watervole | Contact lenses, wearing schedule

Thanks to those on my flist who mentioned wearing schedules and the need to start off gradually with contact lenses. Because my optician forgot!

The box labelled wearing schedule on the back of the leaflet she gave me has not been filled in, and the overall impression I gained from her was that I could wear them all day right from the start.

Yesterday evening, I had to take out the lenses as my eyes were starting to feel really uncomfortable, especially the right one. They still feel odd this morning - a day, aching feel. I think I'll wait until later in the day before trying the lenses again.

Research on the web suggests the lenses should have been in a maximum of four hours on the first day, six on the second, eight on the third, ten on the fourth and never more than 12 hours in any day even when you're used to them.

Could other users of monthly disposables please tell me if this sounds correct?

I probably wore them for ten hours on both of the first two days...

I think it was

winterbadger who mentioned rewetting drops - another thing the optician didn't mention... Can people tell me more about these - what they're useful for and whether they extend the period you can have lenses in?

To recap --

1. If you use monthly disposables, please tell me what wearing schedule you used initially and if you had any problems.

2. THe maximum number of hours per day it is safe to leave them in when you're used to them.

3. If you use rewetting drops and how you use them.

Thanks.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

4. Find a better optician.

I've been using fortnightly disposable soft lenses for a couple of years, but before that, I'd had years of wearing rigid gas permeable lenses. I wasn't given any wearing schedule when I started with the disposables, but that's presumably because of my previous lenses.

My opticians have always seemed happy with the number of hours I wear mine for (14-16, I'd say), on the basis of how my eyes seem to be when I have my check-ups.

As for rewetting drops, I think the need varies from person to person, depending on how naturally dry your eyes are. I used to use drops occasionally, when I was wearing the RGP lenses, if my eyes started to get dry in an evening. Without them, I would probably have had to take the lenses out on those evenings. I've not needed them with the disposables, though.

I highly recommend 'Refresh contacts' drops by Allergan. You can get them pretty much anywhere - Boots, Superdrug. They don't have much in the way of preservatives, which makes them very friendly, and they come in individual servings - about 25 plastic (unfortunately, which isn't very green and I don't think they're recyclable, which is annoying) droppers which each hold approximately 5 drops of liquid. This means you can just take two or three with you, and they take up hardly any space, and they're always fresh.

HTH

I can see the logic of a small serving you can take places.

The contact lenses I use are daily disposables, but I certainly don't wear them everyday. That schedule sounds like the same as mine when I first started wearing them.

I have worn mine for slightly over 12 hours per day, very occasionally, which has been due to a later night than expected. If I've done that, I've nearly always used drops to help, which they have. I've used the Refresh drops mentioned above, and they are very convenient because you can carry them around easily. I also used to use them on days when I was wearing contact lenses at work, because I found my eyes seemed to get drier when I was using a computer all day, but that may have been due to the drier and hotter environment in the building.

I have more difficulty taking my lenses out than putting them in, and more so if I've been wearing them for a long time.

I found air conditioning tended to dry the eyes out, and since I was working in that kind of environment five days a week, I finally decided to give up on the contacts as more bother than they were worth. But then again, this was in the days before disposables.

From what you've said, I'd definitely suggest keeping the lenses out for a day or two to let your eyes recover. I'd also have a few hard questions for your optician, because it sounds like you weren't given information you needed.

Some other things to consider:

1) You may also need the rewetting drops if you spend a lot of time in dry environments eg when I bought my flat I had central heating and double glazing installed which caused me more than a few problems with my gas permeable lenses until I got a new, more permeable formulation.

2) You may also get discomfort if you have any form of hay fever or similar allergic reactions

3) Watch out for dry and dusty days which may also give the occasional problem.

4) Don't let this put you off wearing the lenses, though :-)

It varies from person to person, and also depends on the type of lens: the standard ones let less oxygen through to the eye, and cannot be worn as long each day as the newer silicone-based materials (such as Bausch+Lomb "Pure Vision" - which are, of course, more expensive). With the standard lenses, I was finding that my eyes were getting dry, tired and uncomfortable after typically 9-10 hours wear, which was a bit limiting. More significantly, my optician pointed out that some of the capillaries in the surface of the white of the eye were showing up as fine red lines. Since switching to the silicone lenses, I find I can wear them for 12 hours a day, 14 hours on occasion, without ill effect. You should always have at least one day a week when you don't wear contact lenses.

The wearing schedule you've indicated seems about right - but your optician ought to have told you this, and booked you in for a check after a couple of weeks or so to see how your eyes are adjusting to the lenses, and that the prescription is correct. (It won't be the same prescription as for spectacle lenses, though there's a standard adjustment factor, but a certain amount of trial-and-error may be needed to get the most suitable strength and indeed fit.)

Dry atmospheres - such as overly air-conditioned buildings - can cause problems; some people are more sensitive to this than others. Rewetting drops can help. Boots sells "Comfort drops" in a little 15ml bottle. Be careful to check that anything you buy is specifically stated as suitable for contact lenses - most of the products sold for 'tired eyes' are not compatible with contact lenses. I sometimes find I need to add a drop when putting the lenses in, or if I've been in a dry or dusty atmosphere and my eyes start to show discomfort.

I've been wearing lenses since 1981, and monthly disposables since mid-90s, so my information on how to start wearing lenses is so out of date as to be utterly useless. But if the optician was aware you were a new user, they should have told you this, and I have to wonder what else has been missed. If they didn't know you were a new user, that's an even bigger red flag.

How long you can wear them depends on the user and on the lens. My current prescription is for a very new material that allows up to 16 hours a day, and I can get that much out of a fresh pair of lenses as long as I'm not tired or ill. But my previous prescription was for what was until recently one of the best materials, and that was 12 hours maximum. Either way, I do need to be checked annually to make sure the lens isn't causing problems, and I have in the past been told to cut down daily hours when it was causing a problem.

I've never needed to use rewetting drops, but they are useful for many people. As others have said, use ones that are suitable for lenses. I have on occasion taken the lenses out and rinsed them in saline or storage solution, but generally if I feel as if I need to, it's a signal that it's time to take them out anyway.

Here's my tuppenny worth.

1 - That schedule sounds about right. Certainly not putting them in if your eyes are already sore sounds like a good idea.
My problem was I didn't wear them every day, so I never got slick at putting them in. Eventually I gave up and went back to glasses (and am now on vari-focals which I'm not sure contacts do).

2 - I guess I did go over 12 hours occasionally but not often. I didn't realise you're supposed to take them out for swimming.

3 - Can't help here.

My information derives from my flatmate adopting lenses in the mid-1980s, and I certainly remember that she wore them for longer periods every day - can't remember whether it went up by one hour or two - because I remember pointing out that her calculations about when she was going to take them out that day appeared to depend on a decimal clock.

But as others say, it may have changed.

jennyaxe uses lenses that she keeps in constantly for weeks and then replaces. Don't know what they're called, but "montly disposable" certainly sounds like it fits.

Does she sleep in them? Normal lenses have to be taken out overnight.

Yes, she sleeps with them. And yes, that is the intended use. The brand name is Bausch&Lomb PureVision.

Contact lenses, wearing schedule

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