Contact lenses for astigmatism

ALLI

ALLI

ALLI

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Seems to be a couple of big brands out theres. Anyone have any preference? I'm looking (haha) into getting some sorted this afternoon! Quite excited actually! Have worn glasses for 23 years!
 
I got mine from Vision Express, not really thought about brands when i got it. It was the case of.

1 - I wanted some Contacts
2 - Went to optician
3 - Pay for contacts

I only have daily ones thou, not monthly.

btw, i got a slight astigmatism too, so they cost more than normal contacts.
 
I've got proclear (coopervision) http://www.coopervision.com/us/patient_clenses_detail.asp?catid=8&id=1. Very comfortable. I think you will probably find that all lenses of a certain type (daily/monthly) are all very similar.

You probably wont really get that much choice. Its more a case of:
Try one brand. . .
If you get along with them keep them. . .
Otherwise try another.
Most people will get along fine with the first type they try.
 
fair enough.

thanks for the replies. dur. silly me forgot it was half term and im finding it hard to get an appointment at my opticians... just told the woman i wanted to buy some contact lenses this aft and could one of the specialists spare 10 mins for me (yeah, it'll probs take longer than 10 mins but wave money at them and they will make the time!)

i believe the ones they have are toric xl or something like that.
 
yup i kn0w that. was just trying to shoehorn an appoinment with the specialist really. by saying "im popping in for a chat" i mean, "i'll be here for some time and i want to walk out with some lenses on trial" :)

will post back later if i get some.
 
Personally I use Bausch & Lomb Purevision Toric as they are the only Extended Wear Lens for people with Astigmatism. You can keep them in for 30 days striaght without any problems (although i tend to take them out now and then for a clean and to give my eye's a rest).

I find the very comfy and most days I forget they are they. You get the odd day when they give you grief though, but it's on those days that I usually take them out for a clean :p

You should be able to get these from Vision Express.
 
OK, just got back. Tried out a pair of the Coopervision ones that were the closest to my prescription he had at the time. Tried the soft monthly lenses. Talked about the pros and cons of hard and soft monthlies. Felt pretty comfy and although they weren't perfectly suited for my prescription I really liked them.

Pros for me - all round vision, as opposed to glasses on/off type vision. Price - £18 a month seems decent to me. I'm not totally replacing my specs, just maybe going 50/50 as specs aren't exactly safe for the job I'm doing.

Cons... Vision will not be as good as glasses, but he said that glasses normally magnify things a tad, and that contacts don't do this.

Overall I'm pretty chuffed. They were easy to put in and they settled quickly. I've got some soft monthlies on order and they should be here in 10 days. Then it's a proper session with him, being taught about cleaning and fitting etc.

I'm quite looking forward to it!! :) thanks for all advice given. :)
 
ALLI said:
Cons... Vision will not be as good as glasses, but he said that glasses normally magnify things a tad, and that contacts don't do this.
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I find that soft contacts generally give better vision than glasses (especially outside). Even if they are technically a bit worse its still a lot better when you take into account the lack of dust/grime that accumulates on glasses.

The main problem is if your head isnt vertical (eg: if you looking down at some work or if your lying on your side) the weights can make the contact lens go to the wrong angle which makes vision blurry. I didn't notice this at all when I had gas permeable ones.
 
Eliot said:
sorry for my ignorance but what is astigmatism, i saw it on a contacts advert and i have no idea.
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eye balls should be perfectly round, but a lot of us don't have that. Think of a Rugby ball instead, but obviously not that bad, there is a scale to how bad the astigmatism is, the bigger the number is, the more it is like a rugby ball.

So if you put a contact that is design for a perfectly round eye ball on someone with astigamatism it won't fit properly.
 
Eye like a rugby ball since he said. You don't need special lenses due to the fit though (i think). You need special lenses because (very roughly speaking) there is an angle component to the correction you need as well as a strength.

I think sure gas permeable ones dont need this angle component for most astigmatisms. Instead they give you lenses which dont perfectly fit the shape of your eye, causing the front of your eye to change shape slightly which corrects the astigmatism. This is presumably why gas permeable is a bit better for astigmatism (since the lens doesn't need to sit at the correct angle).
 
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Raymond Lin said:
So if you put a contact that is design for a perfectly round eye ball on someone with astigamatism it won't fit properly.
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Long way off

Lagz said:
Eye like a rugby ball since he said. You don't need special lenses due to the fit though (i think). You need special lenses because (very roughly speaking) there is an angle component to the correction you need as well as a strength.
Click to expand...

Bingo!
 
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