I am slightly short sighted and need to wear glasses for reading, watching TV, driving and basically whenever I want to see things clearly! As a result, I pretty much wear them all of the time as I find that I get a headache due to eyestrain if I have not wearing them for longer than an hour or so.

However, recently I decided to try contact lenses as I was sick of not being able to see across the bar in the pub without my specs and getting a headache after a while (well I suppose the headache may be due to the loud music and alcohol!).

So I visited Optical Express as they were doing a free contact lens trial at the time. After an eyetest which I needed anyway, I was told about the different types of lenses available. These included gas permeable, monthly disposables and daily disposables.

I decided that the daily disposables would be best for me as I didn't fancy messing about with solutions and probably wouldn?t wear them everyday anyway.

Before I was allowed to take them home, I had to prove that I could cope with them and that meant putting them in and out of my eyes three times. Three times?? I hadn't even got the thing near my eyeball and my eyes were streaming.

After what seemed like hours (in reality about 15-20 minutes) I managed to put them in and out a few times as directed and the very patient assistant decided that I could take a few pairs home with me as a trial before I actually purchased any.

I left the shop wearing them and for the first time ever, I could walk down the street and be able to see things clearly without my glasses perched on the end of my nose. However, when I got home, I began to worry that I wouldn?t get the things out after the recommended four hours.

I would be lying if I said that they just popped out easily because they didn't. I must have spent about ten minutes trying to get a hold of them but finally got them out and surprisingly my eyes didn&#
39;t feel irritated at all after wearing them for four hours.

The next day I was to wear them for six hours, then eight hours the day after and finally for ten-twelve hours if my eyes were okay (but not longer than this).

Again I was worried that I wouldn't get them in but I did, even though it took about ten minutes. However, after the six hours I got them out very easily and the next morning I got them in a lot quicker too. I just needed some practice and to be honest, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to get them in and out.

After my trial, I went back to the opticians, got another test and ordered thirty pairs of Focus dailies which cost around £30. This would be an expensive option if you were to wear them every day, although you would save on the cost of the solutions. I usually wear mine about two or three times a week so thirty pairs last me quite a while.

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I find them very convenient to use and the main reasons for this are:

~ You do not need to worry about cleaning them with expensive solutions as you just throw them away at the end of the day.

~ Incidentally if you drop the lens or put a great big fingermark on it, there is enough of the solution left in its little case to clean it. Or you could use a few drops of saline solution which can usually be bought in opticians or chemists for around £2-3.

~ You don't have to wear them all of the time and you only need to buy them when you need them.

~ They can be worn for up to 12 hours although mine are so comfortable that I forget that I am wearing them sometimes even when near the 12 hour limit.

~ You can see without your specs!!

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Of course they do have their disadvantages:

~ If you are squeamish about touching your eyes then maybe these are not the best option although with practice you will be able to manage it.

~ They can ma
ke your eyes a bit drier if you wear them for the maximum period of time every day. I haven't personally experienced this as I only wear them for a few days each week but there are eyedrops which you can buy to combat the dryness.

~ You may be more prone to eye infections - this is because you are putting the lenses directly into your eyes. As a result, hygiene is very important and you should also keep your fingernails short to stop the spread of germs (and to avoid accidentally ripping the lenses as well).

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So there you have it - my experience of daily disposable contact lenses. If I decide that I want to wear them every day, I will probably change to monthly disposables as they usually work out slightly cheaper on a monthly basis. Although if you shop around, you can get some really good prices.

But for now I'll be sticking with my dailies as they are both comfortable and convenient for me at the moment!