses).
I used to use the "extended wear" contacts that you just leave in for 2 weeks and then discard, but over time my eyes started to get uncomfortable with them, so I switched back to daily wear. I use the newer Clear Care cleaning solution which is hydrogen peroxide with a platinum catalyst in the case to neutralize it overnight, because I've found it to make my contacts much more comfortable.
http://www.thelostworlds.net/
Not in my experience, unless you have excellent vision insurance. Glasses are a one-time fixed cost and if you shop online, you can get glasses from Taiwan or Hong Kong for as little as $20 a pair. That's what my friend does. Normal (not astigmatism-correcting) contacts cost maybe $20 for 6 lenses. That's ~$6.33/pair, and at let's say 18 pairs/year, you're looking at $240 for two years (the normal time between eye checkups). Depending on your exact prescription, astigmatism, brand, choice of retailer, plus the cost of saline solution, that can easily go up. Of course, if you wear each pair longer, that'll go down. Generally it costs more, though. One tip, though: shop online. 1800Contacts is great, and they price match the other, less reputable but cheaper websites like Vision Direct.
Getting the monthlies costs even more; the above are for standard 2-week contacts (which I wear for 4 week, but whatever).
Do contacts correct vision just as well as glasses?
I think they do a better job with normal vision correction. Astigmatism correction in glasses is much better, but it's not bad with contacts.
Can you sleep with contacts in?
With standard contacts, I highly recommend you don't sleep in them. After a few weeks it'll take maybe 30 seconds to get your contacts out and into your case. I actually timed it once out of boredom and curiosity. Your eyes feel like crap the next day, and I actually have to wear glasses the next day if I've slept in my contacts since my eyes hurt too much. YMMV, though; my gf regularly wears hers to sleep and then the next day with few problems.
Also, if you sleep in standard contacts you can scratch your cornea, which is most certainly not as much fun as it sounds...and it already sounds pretty awful.
They're actually way thinner than any contact lense I can remember. To the point I have trouble taking them out because it's difficult to tell if I'm grabbing a lense or grabbing my eyeball skin...
Bottom line, I think, is that the lenses available are extremely varied. Make sure you get a lense that provides the features you want.
I left them in for a month or more at a time, and never had any problems.
Then I switched to the same company's Day/Night brand, which you're actually supposed to be able to leave in for a month at a time. Instead, after a few hours wearing them, my eyes would be fucked. Eventually it got to the point where my eyes were just destroyed.
I've gone back to glasses now. My eyes don't water as much/as often as they used to, because I'm pretty sure my tear ducts got infected somehow by those Day/Night lenses.
http://glassyeyes.blogspot.com/ is a blog with links and reviews of a bunch of online eye-glass retailers from all over the world. I got my two new pairs of glasses for $40 total from a website in China, and aside from the fact that they took almost a month to get here, I haven't had any problems with them in the 3 months I've had them.
Started with soft contacts that lasted about about 6 months at a time, had to use a wacky enzymatic cleaner on them once a week or so.
Switched to disposable lenses once they got cheap.
Then I got a lab job that forbids contacts, so I've been exclusively wearing glasses for about 3 years.
My $0.02:
Contacts
Pros:
Do not affect your natural appearance
Are better for sports / physical activity
Are pretty comfortable, these days
Cons:
Personally, I found them to be more expensive (at least the disposable kind) in the long term than glasses. Yes, glasses can cost several hundred dollars - but if you are good to them they can last many years. With disposable contacts it was a pretty constant stream of costs to replace them.
Eye fatigue - at the end of the day eye fatigue would give me a little bit of difficulty and my vision would be a little blurry. Note that this was after many years of wearing them and being acclimated to them. In college, for example, when I needed to pull an all-nighter - there was pretty much no choice, take the contacts out and switch to glasses if I wanted to be able to focus on the page.
Anyways, I wear glasses exclusively these days because the man tells me I have to. I thought I'd mind a lot more than I really do - I found a pair I think looks good, and I do like not getting eye fatigue. But contacts are nice and I wouldn't discourage you from getting them.
You can also cause damage to your eyes by sleeping with types contacts in that you shouldn't sleep with. I know people who damaged their corneas by sleeping with contacts in that they shouldn't have. So, if you want to sleep with contacts, make sure that your type are cleared for that. And if you're over wearing your contacts make sure you're getting a fairly regular eye exam.
Also, when you're asleep, what the hell does anyone need perfect vision for? That one's always baffled me. While at first it can be a little tricky to get them in in the morning, after a few weeks it shouldn't take you more than a minute to get them in, if that.
If you wake up because the fire alarm is going off, you don't have time to put in your contacts. If you're out camping, you don't have a sink. Etc. Plus it's one more thing to do in the morning and evening, which is annoying.
http://www.thelostworlds.net/