posted on August 16, 2005 06:36:34 PM
the optometrist will check your eyes and write out a prescription,if he has a store,he can fit you the lenses.
I dont know how old you are ,but after a certain age,it is difficult to keep the lenses in for long.
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on August 16, 2005 06:38:13 PM
Walmart can be fast and easy, but not always the best for the eye exam. Most of the chain locations like Lenscrafter, etc do contact lense exams, or go to a local Optometrist and get your prescription - do not get your lenses from them, just make sure they give you the prescription in writing.
Then get your lenses from 1-800-contacts. They are the cheapest and easiest. www.1800contacts.com. They have free shipping too - I've priced them all over the place, Walmart and Sams Club are comparable in price, but they can take up to 3 weeks to get them in if they don't have them there in the store, which they almost never do.
posted on August 16, 2005 06:52:21 PM
I fit CL's for 15 years & stopped for this very reason -- nobody cares about anything except cost!
Yer corneas ain't feet! If the CL's don't fit properly, or if ya don't get proper follow-up care, you don't grow bunions, ya grow SCARS!
Especially with women, a careful history & tear-film work-up is extremely important as women suffer from many more hormonal problems and take more meds than men -- all of which affect the QUANTITY & QUALITY of the tear-film layer. CL's don't rest on yer eyes, but rather on the tear-film...if your tear-film of of poor quality or quantity, ye be in big do-do!
Ladies over the age of 30 can have Sjogren's Syndrome which dramatically affects the tears, along with countless medications, etc,etc...
If this is yer first time for CL's, PLEASE goto an OPTOMETRIST or OPHTHALMOLOGIST who has a special interest in CL's, or, at least one who INSISTS on a minimum of 3 follow-up visits...
If, during yer exam, they ask NO questions about yer MEDICAL HISTORY, or if they do NO tear tests (both paper strips to measure QUANTITY, and a BREAK-UP TIME test (with fluorescein dye) to measure QUALITY), then RUN don't WALK away from them, as they are a MILL...
posted on August 16, 2005 07:08:54 PM
Really tOMWiii? I didn't know that about you! 15 years????
There - see? That's what I wanted to know. I think these people are reputable but I print this out and take it with me to make sure they do all that.
I have plenty of tears I cry at the drop of a hat. I was watching the Lifetime movie yesterday on Hurricane Andrew and the Knology cable guy was expected any minute and I kept thinking he'd show up and I'd be boo-hooing over the movie.
I probably won't wear them every day all day but more like on the weekends or if I go out. I can see - I just can't see close up or far away very well. To read a map I have to pull out my $1.00 store reading glasses and I totally can't read most yard sale signs.
Cost is not a total factor or else I wouldn't be wanting contacts
I just think that there are cheaper places than the Dr's office to buy them. However I see some of the contact people have free "samples" online.
My blue cross doesn't cover any soft contacts but I don't think I'd want a hard contact - or at least so far I don't. I might be enlightened some more! I found some at a yard sale and put one in just to see how it felt and it wasn't bad at all. Just kind of creepy getting it in there in the first place.
posted on August 16, 2005 07:11:27 PM
Although I don't wear contacts, I have a small piece of advice to anyone who does based on an experience with a friend of mine last year. Get a pair of cheap plastic eye protection goggles and hang them on the handle of any dry chemical fire extinguisher you ever may be called on to operate. Be sure to put the goggles on before you even think about using that extinguisher.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
When you CRY, the tears flood out of a large gland called the LACRIMAL GLAND...
But, for successful CL wear, you need the constand quality tears produced all the time (except sleep) by the ACCESSORY GLANDS of MOLL & ZEISS...
Thus, yer crying ability has nada to do with yer ability to wear CL's!
Also, SCL's have the advantage of being almost instantaneously comfortable, with the disadvantage of slightly fuzzy vision. Whereas GAS-PERMEABLE RIGID LENSES take a little bit longer to get used to, but the vision is extremely sharp -- plus, RIGID LENSES demand a bit more technical skill to fit...don't get them at the QUIKI-MART, please!
posted on August 16, 2005 07:20:20 PM
ok, here's one for you tOMWiii. Do the eye doctors get PO'D when you tell them you want them to write out the prescription rather than buy them from them? What do you say - let me think about it and in the meantime give me the script?
Ok, I confess - I want the colored ones. I have wishy washy grey blue hazelish eye color and I want blue or green ones.
