Okay, at risk of sounding like a mortal, I've finally found my Achilles heel. And what's worse is I don't get to clutch a hot Briseis-esque chick as a wussy Orlando-Bloom-esque princeling flings these into my eyes.
That is, contacts are killing me. Jesus. Damn these gorgeous long eyelashes of mine, but dammit, I can't get them in. I've done it all of once thus far, and that was freak coincidence.
Help? Any tips? Do they sell brainwashing-esque gadgets to hold your eyes wide open for purposes of watching propaganda? (I figure they'd be popular in Texas, at least, but I'm hoping that if I need to buy something, it'll be closer to home.) Or, yeah, are there smarter ways to go about getting the damn things in place?
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
What technique are you using right now?
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
I FINALLY figured it out, after almost a year...
Sadly, Lalo, there is no shortcut. You must continue to torture your eyes and your lashes before your fingers understand what to do.
Posted by Lalo (Member # 3772) on :
I hold my eyelids wide open and generally thrust my fingers into my eyes, vainly attempting to resist the irresistable snapping eyelid. I could hunt small animals with these puppies.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
This is why I will not wear contacts.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Make sure to hold your eyelashes back as well. Stare straight ahead at the mirror, fixating on it. Make sure the contact is on the tip of your index finger and not curling up at ALL. Pop it in, but KEEP STARING AHEAD. Focus on something else.
It'll take awhile. I've been wearing contacts since I was ten and it took me awhile to figure it out. Use to take me 15 minutes to put the damn things in.
Now I do it without thinking about it.
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
<-- wears glasses
I only do contacts on rare occasions.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Hate my glasses because I have no peripheral vision with them. Wear contacts as much as humanly possible. I'd get the day/night ones if I didn't have astigmatism.
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
Jamie, me too. My astigmatism is pretty darn bad, I can just barely bear to wear contacts. And yet I put up with them. Edit: No matter how I try, I can't do the staring-straight ahead thing. I know I am supposed to, but I get by looking slightly up.
Lalo, you are just starting out with contacts? Don't get too discouraged. It is really tough getting into it. Getting them in and out is hard to get right at all let alone get used to, and for the first little while, they feel awful in your eyes. I couldn't bear the sunlight for quite awhile. But it does get better. Hang in there!
[ May 24, 2004, 10:33 PM: Message edited by: beverly ]
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
The night/day ones are great...absolutely great.
You have to make sure to hold your top eyelashes back...they're usually more of a problem than the bottem ones. I never used to be able to touch my eye; now it hardly bothers me at all. It takes time.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
The first time, at the optician's office, it took me almost three hours. Poor guy wanted to be sure I could put them in -- and I just couldn't!
After about a month, I could get them in in less than 15 minutes.
Now, after 13 years (yeesh!) and having switched to disposables a few years ago, it takes a few seconds, most days. The days when I need toothpicks to keep my eyes open, it takes a bit longer.
As soon as my current batch of disposables runs low, I'm talking to an eye doctor about getting the 30-day-leave-in ones.
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
When I began wearing them *again* after my astigmatism got worse, I had to wear ones with a bigger diameter so they were even more difficult to put in than before. My little trick is to make sure the top edge is "on" and then let it slide up under my top lid. Then I can more easily get the bottom edge on.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Lalo, also, don't jam them straight at your eye. Try holding your finger so the contact approaches at an angle, bottom edge first. Let the bottom edge make contact, then tip up, and the rest will kinda jump into place. don't worry too much about your top lashes, just pin them against you face, but really keep the bottom lashes out of the way and pulled down a little.
<--- Hasn't worn contacts in 5+ years due to the miracle of LASIK.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
It took me less than fifteen minutes to put mine in the first time. I just wanted to brag.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
See, if I do one edge at a time, it majorly pisses off my eye, so I have to hit the middle.
*gives jon a wedgie*
Posted by Nick (Member # 4311) on :
I wear glasses, and wanted contacts, but after all the trouble Lalo seems to be having with them, I'm not so sure. Posted by kaioshin00 (Member # 3740) on :
get laser srugery
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Nick, don't stress it. It's hard the first couple of times you put them in, harder (for me) the first couple of times you take them out. after that, it's no big deal. Except I usually only wore them for special occasions, 'cause I didn't want to bother with them every day and when I got extended wear they made my eyes gunky in the morning.
