Contact lenses in college

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>I got contact lenses yesterday. They seem kind of inconvenient now since they are so frustrating to put on and seem like a hassle to keep clean. For those who use contacts in college, do you find them convenient and easy to care for? I have the kind which you use one pair a month. </p>

<p>Also, my contact lenses seem to flip inside-out often when I try to put them on, and I can't tell if they're inside-out of not! It's so annoying! How do you know if they're in the correct position!?</p>

2

<p>I'm not in college yet, so I can't testify as to how they fit into a college lifestyle - but remember that there is an adjustment period for contacts. When I first got them, I found them really a pain. At this point I've had them for more than a year and they're second nature (can put them in in 5 seconds, cleaning is no problem, etc.) - if anything, they make me wonder how I used to live with the inconvenience of glasses. So give yourself some time to get used to them.</p>

<p>If they're in the correct position, they should be evenly rounded, like a bowl or a grapefruit half. If they're inside-out, the edges will be sharp or flared. There are comparison pictures [url=<a href="http://www.obrigcontactlenses.com/images/insideoutlens.gif%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://www.obrigcontactlenses.com/images/insideoutlens.gif]here[/url&lt;/a&gt;] and [url=<a href="http://www.clearlycontacts.ca/images/faqContacts.gif%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://www.clearlycontacts.ca/images/faqContacts.gif]here[/url&lt;/a&gt;] that may help.</p>

3

<p>Acuvue has numbers on them. You can see 123 if it's the right side.</p>

4

<p>Does anyone have any experience with drinking and contacts? After a night out of drinking and dancing sometimes you are too out of it and fall asleep, or you pass out. Obviously, the horrors of sleeping for a prolonged time with contacts are apparent. Does anybody find a way around it (I don't know what kind of answer I am looking for here, but naturally people drink and wear contacts, right?) or do you just make sure you're not too far gone every night so you can take them out (and with proper hygiene).</p>

5

<p>Yeah, it took me half an hour to put my first contact in. And I put it in backwards, three times. I usually use the light trick nowadays (the Acuvue 123 thing...), but you just get used to knowing which way is right after a while. Really, it was only about a few weeks before I got used to them.</p>

<p>Oh, a trick with the mirror... don't focus on the contact lens when putting it in your eye. Instead, focus on your own image in the mirror. I don't know; it's just easier that way for me.</p>

<p>I use the ones that are supposed to be switched every other week (yeah, right... heh), but I doubt they're very different from yours.</p>

6

<p>generally if you're drunk and pass out for a while w/ contacts in your eyes, its fine but when you wake up they'll feel a little weird. just take them out when you get back to your room and wear your glasses for a while. let them soak in your case for at least 8 hours to get rid of the protein.
yes, when you first have contacts they'll feel like an absolute pain and hard to put on and you'll start to regert them but after a few months you'll put them on like an everyday routine and be glad you dont look a little dorky w/ glasses. just make sure a fan is not near by or they'll blow away. dont look at the contact when you're putting it in, look in the mirror and SLOWLY and GENTLY push it into your eye until you hear a kind of suctioning sound (you're not damaging your eye, its fine. blink for a while until its not blurry and everything feels ok. always pour out the old sanitizer from the case after you use it. NEVER reuse it, you can get an eye infection and that will cost money to go to an optomestrist to fix, ive been through it and it sucked bad (right before christmas). to make sure your contact is shaped right before you put it in, look at it. it should be in the shape like exactly HALF a circle. if the edges are curved then its backwards. if you have astigmatism things might be a little bit more annyoing. hope that helps</p>

7

<p>I've slept with my contacts on for about 2 weeks straight, and had no problems, however I don't reccommend it.</p>

8

<p>I have Night & Day contacts which are a little more difficult to tell if they're inside-out or not. What I do is put the contact on the crease of my palm on the outer edge (on the pinky's side). Then I fold my hand over a little bit, and if the edges of the lens touch they're right side out. If not, they're inside out and I just flip them over. Sometimes I can tell if they're inside-out if it feels "weird" on my eye, but I generally don't rely on that.</p>

<p>And like everyone else has said, there's a short adjustment period before you get used to them. I've had contacts (first hard lenses, now soft) for 7+ years and now I don't even need a mirror to put them on.</p>

9

<p>Just get the monthly contacts.. you only have to take em out/change em every month, and you can sleep in them. </p>

