From: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!CAD:tektronix!tekmdp!markp Newsgroups: net.med Title: contact lenses Article-I.D.: tekmdp.1685 Posted: Mon Jan 17 16:46:38 1983 Received: Wed Jan 19 08:10:33 1983 I have some experience with contact lenses... First I had hard lenses. I wore them for about a month, but for all my efforts I never became acclimated to them. In fact, my comfort level deteriorated as I wore them more. According to my optometrist, I may be allergic to the type of plastic used for hard lenses, and/or may just be too sensitive to wear them (I have very fair skin, red hair, and gray eyes -- supposedly people such as myself are more sensitive to the irritation than those more swarthy types are). Care of these took about 5 minutes per day, and they're quite sturdy. No chance of sleeping for more than a few minutes with them in your eyes. Riding my motorcycle with these was impossible without goggles, and hell with them -- hards are very bad when they get dust under them. Next I got soft lenses -- Bausch and Lomb B3 Soflens to be precise. It took about 3 weeks to get used to them, by which I mean that I no longer realized at any conscious level that I had them in. I wore them for about two years, for 16-18 hours nonstop every day. I was very pleased with them. They took about 10-12 minutes per night to clean. They are pretty sturdy -- they hold up well to stretching and elastic deformation, but they can be torn by an errant fingernail (you must keep some of your nails short for that reason). I never tore mine in two years. I use the heat sterilization system, and I make my own saline each night-before, so that by the next night the little salt tablet will be dissolved. Pop 'em in the heater, and next morning -- presto -- they're ready to wear. The weekly enzymatic protien removal is no real hassle. Also, I could go for 3-4 days without cleaning or sterilizing them, although comfort does suffer... In a tight spot, I could sleep for up to 6 hours with them in without ill effect. Sleeping for, say, an hour nap is no problem. No problem at all to ride motorcycles with or without goggles. They do not blow out of my eyes. I have even worn them while swimming -- just keep your eyes closed underwater. Then I got extended-wear lenses -- Coopervision Permalens to be precise. (I got tired of the nightly cleaning routine -- it was like having to get over a hump to get to bed and sleep -- it can be a real drag if you're really tired, or otherwise in a hurry to get to bed.) I LOVED THEM! The visual correction was sharper than with my B3's, and I could literally wear them for two weeks without ever removing them. They were a little "leathery" in the mornings, but the steam of my shower seemed to take care of that. They required biweekly cleaning which took about 20 minutes. The *only* problem was their fragility. I was using a "hydra-mat" to clean them, and they were so flexible that they escaped their protective baskets and were shredded by the swirling agitation of the cleaner, so for now I'm back to my B3's. Be sure to get insurance on these! I did, so it'll "only" cost $60. to replace them, rather than $200.! The range of correction available is much greater with the Permalens than with the Soflens. My -5 diopter correction was the "strongest" Soflens available, but Permalens goes to -20 diopter! This may be why my Permalens contacts seemed sharper. Also Permalens has astigmatism correction available, but I don't recommend it because of the price, and because unless it's quite severe astigmatism can usually be adjusted to. It may seem awful at first, but you'll develop the ability to reach into your eye and touch the sclera (white) without even blinking -- but never the cornea! Sorry to be so long-winded. Mark R. Paulin ...decvax!teklabs!tekmdp!markp