But start saving now for corrective surgery for when your vision stablizes. I was scared to death to do it, and it's probably the best decision I ever made. certainly the best physical/health related one. </commercial>
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I gotta start saving.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Too many people have trouble with LASIK (although it's better than the earlier eye surgery methods). I realize that the percentage is small, but they're my EYES, and I won't take that risk.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Sadly, my problem right now is that my current contacts are too dry. I simply can't wear them for more than a few hours. Maybe I'll get new ones this summer that I can actually stand to wear all day.
*grumbles about stupid optometrist shoving a different brand down my throat and probably receiving some sort of kickback for it*
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
I got it when it was a little over 3 grand, and would never have even considered it due to the cost. Then my parents offered it to all of us for Christmas. (dkw had eye issues and couldn't get it done, but should probably go back and check on it again due to advances in technology. )
Anyway, if someone had told me the next day I had to pay for it myself or give it back, I would have ponied up gladly. Although I would have had to ask for a payment plan or charge it. And if someone tells me tomorrow I have to pay for it or give it back, same thing. So don't let the cost throw you if you're considering it, it's so totally worth it. (plus it's a LOT cheaper now.)
Edit: When I started typing, this would have been right under mac's post.
[ May 24, 2004, 10:58 PM: Message edited by: ElJay ]
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Yeah, different types have different water content.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Can your parents adopt me? Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Mack, that's exactly what I was thinking.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
quote:Yeah, different types have different water content.
And now I know not to get contacts with less than 55 percent water.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
No KIDDING!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
What mack said!
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Did everybody know that but me?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Well, my disposables are 58%, and the only reason that works for me is that I get a new pair every couple weeks.
[edit: pesky s]
[ May 24, 2004, 11:42 PM: Message edited by: rivka ]
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Only thing that worked for me was to look up, place the contact on the white below the iris, hold my finger there lightly while looking down. It helped to put a drop of saline right in the cup of the contact.
Mine had the weighted rim to orient it correctly for astigmatism, so they popped into place easily once they were on the eye.
I got the laser surgery about 8 years ago, though, so I haven't done it in a while.
Good luck!
Dagonee
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Mine are 66% water.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I got talked into contacts once because the *@#@*(*%%*&&)% optometrist put a decimal point in the wrong place on my ^%&$%^# perscription. They said my lenses would be so heavy, I wouldn't want to wear them in frames. So I got contacts. I couldn't see (because my eyes are -75, not -750) so I went back to the optometrist and when they checked something (I don't know how they figured this out) the lady comes running back saying "Take those out of your eyes, honey, right now!".
So without any discussion of the frames I had picked out previously, I got these tiny little contacts that I only wore a couple of times because I actually had trouble telling whether they were inside out.
I do have to wear glasses to drive legally. But I generally don't use them when using a computer because someone told me glasses have to be specially calibrated to read close up things or it makes your eyes worse or gives you migraines or something.
[ May 25, 2004, 01:24 AM: Message edited by: pooka ]
Posted by Richard Berg (Member # 133) on :
-75? I think you're still one decimal point away...
I could never do the contacts thing. My eyes + sticking things in them = yeah right. Hooray for LASIK.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
mack & kat, that was before the stock market plummetted. So while Mom is always looking for more people to mother, they ain't doing $3000 christmas presents these days. So adoption might not be your best route.
Posted by Troubadour (Member # 83) on :
Mack, I'm at -1.5 and -1.75 with astigmatism and have day/night wear contacts. I love 'em. It's great waking up in the morning and being able to see!
Posted by Mabus (Member # 6320) on :
I wear hard lenses now, since my eye infection. I used to wear the disposable kind and my eyes had long since adjusted very well. I could pop them in in a few seconds. The hard lenses aren't so easy. If they don't feel right, they will never (or almost never) feel right until I take them out and put them in again, for which I need a little suction cup. Even so, I refuse to go back to wearing glasses. I hated them.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
The eye surgery is great - I highly reccomend it once your vision stabilizes. It's continually falling in price, too, although the best doctors might not be lowering their prices.
