Contact lense experiences

PMKeates

PMKeates

PMKeates

Soldato
Joined
16 Jul 2004
Posts
14,075
Hey all,

I've been "trying" to use daily contact lenses the past week or so, and nearly every day winds up me getting stressed putting them in just not bothering.

The problem I've got is that my eyelids are tight. Even stretching them beyond the point of pain, it's barely enough of an opening to get the contact lense in.

Does anyone have any recommendations for making the process easier?
 
I pull my bottom eyelid down. look up and in as if youre trying to look at the space between your eyebrows gently press the lens onto the white of your eye away from the coloured part. let eyelid go and close eye and gently blink without totally opening your eye to let contact move into place. I wouldnt pull your eyelids about.. just pull the bottom one down..that should give you enough room to put the lens in.
Hope that helps. :)
 
First of all, it takes a while to get used to doing it, you need practice, hell I still have occasional trouble putting them in and sit around for 10 minutes cursing after months of using them.

I use my the same hand to put in both lenses as I just cant put them in with my left hand for some reason. Other than that I guess you know the basic idea, just keep working at it and it will happen eventually, just need to keep doing it and eventually it just clicks and goes in great.

So basic technique, using the index finger to hold the lense then the middle finger to hold down the bottom eye lid, then the middle finger of the other hand to hold the top lid open, then stare at straight ahead and plop it in, do it gently and dont put much pressure on, then remove index finger, look up, down, left then right and then blink gentley.

Another tip is to do it opposite a mirror, stare at your eyes in the mirror to stop your eye moving about when your finger gets close, also try not shutting your other eye if doing this as it helps to keep you eyes still.
 
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Get monthlies. You put them in on day 1 and take them out at day 30. Far more hygenic and generally better for the eye. Ask your Optician for his or her professional advice, of course :)
 
i use monthlys ie go in on the 1st and come out on the 31st, i do have rest days though as i work in a very strong air conditioned unit and my eyes dry out a lot. (i do use saline to moisten them though). i dont pull my lids at all i just open my eyes and pop the lens in, a bit of blinking and they sit nice and right.
 
You'll get used to putting them in, it used to take me ages with my eyes getting more soar each time I tried. After a month I'd got the hang of it, just practice.
 
[FnG]magnolia;13596520 said:
Get monthlies. You put them in on day 1 and take them out at day 30. Far more hygenic and generally better for the eye. Ask your Optician for his or her professional advice, of course :)
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Far more hygenic leaving them in for 30 days than taking them out each night, washing them, and giving your eyes a rest??

Easier, yes. More hygenic, no.
 
It took me a good fortnight to get used to my daily lenses.

I only wear one contact lense at a time (long story :D) so that makes it a bit easier for me. It goes in my left eye. I rest my left hand, palm-down, on the top of my head above my left eye and pull my upper eyelid upwards with my left middle and ring fingers. On my right hand, I have the contact lense sitting on the tip of my index finger. I pull my lower eyelid down with the middle finger on my right hand and just pop the little bugger in.

Removing them was my biggest problem - the first night I had them in (only for a few hours, as ordered) it took me well over an hour to remove it...I was so scared of damaging my eyeball.... now if I have a problem, I just jam my finger in there and swirl it around until I get the little git :D
 
Luw said:
It took me a good fortnight to get used to my daily lenses.

I only wear one contact lense at a time (long story :D) so that makes it a bit easier for me. It goes in my left eye. I rest my left hand, palm-down, on the top of my head above my left eye and pull my upper eyelid upwards with my left middle and ring fingers. On my right hand, I have the contact lense sitting on the tip of my index finger. I pull my lower eyelid down with the middle finger on my right hand and just pop the little bugger in.
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My method is similar to this, but I lift my upper eyelid and look inwards, then place the lens in the centre of my eye (but not on the pupil, as it is looking inwards) then push it slightly in and up, take hand away and look to each 4 corners, blink and it's sorted.
It takes a couple of weeks for it to become easy, but if you just relax it's so much easier.

Make sure your index finger is dry too, or the lens will cling to it.
 
The same advice as everyone else to be honest, takes a little while took me longer than most around a month. But now i can put them in without mirror, even done it in the dark.

It's a case of just finding a method what's good for you.
 
When I first started using them i was about 15. I had to use them for football. I tried using them for a few months and gave up.. couldn't get used to putting something in my eyes.

When I left school and started going out i felt the glasses where getting in the way of things.. I tried the contact lenses again and finally got used to it. I wear them now every minute of every day.. First started with monthly's but had a bad reaction to the solution you store them in over night.. Now I use the daily ones and have never looked back. You can come in sloshed and just chuck them in the bin.

