OT - contacts or eyeglasses

[Guest guest]

OK, this has nothing to do with oils or herbs, but i'm hoping someone on

this list might help. I am on my second pair of progressive eyeglasses.

had perfect vision most of my life, then it started deteriorating a few

years ago. i'd like to consider contacts, but would like to ask if

anyone has any info on how 'healthy' they are. i'm wondering whether it

is healthy to have something covering a part of your eye all the time

and also about the plastic or whatever they are made of.

 

Bonnie

[Guest guest]

I have wore contacts for years.. They are only hard on the eyes if you have

dry eyes but than again there are eye drops for that.. I love wearing my

contacts over my glasses.. I see better I think with them and don't have to

worry about something on my face.. To me they are more freedom..I am talking

about soft contacts.. I have never wore hard..

 

ariel

 

----

 

flashnsaber

3/26/2008 3:41:44 PM

 

OT - contacts or eyeglasses

 

 

OK, this has nothing to do with oils or herbs, but i'm hoping someone on

this list might help. I am on my second pair of progressive eyeglasses.

had perfect vision most of my life, then it started deteriorating a few

years ago. i'd like to consider contacts, but would like to ask if

anyone has any info on how 'healthy' they are. i'm wondering whether it

is healthy to have something covering a part of your eye all the time

and also about the plastic or whatever they are made of.

 

Bonnie

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi, Bonnie! Dede here! You must be of a " certain age " - as I am!

I too had excellent vision until this whole age thing came along. I

was able to get away with little over the counter glasses for close

up work for years, and then, alas - no more.

 

I tried the " mono " vision thing for a while, wearing one contact lens

in one eye. I talked to a couple of people who did it and they liked

it. The idea is that you wear the contact in your " weak " eye and

they learn to compensate for one another.

 

For some reason, I'm someone who tends to get a lot of dust, etc., in

my eyes....probably because of the dogs, horses, living in the

country and the continual dust. Any way, it didn't work for me

because I rub my eyes alot.

 

My first pair of progessives was apparently not well made, so that

put me down a bad path at first. But I'm on my second good pair

progressives and I love them ... but darn, they are pricey!

 

So, if your lifestyle makes you rub your eyes alot, maybe contacts

aren't for you. The new ones are pretty slim -- I had problems

getting them in/out, etc., too.

 

Dede

 

, " flashnsaber " <kuhlman

wrote:

>

>

> OK, this has nothing to do with oils or herbs, but i'm hoping

someone on

> this list might help. I am on my second pair of progressive

eyeglasses.

> had perfect vision most of my life, then it started deteriorating a

few

> years ago. i'd like to consider contacts, but would like to ask if

> anyone has any info on how 'healthy' they are. i'm wondering

whether it

> is healthy to have something covering a part of your eye all the

time

> and also about the plastic or whatever they are made of.

>

> Bonnie

>

[Guest guest]

Take care of the contacts follow all the directions and you should be fine.

Our daughter does not do as she should and has problems so learn from

her error.

I tried a pair of contacts out - being past menopause can some times be

a problem - very dry eyes.

You can get the drops for tears etc. Being extremely sensitive I just

could not get used to either putting the lenses on my eyes or having

them in while I slept. Your mileage WILL vary.

 

HTH,

 

Bobbi Guerra

[Guest guest]

So, it seems that contacts have a definite physical advantage (i.e. don’t

get in your way, don’t get smudged, peripheral isn’t distorted, etc.), but

I’m concerned with the ‘health’ side of wearing them. Is the contact

material a health concern (e.g. many plastics are made from petro

chemicals)? What about the drops required to clean them, and wet dry eyes,

what chemical hazards do they represent? I’m careful about soaps, lotions,

toothpaste – everything I use, to avoid synthetic chemicals. Any more

advice? bonnie

 

 

Checked by AVG.

Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.0/1344 - Release 3/26/2008

8:52 AM

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Bonnie

 

I've been wearing contact lenses for years. The main

concern is that, depending on the type, while you are

wearing them your cornea isn't getting oxygen or

tears. This means the longer you wear them, the more

susceptible you are to keratitis (infection). You

should not sleep in them, even though there are

extended-wear contacts that say you can do just that.

