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First Time Contact User Tips

C

CubaTBird

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 18, 2004
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I am going to be getting contacts soon and would like some tips and/or advice on what is the best way to transition to them from glasses as I have never worn em' in my life. I don't want the contacts where you can where them for a month, im thinking more of the daily disposables. Contact wearers got me some advice? :eek:
 
CubaTBird said:
I am going to be getting contacts soon and would like some tips and/or advice on what is the best way to transition to them from glasses as I have never worn em' in my life. I don't want the contacts where you can where them for a month, im thinking more of the daily disposables. Contact wearers got me some advice? :eek:
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I wear the 2 week disposables, but I have one key piece of advice for you: in the first few weeks of wearing them, set aside like 15 minutes just for putting in and taking out your contacts. When putting in contacts, you have to combat your body's natural reflexes until you and your eyes finally get comfortable with you poking at them.

Guess that's all I really have. Good luck! :)
 
ham_man said:
I wear the 2 week disposables, but I have one key piece of advice for you: in the first few weeks of wearing them, set aside like 15 minutes just for putting in and taking out your contacts. When putting in contacts, you have to combat your body's natural reflexes until you and your eyes finally get comfortable with you poking at them.

Guess that's all I really have. Good luck! :)
Click to expand...

ham_man has a really good point- allow yourself plenty of time to be able to put the contacts in your eye (15-20 minutes).

I just got my contacts a little over a month ago, and I love them. :)
 
I've worn contacts for over 10 years now, and would never go back to glasses. I now have the night & day monthly ones, but I usually take them out once a week at night... anyway for newbies I would recommend ones that you take off every night so that you learn to be able to put them on and take them off. Then after you master that you can move to the monthlys or whatever. As for care, I usually just rinse them off for a few seconds and then put them in the lense holder thingy, I never really clean them other than that and I've been fine. Though I do recommend getting the ReNu Multipurpose solution, as they now have a no rub solution. The only other advice I have is if they are not comfortable, something is wrong. Go tell your eye doctor so that you can try a different type of lense. There are a multitude of different offerings, so you just need to find the one that's right for you.
 
I have monthly disposable ones.

Set aside some time to take them out the first time... It took me 30 minutes to take them out! I was just rubbing and poking at my eyes for EVER.

Also, clip your nails the first few weeks.. I have long nails now, and I've been wearing contacts for a few years, so I know how to take them out with nails. I can't imagine having fingernails and trying to do it for the first time!! :eek:

Just be careful... you wanna look like :) not like ;)

:p
 
I also agree with ham_man. During my first several days of contact wearing, it took some time to get them in and out properly.

Also, don't be surprised if, for the first couple of days, you only feel comfortable wearing them for a few hours at a time. You might have to "build up" to wearing them for a full day.

Unless you have lenses that are designed to be worn overnight, I would not recommend sleeping with the contacts in.

Also, it's probably a good idea to keep your glasses prescription current and have a pair of glasses on hand. Wearing contacts when you're sick, particularly if you have watery or really dry eyes while ill, can be very uncomfortable (this is my experience, at least, and I've been wearing contacts for 13 years now).
 
iRachel said:
Also, don't be surprised if, for the first couple of days, you only feel comfortable wearing them for a few hours at a time. You might have to "build up" to wearing them for a full day.
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This is what my eye doctor told me to do, I had to wear the contacts 4 hours the first day, 6 hours the next, and so on and so forth. :)
 
man they suck at first. ive had them for like 2 months, and i havent worn em in like 3 weeks probly. it hurts so freaking bad. my left eye goes in and feels fine, but that right one.. takes a couple mins and stings like all hell. i just dont feel right with them in. i have been trying, and waiting, but i just dont feel myself adapting. it really sucks. ive just been wearing glasses.
 
d wade said:
man they suck at first. ive had them for like 2 months, and i havent worn em in like 3 weeks probly. it hurts so freaking bad. my left eye goes in and feels fine, but that right one.. takes a couple mins and stings like all hell. i just dont feel right with them in. i have been trying, and waiting, but i just dont feel myself adapting. it really sucks. ive just been wearing glasses.
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patience, determination & a little of motivation. i have it and im ready when they come. :)
 
I guess I'm the odd one. I do not like contacts, I just didnt like putting something directly on my eyes. I wore contacts for nearly 23 years and hated every minute of it. Now i have glasses and I'm happy but it got to the point where i wouldnt wear the contacts except when i renewed my license or for some reason needed to take an eye exam.

