New Contact Lenses

[ASD_Geek]

Hello,

Ive been wearing glasses for the past few years and have wanted to try contacts (I've never worn them before). This past Friday was my appointment with my eye doctor. She is super nice and checked my eyes, then gave me instructions on how to put in and take out contacts. I have a 1 week follow-up this Friday morning.

My question is does (or did) anyone have issues with putting them in or taking them out? The first day that I had them, it took me an hour to put them in and about the same to take them out. Since my eyes were sore, it was a painful experience to say the least. My wife has offered to help and when she does, it seems to be less work and only take about 20 minutes. I've been watching Youtube videos on different techniques. Is this normal? I'm assuming that it gets better.

FWIW, I love them! Once in, they are comfortable. I love not having to wear glasses. I love not cleaning glasses several times a day. It literally feels like freedom.

 

[GadAbout]

You didn't mention what type of lenses you got. Hard, soft, gas permeable, long-wear?

Years ago I successfully wore contacts, they were either hard or gas-permeable because I had too much astigmatism to wear the soft lenses. You will get better with them after every use. Your eyes should not be hurting, did you start out wearing them for only limited periods? I think that is what I was told to do. Soft lenses are a lot more comfortable. Hard ones feel scratchy and need lots of drops or artificial tears.

Don't get used to your wife helping you. Do it yourself. It takes practice.

Eventually I got tired of the work involved, especially the rigorous cleaning, and just stopped using them. It might have been when I had my second child and was just too busy. I don't recall now.

 

[Nervous Rex]

I had to wear Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP or "hard" lenses) for 25 years, due to keratoconus. You will get used to putting the lenses in and taking them out - it takes time. The two skills you need are a delicate touch (I poked myself in the eye many times learning to put the lenses in) and the ability to suppress your reflex to close your eye when it sees something coming at it.

You will find yourself blinking less, because your eyes don't feel as exposed. This also dries out your eyes more. I found eye drops to be more irritating than helpful. Instead of eye drops, I drank water constantly and my eyes naturally hydrated themselves.

I actually moved in the opposite direction as you. Once I had a cornea transplant, I had the option of staying with contacts or moving to glasses. Since I live in a dusty desert climate (Nevada, where the state bird is the tumbleweed) and getting dust in your eyes is extremely uncomfortable with contacts, I switched to glasses. I've never looked back (because my eyes don't roll that far).

 

[Judge]

I gave up contact lenses many years ago. I liked them while I wore them, but my astigmatism got increasingly worse over the years, and finally went back to wearing glasses.

Yeah, Nevada and contact lenses don't mix too well.

 

[Varzar]

Yes, totally normal... Takes a while to find a technique that works for you. What people do on youtube may/may not work for you..
I wore contacts for a decade or so.. I remember the first few times putting them in it was just as you described. Took forever.. Eventually, it became part of my morning routine and probably took less than a minute..
And then I got laser eye surgery and was free of all that crap... Been glasses/contacts free for 14 years now.. afaic, it was totally worth it.. Although I imagine in a few more years I'm going to start to need reading glasses.. boooo..

 

[ASD_Geek]

Thank you everyone for your replies and support. They are soft, 30 day lenses. I'm not sure if they are gas permeable. I'll ask on Friday. Tonight I was able to take them out by myself in about 10 minutes, so getting better on that end... lol

My wife asked me if I am sure that I want these instead of glasses and (right now at least) my answer is Yes!!