Stick at it and im sure it will get easier!
 
I started using them in my 2nd year in Uni. I was totally diorientated the first time. Though it was a 9am appointment and I was very drunk the night before. The optician popped them in and told me to go for a walk for an hour see how I got on.

Amazing, never gone back. I use the extended wear soft ones. I can wear them for as long as I like, provided I take them out before sleeping.

I forgot once when I was hammered. I woke up the following morning with a horrible scratching in my eye and red. Lifted my eyelid, and the lens had sneaked behind my eyeball. Just squirted solution onto it and it came out easily. Thankfully never done that since.
 
It takes a while to get used to them, it would take me at least 10 mins to get them in to start with but you get better at it over time (like anything). I could never get on with dailys though, always seemed to dry out after about 6 hours and become really uncomfortable. I wear monthy ones now (leave them in solution overnight, not keep them in) and they feel a lot better and don't dry out as quickly, I can easily wear them for 12 hours or more.

My eyes aren't too bad which means the lenses are quite thin, with dailys this used to cause a problem because it was very easy to get one of the lenses inverted which means taking it out and putting it back in the right way. I don't have this problem with monthlys though as I can take them out the correct way and put them in the holder so I know they are the right way. I can put both lenses in within about 30 seconds now without a mirror, it just takes practise.

cje said:
I forgot once when I was hammered. I woke up the following morning with a horrible scratching in my eye and red.
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I've done that except I woke up thinking my eyesight was fixed, I soon realised what I had done.
 
cje said:
I forgot once when I was hammered. I woke up the following morning with a horrible scratching in my eye and red. Lifted my eyelid, and the lens had sneaked behind my eyeball. Just squirted solution onto it and it came out easily. Thankfully never done that since.
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Hate it when that happens. Hasn't happened for a long while though - twice ever in the last 15 years or so isn't bad.

For extra points, try taking out your lenses when they aren't in. Or using cleaning solution instead of saline to moisten them in the morning when you are very tired. That'll wake you up.

Regarding the OP, I'd add another vote for the middle fingers keeping your lids open while the index one plonks the lens in.
 
Didn't get on with them for two years - had 'hard' ones so not as easy / throw away as soft. Didn't go well with my lifestyle at 17/18.

In particular, they used to slip around a fair bit, and due to my eye shape I had to blink to bring them round the right way. Often they started to fall out by themselves too. Daily cleaning / hydrating was a pain too.

Ended up getting laser eye surgery a few years later. Job done :)
 
Robbie G said:
Far more hygenic leaving them in for 30 days than taking them out each night, washing them, and giving your eyes a rest??

Easier, yes. More hygenic, no.
Click to expand...

Where do you believe the irritants come from? The only thing dailys provide you with is two hands and a load of germs. Monthlies are more hygenic but not because they're somehow better; you just have your fingers in your eyes/solution less often.
 
[FnG]magnolia;13598200 said:
Where do you believe the irritants come from? The only thing dailys provide you with is two hands and a load of germs. Monthlies are more hygenic but not because they're somehow better; you just have your fingers in your eyes/solution less often.
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you secret waste through your eyes like any other part of your body. A fresh set of lenses don't have bacteria on, likewise you can clean your hands, you can't clean a contact lense thats left in your eye where you do get bacteria, sweat, tears, salt, protein deposits. If you are hygienic in dealing with your lenses, monthly leave in ones are in no way better for your eyes. Infact the longer you leave ANY contact in designed for any time limit you increase the risk to your eyes, and yours are no exception.

The number of people who are actually recommended to use the 30 day continous wear for that long are few and far between. Its the maximum, but many people are told by their opticians to only wear them during the day, or take them out once a week and theres a reason for that.


generally speaking people all have different eyes. The stuff the "continuous" wear lense are normally made of, the night and days, and purevision, is something I just don't get on with. You can get similar material in daily/other monthlies and I hate them aswell. While the Focus dailies use another type of material and those I can comftably wear from the second I wake up till the second I go to sleep. I might try some other monthlies for value reasons and I found some made of the same type of material so hoping they'll suit my eyes better.

If the contacts aren't comftable or you can't get them in, talk to your optician, try some different material, different size, or get some better glasses basically. I wouldn't force a contact in if I wasn't comftable with it.
 
Along with what everyone else has said, when i used to wear contacts i found that the best tip was to breathe out just as you're about to put them in. It goes a long way to stop the reflex of wanting to blink or shy away from the lens.
 
i use monthlys but take them out every night. Every now and then i forget and leave them in, then wake up with an 'omg im cured!'
 
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