The ones I got at the yard sale were Freshlook Honey +1.00 and I KNOW I don't want that color! Icky!
The people I am seeing do almost all of the Lasik and Free Cataract surgery here in town.
posted on August 16, 2005 07:31:03 PM
Well, I'm way out of date with everything naw, but, the last thing I knew, it was covered under an FTC ruling called EYEGLASS II, which basically stated that every patient is entitled to his EYEGLASS PRESCRIPTION (only) -- IOW: if yer fitted for CL's & ask for the script, the practitioner is required ONLY to give you yer EYEGLASS RX, which tells nothing about CL's & is worthless...
If ya think about it, it's only fair -- if he goes to all the trouble & work to fit the CLs, seems tacky to then tell him you want HIS WORK & TIME to take someplace else to get CHEAPO CLs...
OTOH: the rules are probably different now -- I've heard the some CL fitters just charge a LUMP SUM FITTING FEE which includes the FITTING & CLS, so, sure you can have the SPECS after you pay the EXAM FEE upfront, etc,etc...
It became a total waste of my time to fit the darn things.
99% of my patients were REFITS of DISASTERS done elsewhere. Folks whose eyes were made a mess because they wanted the cheapest care possible, without any consideration of the consequences.
Rather fit glasses! 100% more profit than CL's, and I was still underselling 99% of the other offices in town! NOW, there's a real racket!
If you only knew how much DESIGNER FRAMES really cost...
posted on August 16, 2005 07:41:11 PM
Another thing GG- you probably are still going to need your readers or wear one contact and leave the other one off = when they correct for distance, they don't correct for close up. At least I couldn't get bi-focal CL - I finally quit wearing mine because I was always wearing readers (my uncorrected eyes don't even need reading glasses) so what was the point??
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posted on August 16, 2005 08:06:12 PM
I wear bi focal Toric lenses(soft).
If this is your first time with contact lenses,go to a reputable optometrist and let him fit you ,1-800 contacts lenses are rather thin and tear easily,you should get a better pair of thicker quality.
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on August 16, 2005 08:50:58 PM
I've never had contacts, but I swear the first time I need something like that, I'll go to the best there is. That way, the second time I'll know what quality is and isn't. I like to have the best to compare with the cheapest.
posted on August 17, 2005 12:52:53 AM
I've been wearing soft contacts since my early 30's and I'm 60 now. Someone mentioned that you might not be able to wear them for a long time. I find, as I age (ugh!)that my eyes tire more easily so I usually take them out in the evenings and just wear my glasses.
My lenses are "mono-vision" so I see near with my left eye and far with my right and it works!
The only place it won't is at the DMV which you have to cover the "close" eye. Doc has me wear two distance ones at that time and I take reading glasses for the eye exam at DMV.
I have terrible allegeries living here in Central California so am now using Patanol eye drops which helps a lot. By the way, I just switched to Accuvue Advance which are the most comfortable so far. Supposedly let more oxygen into the eye.
See a good optometrist for sure.
[ edited by GeneralFunds on Aug 17, 2005 12:53 AM ]
What you said is both accurate & inaccurate, as Presbyopia (the vision of "old age) is age dependent...
THUS: for a 25yo MYOPIC patient, wearing CL's to correct one's distance vision works great, as they still have enough accommodative power to read fine...
HOWEVER, once ya go over age (approx.) 45, then it becomes problematical for most MYOPES, as they can just take off their distance glasses in order to read fine...SO: if they want to wear CL's, they have to either wear READING GLASSES over the CL's; or do "MONO-VISION" with CL's (one lens for distance over the dominant eye + one lens for reading over the non-dominant eye); or they have to go with "BIFICAL CL'S' -- all of these options are not particularily wonderful!
Same with LASIX -- if yer 45 & have the surgery, you end up with the NECESSITY of wearing READING GLASSES that ya didn't need before
I worked in Portland Me & Boston MA for years & years...
Ever hear of LAHEY CLINIC up in Beantown? Tis a world-famous huge hospital where I worked my last job before being injured on the job...
I was the EYE INSTITUTE boss's chief technologist -- before a patient saw him (he's a RETINA SURGEON), they had to see me FIRST for a 15-45min work-up. Plus, I assisted him in all clinical minor procedures...He was doing laser surgery on a diabetic retina patient & I was holding the patient's head with one hand & adjusting the laser machine with the other upon his orders. Anyway, the geezer patient was fighting back against my arm for 45minutes, and, right before we finished, EVERYTHING in my shoulder EXPLODED...
posted on August 17, 2005 07:12:22 AM
there is some solution you can buy in a drugstore to add moisture to your eyes when you are wearing contac lens .
