Phil's Diary: Lessons Learned

Friday September 15, 2006

Lessons Learned

I’m just about at the end of the third week of my contact lens trial. The first two weeks the lenses were put in and taken out daily, with the intention of extending the wear time by two hours a day.

The first week was pretty discouraging. As you’d imagine it was pretty tricky getting the lenses in and out. This hasn’t really improved much (sometimes it works first time, sometimes it takes 15minutes), but I’m not worried about that. Worse though was the comfort factor. During the first week I really couldn’t tell which was around the lenses went, no matter what I read about way to tell, I couldn’t see the differences. This lead to a pretty uncomfortable fit, and me being glad to get them out.

Luckily I’d got this sorted by the second week, because otherwise wearing them for 30days straight wouldn’t be possible. If you want a tip, here’s how I do it. Pop the lens on my finger, hold it upto the light so it’s straight on. Then look at the very top corner, the last milimeter of it. There’s a very slight and subtle difference between curving out and going up, and now I can spot it I’m sorted.

I’m guessing this is why they made me take them in and out daily for the first 2 weeks… so that I could get that part sorted. And yes it was all pretty disheartening to begin with.… a pain to get them in, and then uncomfortable wearing them. Not the sort of things that makes me want to continue. But perseverance has won out.

I’ve been wearing these current lenses for a week straight, so I’m not overly worried about getting the lenses in or out… it’s easier if your eye is open, and it’s pretty hard to beat reflex actions… I’ve gone for a method where instead of putting the lens straight to the cornea/pupil,
I put it to one side. This seems to help.

And the benefits of wearing the lenses 24/7 is that going to bed/waking up in the morning really is different, no more reaching for my glasses when I want to get up/watch telly/checkout the noise outside etc.

I’ve not tried daily lenses, so obviously I can’t compare, but the difference between glasses and contact lenses from a vision point of view is great. There’s lots of vanity points, but I’m not that sort of person. For me it’s about the convenience, and also the clarity. Because I’m not looking through some grubby plastic (which my glasses end up like very quickly), everything seems crystal clear. Likewise peripheral vision is in focus also, not just the area of the lens.

So far then, complete pain in the arse to start with, but most definately worth it.

Posted by Phil on September 15, 2006 01:38 PM | Categories: Lazy weekend | TrackBack