Ed
 
Well im going to pick them up today. Should be interesting to see how they feel in my eye and how all of a sudden the world will seem "bigger". So to speak. :eek:
 
Ed H said:
I guess I'm the odd one. I do not like contacts, I just didnt like putting something directly on my eyes.
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You're not the only odd one. ;)

Actually, I like the idea of contacts and tried them a couple of times (once as a teenager, and then again a few years ago) but I have been unsuccessful in finding any that are comfortable. So I've resigned myself to sticking with glasses.
 
Just remember the basics... wash your hands before you put them in or take them out.

Try to carry a spare case with you in case you ever need to take them out urgently - and if you're going to an important event, take a spare pair of lenses with you (particularly on holidays!)
 
i've been wearing contacts for 1 and 1/2 years.

the thing with contacts is you'll know if something isn't right. you shouldn't be able to tell you're wearing them other than the fact that you won't have glasses on your face. if there is any discomfort, go to your doctor and get different ones.

as for the first week, if you can, try wearing them for progressively longer periods of time each day. it helps your eye adjust to a foreign object floating on it. what i mean is, for the first day wear them for a few hours, then the 2nd day do half a day, then the third day do from when you go out to work/school until you come back from work/school and keep easing yourself into wearing them for longer periods of time. after a few days, your eyes should be able to handle them comfortably for 16+ hours, if it's necessary you wear them that long.

congrats and good luck!
 
The first week they are going to be unconfible as you eyes get used to them. And even after that the first 20-30 mins after you put them in you will notic them. I notic mine for a little while after I put them in but I dont wear contacts every day. (2nd time in a month to put them on today).

Like others have for the first week or so you should allow youself a lot of time to put them in (30min-45 min is pretty common). It take you a while to get the technegt down on how to role them into your eye. Also to over come you body natural reaction to just want to blink. the other hard part is not focusing on you finger putting them but on the mirror. And even then it learning how to do it. One trick it to tilt you head down a little so you are looking out the top of you eye in the mirror so the contact will go lower on the eye and float into place like it should. Also you will need to allow for about 30-45 mins the first week trying to take them out. It just take practic. now I semi use a mirror when I put mine in and dont use it at all taking them out (something I strongely recomend agaist for the first month or 2).

Also another good practic to get into is put them on in the same order every day. I always put my right lens on first then my left. Good practic and become even more imporant if you persiption is different for each eye. For example my right eye is -3.00 and my left is -3.25 and it can give me a head ach really quickly if I have one of them mixed up. Also since you contact are soft (like most people including mine) something that takes some time to learn is how to tell if inside out or not (they explain it at the eye doctor). it just takes some time to learn it. Put one in the wrong way and it just will float all over you eye and just not feel right.

Another tip is put a drop of selin solution in each lens before you put it in your eye. It will make it go on a lot easier and it will not suck the moister out of your eye right off the bat. Also try to get your eye wet with the stuff before hand. Makes things easier.

Oh and like other have said always keep you glass persision up to date. Some days you just will not want to put them on and it so much easier to just wear you glasses or if your eyes are bothering you can take out the contacts and go to glasses. Now some people like me can not funtion with our correct lens (I can see about 12 inchs clearly with out corretive lens, Basicly I cannt read a book with out correct lens any more I am so near sighted.) Plus you mind find yourself at times that glass just look better. Anything that I need to go to where I need to look my best I tend to with my glasses because I think I look better with them on.

Also do not sleep in those daily contacts. You will pay for the next day. I learn that lesson the hard way several times over with my dailies when I fell asleep with them on.
 
I can offer you this bit of advice: ALWAYS take them out at night. Even the ones that you're supposed to be OK sleeping in. Clean them every day. Give your eyes plenty of time to breathe. Even with the oxygen permeable contacts I've had for the past year and a half, it feels great to get them out. Contacts can be a problem if you don't use them properly. My mother has a cut on her eye and it keeps getting infected and irritated because she refuses to use proper contact care procedures.
 
Don't put them on inside-out :)

I remember my first time trying them on at the opticians, they put the lenses in for me and one was inside-out. They asked me to walk around the shops for 30mins so I could get used to them. They hurt like hell, eyes streaming like someone kicked me between the legs ;) Because I didn't know at the time, I was so close to not going for them. Once I came back with one white eye and one red eye, the guy realised his mistake and let me put them in myself!


To check if its inside out: Rest the bottom of the lens on your fingertip. If the edges point up it's ok. If they point outwards, it's inside-out.

Have fun with them. Even though I've gone back to glasses only, they were great fun!
 
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