#52

Ah JFC I did not need to read that! Sounds like something from a Cronenberg film.

#53

:fearful:

Horrendous.

A friend of mine was in hospital for 3 weeks and has lost almost all vision in one eye after getting some sort of infection/necrotising parasite or something from reusing contacts that weren’t cleaned properly (I also think they were meant to be one use ones)

Absolutely terrifying. I went to visit him in the hospital and had to face away from him :frowning:

#54

Things I have learned from this thread: I will never wear contacts.

1 Like
#55

not nearly as bad as that - but when i used to have the lenses that you clean and reuse - (I used to sterilize the lenses with some germ destroying stuff overnight - but with a little tablet that would slowly neutralize the the liquid so it was safe to use the lenses the next day) - i once (drunk i expect) didn’t put the neutralizing tablet into the cleaning box, popped a lens in the next day and FUCKING HELL - proper proper awful burning sensation - really nasty!

i’m amazed i didn’t completely fuck my eyes over actually given the amount of times i’d come home when i was about 17 or so, steaming drunk and having to struggle with the cleaning routine - christ knows how i managed it effectively all but one time.

#56

you shouldn’t wear lenses when swimming - can fuck you up

get some perscription googles - they are only about £12 or something

1 Like
#57

I really want some prescription googles. But the ones I’ve tried are a really bad fit. Way too narrow for the bridge of my nose. :frowning:

#58

About ten years.
Polished, but permanently grubby. Every time I have a night in drinking wine I wake up with red wine on them the next morning.
One pair scrip lenses, one (identical) pair scrip sunglasses, the same combo I’ve had since I started wearing them. (I am unimaginative).
Never in a billion years am I touching my eyes. I can manage fine except when cycling in the rain.

This is now the cycling in the rain wearing glasses thread.

#59

Sounds like me at the same age. That cleaning stuff was peroxide based from what I remember - I also managed to stick them straight in my eye on a couple of occasions. Felt like being pepper sprayed.

#60

I’m wearing brand new glasses for the very first time today :nerd:

(They are exactly the same as my old glasses)

#61

I didn’t realize so many people were seriously icky about touching their eyes.

Like its unpleasant but you really quickly get used to it.

2 Likes
#62
#63

I’m also really disorganised and couldn’t handle all the washing and purchasing faff.

That said I am SERIOUSLY icky about my eyes. I find it extremely uncomfortable even to look at sharp objects in the vicinity of my face, so there’s no way I could ever wear contacts. I really wouldn’t get used to it.

#64

I’m actually okay with touching my eyes. Pretty sure I’ve had someone lick my eyeball before.

My issue is with putting a piece of plastic in there. Not for me Clive.

#65

There isn’t much faff involved really as mine are disposables so I throw them away at the end of the day and some websites you can get lenses sent to your house automatically or they’ll text you when you run out and you click on your phone and its ordered.

1 Like
#66

I remember having a lesson the first time I ever wore contact lenses. Wasn’t so hard to get them in, but they then recommended wearing them home to see how I got on with them - with no lesson on how to take them out. Spent about an hour digging around in my eye that evening :wink::scream::expressionless::-1:

#67

Ouch!

After only a week of having them, I went out and got pissed. I took one out no problem but couldn’t get the other out. After ages of trying, I went to bed anyway.

The next morning I spent HOURS scratching away at my eye. It’s red raw but I’m convinced its still there. I go to the optician who examines if for 5 mins and goes “it’s not there”. Must have taken it out or it fell out whilst I was asleep.

1 Like
#68

I’m totally not trolling here, so don’t take this as anything other than a question, because I have absolutely no idea - but what is the environmental impact of disposables? I’d imagine all that packaging and everything for every day adds up with the sheer volume of people who need contacts?

#69

I believe…that it’s all recyclable. The lenses themselves degrade, and the packaging for the lenses and the boxes are all recyclable.

#70

^this @elthamsmateowen

If you leave your contact lens on the side, it shrivels up and disintegrates.
The case it comes in is plastic with a foil peel off. I am not sure if the foil is recyclable tho but the plastic is and the cardboard is too.

#71

There is genuinely a thread on the old boards from about five years ago where, just for larks, someone asked what the total volume of contact lenses for all time for everyone in the world ever was. And if I IIRC correctly, it was reckoned to be a couple of swimming pools worth. (That didn’t include the packaging, though.)

I think the thing with contact lenses and the _ contact _ with the eyes factor is that I was too damn vain to get bogged down with any issues related to squeamishness. I just wanted to not have to wear glasses.

My rigid-gas permeable lenses require a rub with cleaning fluid and then a rinse & storage with another fluid. And, yup, fuck does that ever sting out you don’t rinse properly. :joy:

Has the similar story, too, about the initial struggle with putting 'em in/taking 'em out. Sorted in a week though, innit. Although I think the back-of-my-mind knowledge of the rigmarole of the pre-bedtime prep has sort of exacerbated my pisspoor sleep habits. Hopefully wearing lenses less these days will go toward sorting that it.

Was investigating laser treatment but by the time that was financially viable, I wasn’t quite bothered enough to overcome the squeamishness of _ that _.

A couple of mates have had it done and have nothing but good stuff to say about, though. It’s just that once you get to a certain age you’re gonna prolly need reading glasses regardless so it kinda hardly seems worth it.

Any laser people on here?

/most boringist post of the new board era so far