I had incredibly bad eyes before - I couldn't read the headlines on a newspaper without glasses. I only wore contacts briefly, so I never knew how cool peripheral vision was.
Plus, it made scuba diving feasible, so I'm forever grateful to it.
Dagonee
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
My daughter took to contacts like a duck to water -- put them in perfectly the first time (with doctor there instructing her) and has never had a whit of trouble since. Doesn't even use a mirror - she puts them in, in the morning before setting her feet on the floor off her bed. and takes them out last thing at night.
But without them she has about 20/600 vision -- so she loves her contacts.
And she can hardly WAIT until she's old enough for LASIX, she wants it so bad.
Farmgirl
Posted by Ayelar (Member # 183) on :
Wow, so did you guys not have the optometrist's assistant put them in for you the first time?? She said that was policy, and it was awwwwful. Made having me touch my eye seem a whole lot more attractive. Still took me about a week to get the hang of it, but now I can take out and put in my contacts in bed, in the dark if I have to.
3...2...1.... contacts! Let's get coooontacts! La la la la la la la.... contacts!
Posted by Richard Berg (Member # 133) on :
quote:Wow, so did you guys not have the optometrist's assistant put them in for you the first time??
Oh, she tried. That was a riot.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
ElJay--I could still use decent parents
Troubs--What brand are you wearing?
Posted by JohnKeats (Member # 1261) on :
My preferred method of contact insertion (right eye) is to place the contact on the tip of my right index finger. I then take a moment to make sure the contact is bowl-shaped and not convexed (can you use that as a verb?) at the edges. If my eyes are feeling dryish I'll squirt exactly one drop of your favorite eye-juice product directly onto the contact lens.
Next I take the index and middle fingers of my left hand and use them as a vice to pry open my right eye. You have to place each finger directly on the center of each eyelid--using a scissor-like pose with your fingers parrallel to the ground will allow the length of the fingers to stave off most off your offending eyelashes.
This next step varies for a lot of people, and I suspect that I take an unpopular route. I aim the contact directly at my pupil. I am staring at the center of my index finger as I place the plastic on my eyeball. I watch the whole thing. This makes sense to me because I figure it's hard to aim for something if you aren't watching it. A mirror is good and all, but your depth perception is much more accuracte millimeters away from your eye. Once you get beyond the psycological aspect of (ack, I'm sticking somethign in my eye!) and realize there are no nerve endings in your eye, there is actually no discomfort caused by this method.
Posted by peter the bookie (Member # 3270) on :
on the rare occasions that i wear mine, i do exactly what keats described.
i also got them in in less than 15 minutes on the first try. getting them out, however, took about an hour.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Sixty-six percent water? What brand are yours, Mack?
quote:Wow, so did you guys not have the optometrist's assistant put them in for you the first time??
I think she put them in first (though I did not enjoy the experience of someone sticking things in my eye), and then she made me do it myself to make sure I could.
Posted by Yozhik (Member # 89) on :
I usde approximately the same contact-lens-insertion technique as JohnKeats. Then I blink a few times to get the lens to settle in the proper position (I have the weighted kind for astigmatism too, -4.75).
If the lens is still uncomfortable after that, I immediately take it out and rinse it *very* well with saline solution before trying to put it back in. The things have to be really, really clean, because if they have even a microscopic speck of something on them, they'll feel uncomfortable.
[ May 25, 2004, 11:22 AM: Message edited by: Yozhik ]
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Soflens Toric 66
I had a huge problem my freshman year of college with my eyes...started my senior year of high school. I was interning at a hospital and got a corneal ulcer (pretty bad one, apparently the docs could see it wiith a naked eye o_O). That healed, then I got conjunctivis that was light sensitive. So I had to stay indoors and not even wear my glasses. Forward to fall and college and then I get white blood cells in my OTHER eye, signaling an infection. Six months later, I'm back in contacts.
Hence having high water content lenses, so that my eyes can breathe. These are seriously comfortable lenses. I wear them as long as possible, putting them in first thing in the morning, taking them out last thing at night. I have good, light glasses, but LOVE my contacts.
Posted by beatnix19 (Member # 5836) on :
Never gonna get contacts. I have a very light prescription and only wear my glasses to drive or when watching a movie and want crisp detail. My eyes do not like beeing poked.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Okay, I just found out that my last brand of contacts was 75 percent water, not 55. What the crap am I doing with contacts that are only 38 percent water?! Stupid freaking optometrist! Why did you make me switch when I was happy with what I had?!