<p>Very convenient, it's just that when you wake up you have to squint for like 10 minutes before you can open your eyes.</p>

10

<p>Is it true that contacts are really uncomfortable in dry or cold areas? I guess San diego qualifies as dry and ive never really had a problem here so...</p>

11

<p>dont worry
after 1-2 weeks you wont feel a thing.
and if u must u can end up sleeping in them for a day (when u get used to the feeling). sometimes i fall asleep in them without knowing (esp. after drinking)</p>

12

<p>If you're worried about falling asleep in them, just get eye drops to rewet them; they get really dry when you sleep. Make sure that you soak them for eight hours a day to get the protein out afterwards and don't wear them for long periods of time (several days or longer) because the lens can embed itself into your eye.</p>

13

<p>My contacts never stopped bothering me because I have an astigmatism in one eye so that lense is different and it kept rubbing my eye weird. The other one was perfectly fine and if they'd both been like that they would've been great. But the astigmatism one kept bothering me so now I just wear my glasses (although, I don't wear them ALL the time like I should). </p>

<p>My ex used to sleep in his contacts all the time, and while it's not entirely good for your eyes long-term (unless they're specifically made for sleeping in) doing it a couple times won't do any harm. Just take them out when you wake up, put some drops in your eyes for the dryness, and wear your glasses that day.</p>

14

<p>i'd describe a contact lens being on the right side as bowl-shaped. it looks flatter when it's on the wrong side, and it's quite obvious. also, it shouldn't flip too frequently if you don't do anything stupid (no offense). sometimes mine "flip" when i put a lens in, but only parts of it. i just lift it up again, wash it a bit, then proceed.</p>

<p>also, i wouldn't recommend putting your contacts on for a long period of time or even sleep with them. your eyes can get kind of dry and deprived of oxygen. if you sleep in them, they sort of sting when you wake up and you'd really want to take them off, but yes, squinting a lot for the first 30 sec or so will ease your discomfort slightly, but it'll take a while for the discomfort to go unnoticed (prolonged exposure = desensitization).</p>

<p>PS. contact lenses that last longer are generally more prone to bacterial build-up. i personally use bi-weeklys. if i forget that the 2 weeks are up, the lenses are usually very uncomfortable when i put them in a couple of days after the 2 weeks are up, so i know it's time to wear new ones. also, if you use ones with a shorter lifespan, you get to experience the fresh feeling that new lenses offer. during the first couple of days, when you put your contacts in, they just dissolve into your eye and you don't even know it's there!</p>

15

<p>AULostchick, have you tried toric lenses? I have horrible astigmatism and wearing normal lenses was pure torture, IMO.</p>

16

<p>Um, honestly, I don't know what they were called, but apparently the one they gave me was specifically for astigmatism. I made sure I put it in right every time, but it still rubbed along the very edge on the right side. It was very annoying.</p>

17

<p>i use contacts at school. i have the acuvue for astigmatism kind. they are convenient on mornings when i actually have time to put them in. but i sometimes wear my glasses if i get off to a late start. </p>

<p>that being said, i've had contacts for a while now. the adjustment period can be kind of rough, but once you get used to them, everything's cool.</p>

18

<p>you'll definitely get used to them. it was torture getting them in at first... it took around half an hour for close to a week, but I've worn them every single day for over two years without a problem. except somehow when I ordered my last batch I ended up with the two week kind, and they don't last well. I'm going through a lot more, they seem to tear a lot easier. my prescription did change a bit though, so it could just be from that. I'm really not sure.</p>

19

<p>Finally! I just got both of them in! One of them feels kind of weird. One of my eyes have astigmatism so I had to get toric lenses for that one. I remember my optometrist saying it was the right eye, but my left eye is the one bothering me. Maybe it is inside-out? :(</p>

<p>Also, with both of them in my vision is sort of out-of-focus. Should it be this way at first?</p>

20

<p>Never had a problem with drinking and contacts. I've been pretty far gone, but still wake up to find that I managed to take them out before passing out. I've been wearing them since age 10 so that probably helps in that it's just habit and not something I have to remember.</p>

<p>The only thing about college and contacts is that at times you'll find yourself sleeping somewhere other than your room without planning on it. I suppose you could carry a case around, but I just sleep with them in when that happens.</p>