Contact lenses

[foxpuppet]

Contacts for 15+ years, had glasses through high school but rarely wore them due to bullies, only got them after a teacher noticed me at the back of class squinting. I hated wearing them so as soon as I could I ditched them and went back to squinting like a git.

In 1998 I went snowboarding for the first time and couldn't make out the snow from the fog, but had such a good time and wanted to do it more so I clearly needed to get it sorted. Went for contacts as soon as I got home and have been wearing them ever since. Went for 3 monthly down to what I've got now which is bi-weekly. Acuvue I think. Hardly even know they are in! I can wear them in the surf and swimming and they work very well while riding the bike.

 

[uppo]

10 years plus for me.

I have used them for more than ten years now.
I have the ones you can leave in for a one month at a time. Saves sticking fingers in your eyes every day.
They get a bit watery on fast descents :shocked:but lots of blinking does the trick and they are not too bad. I don't do downhill but goggles would do the trick I reckon.
I go surfing in them too.
They are a good way to check your hydration. If my eyes feel gritty and it hasn't been dusty it means I need more water. And if has been dusty then i may as well have more water anyway!

 

[shep77]

So give us the low down on the surgery.

Do they hook your eyes open and you have to watch them hit it with the laser? How many times did you pray to god for the pain to stop? Anesthetics via a needle in the eye ball??

My mum had cataract surgery or something a while back and she had to watch them cut into her eye balls with a scalpel.... Just thinking about it make me want to puke

Well.... It's not all beer and skittles but you'll be ok. If your Mum can handle it surely you can!?

They give you a valium to settle your nerves prior. There is no needle. Just eye drops which must do something. They lay you flat on a table and tape your eyelid open. Machine is then lined up to cook your eye but first the surgeon bloke has to cut a flap in the surface of your eye to expose the cornea. You can't feel any pain it's just uncomfortabe. You can't see anything cause they are constantly flooding your eye with fluid. Once flap is done (which is the worst bit!) the laser passes over your eye to cook/reshape it. Don't stress when the laser is doing its thing... I was concentrating not to move but the machine can recognize if you do and will follow. It's all done in a matter of minutes. Too easy.

Worst bit is if your getting both eyes done then you still have one to go... but man up. It's worth it! I had both eyes done and the procedure took 15mins. You then chill out in a recliner chair for an hour and the staff bring you food but almost immediately you can tell it's worked. You are then good to go home but need someone to drive you. You need to then go back the next day for the surgeon to check you out to make sure your good but also to remove a contact lens bandaid type thing he leaves on your eye post surgery to heal the flap. It's the last contact lens you'll need for a while. Joy.

 

[NUMBER5]

Well.... It's not all beer and skittles but you'll be ok. If your Mum can handle it surely you can!?

They give you a valium to settle your nerves prior. There is no needle. Just eye drops which must do something. They lay you flat on a table and tape your eyelid open. Machine is then lined up to cook your eye but first the surgeon bloke has to cut a flap in the surface of your eye to expose the cornea. You can't feel any pain it's just uncomfortabe. You can't see anything cause they are constantly flooding your eye with fluid. Once flap is done (which is the worst bit!) the laser passes over your eye to cook/reshape it. Don't stress when the laser is doing its thing... I was concentrating not to move but the machine can recognize if you do and will follow. It's all done in a matter of minutes. Too easy.

Worst bit is if your getting both eyes done then you still have one to go... but man up. It's worth it! I had both eyes done and the procedure took 15mins. You then chill out in a recliner chair for an hour and the staff bring you food but almost immediately you can tell it's worked. You are then good to go home but need someone to drive you. You need to then go back the next day for the surgeon to check you out to make sure your good but also to remove a contact lens bandaid type thing he leaves on your eye post surgery to heal the flap. It's the last contact lens you'll need for a while. Joy.

Thanks for the insight.. Looks like I'll have to man up, but it seems the older I get the harder it is to get this dress off,,, haha

 

[Camdyson]

Contacts for 15+ years, had glasses through high school but rarely wore them due to bullies, only got them after a teacher noticed me at the back of class squinting. I hated wearing them so as soon as I could I ditched them and went back to squinting like a git.

In 1998 I went snowboarding for the first time and couldn't make out the snow from the fog, but had such a good time and wanted to do it more so I clearly needed to get it sorted. Went for contacts as soon as I got home and have been wearing them ever since. Went for 3 monthly down to what I've got now which is bi-weekly. Acuvue I think. Hardly even know they are in! I can wear them in the surf and swimming and they work very well while riding the bike.

DON'T swim in them in any pool/lake/river/spa if you value your eyes - great way to pick up an infection. Google Acanthamoeba Keratitis if you want a good reason....

Cam (optometrist)

 

[akashra]

Who here rides with contact lenses? Do you prefer them over prescription riding glasses?

I've tried, but the result is always sweat in my eyes, so I've always just ridden with non-prescription lenses and dealt with having barely any sight capable of seeing small details/TTFs at high speed.

I'll be getting PRK surgery in May next year.

 

[trickbooter]

I have not been a fan of eyes, eye touching, eye fettle etc.