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I'd call him and complain. Seriously. You shouldn't only be able to wear your contacts a few hours a day if you've been wearing contacts in general for a long time.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Well, I got these contacts in the fall of 2001. I think it's probably a little late to call the optometrist and chew her out. And I started off wearing them for about eight to ten hours a day, but as time has gone on, I've worn them less and less until I've pretty much stopped wearing them altogether. I hope my eyes haven't been getting drier in the past few years.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Do you have allergies?
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
I love wearing my contacts, too, but haven't been wearing them as much as in the past. I have always worn hard lenses, gas permeable ones in recent years. The most recent lenses are not as comfortable as my previous pair. The optometrist claims they are "exactly" the same, but I can tell they are slightly smaller in diameter, and they seem to have a "tighter" fit.
Also, contrary to what a bunch of you are saying , he indicated to me that soft lenses would be more of a problem for me, because of my dry eyes. But many of you seem to be saying that higher water content in the lenses is better for dry eyes.
As far as putting them in goes, it does take practice. From the start I learned to put mine in without using a mirror, cause I figured I might not always have one available. To this day, I never look in a mirror while putting in my lenses.
[ May 25, 2004, 12:34 PM: Message edited by: Ela ]
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Yeah, I have allergies, but I'm not quite sure what I'm allergic too. Mostly pollen and stuff in the spring (like right now). Maybe some mild pet allergies.
quote:But many of you seem to be saying that higher water content in the lenses is better for dry eyes.
Um . . . isn't it? At least, soft contacts with higher water content are better than soft contacts with lower water content.
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
I don't know, JonBoy. It seems to be contrary to what my optometrist was telling me. Then again, he had me doing these useless lid treatments when I had a sty - they were too time consuming, and didn't really help, just irritated my eyes more. Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Christy makes fun of me because I cannot -- CANNOT, for any reason -- allow things to get near my open eyes. It simply does not happen. Sara didn't believe her when Christy told her about it, and tried to administer some eyedrops one time when my allergies kicked in at her house -- and people had to actually hold me down so that I wouldn't thrash my way off the couch and hurt someone.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
I really have no idea, Ela. I believed my optometrist when she said these contacts would be more comfortable because they're thinner.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
OMG, Tom is Rachel! BWAHAHAHA!
Posted by Richard Berg (Member # 133) on :
Naturally, eyedrops are not exactly easy for me either. I haven't killed anyone yet, but I always end up with fluid all over my face.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Lalo what kind of contacts do you have? I just went to disposable and will never go back I don't think. They are by far the thinnest and most comfortable, I've ever worn. Gas permeables are the other option for me, but those are supposed to be more uncomfortable at first, though not as bad as the old hard contacts. But I've considered switching if it will prevent my eyes from worsening further.
AJ
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
I got my first pair of contacts in seventh grade. I didn’t want them – the idea of sticking something in my eye really grossed me out. But my eyesight was disintegrating rapidly (like, new prescription every 6-8 months) and the eye doctor thought contacts might help it to stabilize. My mom had to hold me down while the doctor stuck them in my eyes. Didn’t want ‘em. Nope, nope, nope. Then I looked around. I could SEE! So much better than with my glasses. And they felt great! No weight on my nose and ears, they were much less noticeable than glasses. I couldn’t even tell I was wearing them.
It took me about ten minutes to figure out how to get them out, then I popped them back in and I’ve never looked back. And they did help my vision to stabilize. I’ve only changed prescription three or four times in the last 20 years. Posted by Mabus (Member # 6320) on :
Ela, it's possible that high-water lenses would not settle properly in your eyes. When my eyes are extremely dry, my contacts have been known to just fall out.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
a tip on putting eye drops in for people who don't like them. Put them in at the OUTER corner of your eye away from your nose, not the inner corner. They then have to travel across your eye before they tear out if they do tear out so you will get more benefit.
I also think it is easier to sort of fit the eye drop tip in the little crease at the outer corner of your eye than having to go to the inner corner where you are looking at it straignt on and it looks like you are going to stab yourself in the eye.
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