There is also a prescription solution,i dont remember the name,but it is more like a hormone which is normally secreted by the eye gland,there is also surgery to enlarge the gland .
Tom,is that so??
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on August 17, 2005 07:33:59 AM
Well, there be all kinds of goodies for DRY EYES -- OTOH, if you suffer from clinically significant DRY EYES (Sjogren's Syndrome,etc) you really shouldn't wear CL's
My experience with ladies OVER 35 & CL's was not happy -- too many hormonal upheavals drastically affected both QUANTITY & QUALITY of the TEAR-FILM layer...(that's how I lost ALL my hair)
Most folks have never even heard of Sjogren's Syndrome, but it was the BANE of my existance -- LADIES PLEASE READ:
"Sjögren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its own moisture producing glands. Sjögren's is one of the most prevalent autoimmune disorders, striking as many as 4,000,000 Americans. Nine out of ten patients are women. The average age of onset is late 40s although Sjögren's occurs in all age groups in both women and men.
About 50% of the time Sjögren's syndrome occurs alone, and 50% of the time it occurs in the presence of another connective tissue disease. The four most common diagnoses that co-exsist with Sjögren's syndrome are Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Lupus, Systemic Sclerosis (scleroderma) and Polymyositis/Dermatomyositis. Sometimes researchers refer to the first type as "Primary Sjögren's" and the second as "Secondary Sjögren's." All instances of Sjögren's syndrome are systemic, affecting the entire body.
The hallmark symptoms are dry eyes and dry mouth. Sjögren's may also cause dryness of other organs, affecting the kidneys, GI tract, blood vessels, lung, liver, pancreas, and the central nervous system. Many patients experience debilitating fatigue and joint pain. Symptoms can plateau, worsen, or go into remission. While some people experience mild symptoms, others suffer debilitating symptoms that greatly impair their quality of life."
posted on August 17, 2005 08:59:42 AM
restasis(cyclosporine opthalmic emulsion)0.05% is what we need to keep the lenes in our eyes for long period of time.
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on August 17, 2005 09:06:11 AM
Sorry to derail... but please, tell me more about the laser surgery! I'm seriously considering that, have been wearing soft contacts for years, and gas-perms and hard before that. The soft ones are all right, I guess, but are a pain during allergy season (like right now), and I'd love to be contacts free.
I've read that night vision can be a problem after laser correction, does anyone seem to have had a problem with that? I don't need reading glasses yet, but think the glasses would actually be less of a pain than taking the lenses in and out all the time?
Mostly have heard only glowing remarks on the laser surgery, but I'm still nervous about it!
OTOH: after examining thousands of SCL wearers over 20years, I've come to the conclusion that the VAST MAJORITY will develop GPC (Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis) at some point unless they DISCARD & WEAR NEW LENSES EVERY DAY.
Tis the nature of the beast!
GINA: I'd LOVE to flip yer lids!
NOBODY ever cleans them properly, & even when they do, it don't work!
RIGID GAS PERMEABLE LENSES, although uncomfortable at first, provide superior vision & are easy to keep clean -- very few rigid lens patients ever develop GPC!
posted on August 17, 2005 10:01:04 AM
Tom is great. He helped me out with my contact lenses. That was in the RT, my lenses, disposables, came without instructions (which one was for the right and left) just the OD OS on them.(worn contacts for many years, and they always gave me MARKED Right and Left) My optometrist sucked! Tom is the one that helped me! He is really knowledgeable on CL's
posted on August 17, 2005 11:28:42 AM
Tom is right about after lasik needing reading glasses down the road. I'm still a few years off for that but reading glasses would be nothing.
I've worn glasses since I was 9. Contacts since I was 16. My vision was terrible and at about the limit of what they do lasik on. In fact they didn't do the eye cutting open procedure like they do for most people. They lazered the top of the eye surface. There's a term for it...
I am still 20/20 in my right eye but my left eye which was always the weaker one has regressed in the last 5 years to about 70/20. I can get along ok without correction in my office, reading and even driving around town but I do put my glasses on for movies, driving in unfamiliar places, and driving at night.