A long time ago I tried gas permeable lenses. I chose them because you could like the lenses out of your eyes without touching your eye. They were awful. Hurt my eyes and were Devils for getting dirt and dust stuck behind them.

So I rode with standard prescription eyewear (not sports) because my prescription exceeds what most sports lens manufacturers would make. I looked at laser correction but the lack of a 20/20 guarantee and a few horror stories put me off.

Eventually, thanks to a friend pushing, I went for soft lenses. I was so pensive about using them, both putting them in and removing them, but also what they'd be like in muddy or dry conditions. Well I haven't looked back. Amazing. I still think laser is the way to go if you can reconcile the risk, but if not, soft lenses are amazing.

 

[Nerf Herder]

How do you surf with contacts? Lasts all of 10seconds for me.

ive ridden with contacts and if I wasn't lazy I would prefer to just to increase the choice of eye wear, particularly at night. But I couldn't be arsed ... I have some good prescription sunnies and or just ride with a couple of sets of glasses. Always have a spare in the car just in case a break them on a ride.

 

[trickbooter]

Oddly, with a set of sea specs I can get in the sea. Full face splashes etc and they stay in. I think I have tight eyes. Sounds odd but I think that contributed to my incompatibility with gp lenses.

 

[StanTheMan]

Ive been doing a bit of research/work on C/lenses & Cycling.

I'm in my late 40's & I had some c/lenses prescribed for Presbyopia. This means its an aging thing & its harder to focus for close work.
So my optom got me into Mono Vision. This is one eye has distance, the other has near vision. The brain then does the rest. It takes whichever vision it wants. Whenever required. It didn't take much practice but while trialing these out My Optom warned me not to wear this while riding the MTB bike. which I Didn't. Until a few months later after I had forgotten about this warning.

Hamering Downhill at Manly Dam I Go Over the bar. cracked some ribs. Took some skin off.....the usual when you come off at speed.

Few days later I was talking to my brother in law who also happens to be an Optometrist. I was telling him about my stunt. Blaming everything , air pressure too low, burped the tubless tyre & so forth.

He starts to giggle & says. Seriously Stan.... do you honestly think this is the case? You've gone down that hill hundreds of times. Never any issues. Then you put in your C/lenses which are not suited for riding, because with this particular method, you loose depth perception. I think you should re-evaluate why you stacked.
ohhh wait.....

Then it dawned on me. ahhhh sheeet. The Optom did warn me tooo. LOL. lesson learned. listen to your Optom.

 

[foxpuppet]

DON'T swim in them in any pool/lake/river/spa if you value your eyes - great way to pick up an infection. Google Acanthamoeba Keratitis if you want a good reason....

Cam (optometrist)

Yeah I only wear them in the surf, not fresh or pool water without goggles.

 

[akashra]

I'm in my late 40's & I had some c/lenses prescribed for Presbyopia. This means its an aging thing & its harder to focus for close work.
So my optom got me into Mono Vision. This is one eye has distance, the other has near vision. The brain then does the rest. It takes whichever vision it wants. Whenever required. It didn't take much practice but while trialing these out My Optom warned me not to wear this while riding the MTB bike. which I Didn't. Until a few months later after I had forgotten about this warning.

We recently discovered through a series of tests a similar problem with my eyes. A few people will have noticed at national rounds this year I've been wearing a special lens to test something over an extended period.

Basically, my eyes have to shift outwards to adjust near/distance focus - as you can imagine that's not ideal for mountain biking. My left eye we discovered is far less focused, but dominant. So while it's -3,-2, I barely even use my right eye. Basically I'd been riding for years not even knowing the problem was there - but it explains a lot.

 

[StanTheMan]

yes Ive always been a little long sighted & go cross eyed while reading to accomodate. But its gotten to a stage where I need correction. While I can still ride without glasses, looking at the small numbers on a Garmin is becoming harder in certain light conditions.

 

[quin66]

Some good posts for contacts here thank fook. Went for an eye test for them today so hopefully they do the trick. Blurred trails make snails.

 

[quin66]

Just back from a fitting and could not get the lenses to pop in my eyes, even managed to drop one on the floor. I have squinted eyes and couldn't manage to open them up wide enough for them to fit so will try again in a few days. Anyone else had this problem? I blame it on being an over enthusiastic teenager..........maybe.

 

[cabletieperformance]

i have squinty eye and hate touching them so im pretty sure i would have same issue

 

[trickbooter]

I physically open my eyes with my fingers.

After making sure that I have the lens the right way around (ie not inside out - should look like a bowl) I put the lens on my right forefinger. Then I put my palm on my forehead, fingers down and using my left forefinger hold my eyelid open. Then my middle finger of my right hand pulls my bottom eyelid open. Then right forefinger to insert the lens.

I had a lesson from my optometrist that really helped.

Honestly a couple of years ago I could not have imagine touching my eye. Now it is second nature. Persevere. Get a lesson if needs be.

 

[foxpuppet]

For some reason I used to love touching my eyeball as a kid, so I never had an issue when going to contacts. One hand, middle finger pulls down bottom lid and lens on index to insert. First few months needed a mirror and now 15 years on its just automatic.