Daily wear disposable lenses are probably the most

expensive, and the kind recommended by my optometrist

for me. But they are also the least likely to give you

problems with infection or protein build-up on the

lens.

 

There are gas permeable lenses that allow more oxygen

to get through to the cornea, but those are not

usually recommended for first-time users because they

aren't as comfortable.

 

Best wishes.

 

Patty

--- flashnsaber <kuhlman wrote:

 

>

> OK, this has nothing to do with oils or herbs, but

> i'm hoping someone on

> this list might help. I am on my second pair of

> progressive eyeglasses.

> had perfect vision most of my life, then it started

> deteriorating a few

> years ago. i'd like to consider contacts, but would

> like to ask if

> anyone has any info on how 'healthy' they are. i'm

> wondering whether it

> is healthy to have something covering a part of your

> eye all the time

> and also about the plastic or whatever they are made

> of.

>

> Bonnie

>

>

>

 

 

 

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____

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[Guest guest]

Hi Bonnie,

 

I'm a little late getting in this conversation

(need to hurry and catch up on reading my

emails!), but it gave me a chance to see other

responses before putting in my two cents.

 

I wore contact lenses daily from age 19 to 39

when I had LASIK surgery (which I still believe

is the best $2000 I've ever spent on myself).

Because of the amount of astigmatism I had, soft

lenses weren't a good option for me, so I wore

semi-rigid gas permeable lenses. They worked out

great for me as long as I took care of them

properly. I think I only had one eye infection

the whole time.

 

Provided they're fitted correctly, you should

have no problem with peripheral vision or

distortion. Your optometrist can recommend the

best kind for you (daily wear/extended wear,

soft, gas perm, hard, whatever is newest) so you

can get the best results. Just make sure your

hands are clean when handling the lenses, and

that you use clean water to clean them (my rule

of thumb was that if I couldn't drink that water,

I wasn't using it on my contacts, so in Africa I

used bottled water, and in Taiwan I rinsed my

lenses in the drinking fountain instead of the

dormitory bathroom sink). If you're concerned

about dropping them and having them vanish

against the white of your bathroom sink, you can

get tinted ones so you can see them but they

don't affect your vision or change your eye color.

 

As for chemical reactions, I never ran into any.

I didn't have any problems with the contact lens

material itself, either, and I never heard of

anyone having problems with either. That doesn't

mean there haven't been individuals who may have

had trouble, of course, I just never heard of

any. I understand about avoiding chemicals, but

remember everything is or has chemicals or

chemical compounds in them -- even good old H20

-- and the majority of them are safe for us to

use on or inside our bodies. Anything that goes

into or near the eye would have to be

opthalmologist tested, esp. here in the States,

so I personally never worried about it. If you

have concerns, you should speak to your

optometrist about them.

 

The main concessions I made to have contacts were

to wear swim goggles when swimming (so I could

still wear my contacts under the water and see

the fishies), and I carried small vials of

artificial tears in my purse in case something

got in my eye or my eyes got dry. The part I

loved best about switching from glasses to

contacts was that I could finally wear cool or

funky sunglasses because they didn't need

prescription lenses! I liked that.

 

Anyway, I hope this helps. It's a fairly major

commitment to switch to contacts. You have to be

prepared to deal with daily maintenance, and

probably pay more attention to physical habits

you may have, like rubbing your eyes really hard,

and making sure that your hands are clean when

you touch your eye area. After a while, tho', it

all becomes standard and you get used to it.

 

Karen

 

 

 

At 9:16 AM -0700 3/27/08, Bonnie Kuhlman wrote:

>So, it seems that contacts have a definite physical advantage (i.e. don’t

>get in your way, don’t get smudged, peripheral isn’t distorted, etc.), but

>I’m concerned with the ‘health’ side of wearing them. Is the contact

>material a health concern (e.g. many plastics are made from petro

>chemicals)? What about the drops required to clean them, and wet dry eyes,

>what chemical hazards do they represent? I’m careful about soaps, lotions,

>toothpaste – everything I use, to avoid synthetic chemicals. Any more

>advice? bonnie

>

 

--

 

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