There is a bit of blurring/hallowing around lights at night with the lasik but I don't notice it anymore. They just look bigger then they are. Fuzzy around the edges.
posted on August 17, 2005 01:34:40 PM
One thing to remember about LASERS is that there are many different types used in OPHTHALMOLOGY, dependent upon gas & wavelength used...
ARGON: is used for BURNING (red or dark colored tissue), which causes therapeutic scarring or holes. So, it is used in PAN-RETINAL PHOTOCOAGULATION, a treatment for DIABETIC RETINOPATHY in which burns (thus scars) are formed in the retina to prevent new blood vessels from forming...
And there are some GLAUCOMA procedures that involve the ARGON laser, such as ARGON LASER TRABECULOPLASTY for OPEN-ANGLE GLAUCOMA, and ARGON LASER IRIDOTOMY for CLOSED ANGLE GLAUCOMA...
YAG:
Does NOT burn, but rather causes sumptin called "photo-disruption" for the treatment of sumptin called "after-cataract"
With modern cataract surgery, the human len is emptied of opaque gook, but the "bag" and posterior capsule is left and the new, artifical lens (IOL)is placed into this "bag" ( known as "in-the-bag" placement). However, after 1 or 2 or 3 (etc) years, that posterior "bag" can become itself opaque ("after-cataract) and the YAG laser is used to punch a hole into it with very dramatic results. In fact, until the advent of "YAG LASER CAPSULOTOMY, IOL placement "in-the-bag" was very prolematical...
EXCIMER LASER & LASIX
Basically, a MYOPIC eye (nearsighted) is an eye which is too long (ie: too strong) and the image is blurred because it falls in front of the retina...
All types of REFRACTIVE SURGERY for MYOPIA have the goal of "shortening" the axial length of the eyeball, thus placing the image ON the retina where it belongs
When I started out with eyeballs (1972), there was a really horrible SURGICAL procedure all the rage called RADIAL KERATOTOMY: a WWII Russian eye surgeon (Federov) noticed that pilots who had glass injuries to their eyes ended up with flattened corneas, thus decreasing the axial length!
So, he came up with the procedure of surgically incising (radially) the cornea in order to flatten it, & thus reduce MYOPIA.
Well, yes, it DID kinda work, but there were many problems, including perforation (YIKES) and flare & haloes around lights, etc, etc. TWAS HORRIOBLE!
Then, cam the EXCIMER LASER!
What a breakthrough! Corneal tissue could be removed (computer assisted) micron by micron!
THIS was FABOULOUS! And, the results were very predictable...
Only one teensy weensy problem: in order to work, the front layer of the cornea (EPITHELIUM) had to scrapped off! YIKES!
Have you ever suffered thru even a very SLIGHT corneal abrasion?? EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL!
I can remember patients coming back in a few hours after the procedure for admission & MORPHINE DRIP!
Later, some combos of eyedrops & pain meds DID reduce the pain somewhat, but it was still sumptin I wouldn't go thru...
With LASIX, a FLAP is surgically produced under the epithelium, and the EXCIMER procedure is THEN performed -- then that flap is just dropped down after the procedure and, VIOLA! NO PAIN!
Course, now you need a surgeon with increased SKILLS & TRAINING to perform the procedure...but, LASIX is the way me-N-Ralphie would do it if we had $1500/eye to blow...
(NOTE: everything above is a GROSS OVER-SIMPLIFICATION for easy reading and a glossy coat)
posted on August 17, 2005 07:34:02 PM
Hi
Getting an exam for contacts to see if your able to wear them is first, not everyone can ware contacts.
Second, Here in New York the Eye Doctor has to fit you for your first pair of contacts and check your eyes every week for 2 weeks to make sure they have been fitted properly and to make sure you are having no problem. So the first pair needs to be purchased from the eye glass place where you get your exam.
Then you can take your prescription and do as they suggest, call 1800 contacts and get the same contacts as your doctor fitted you for.
I have been wearing contacts for over 30yrs and always order them from 1800 contacts, they ask for a new prescriptions every 2 or 3 years If I remember right.
Now I'm wearing 14 day contacts throw-a-way which are really the best yet since you don't need to worry about protein build up,
You need to ask your eye doctor what he recommends for you.
Caroline 
I cry at the drop of a hat. I was watching the Lifetime movie yesterday on Hurricane Andrew and the Knology cable guy was expected any minute and I kept thinking he'd show up and I'd be boo-hooing over the movie.
