Through the looking glass... or lens! (Soft Lenses in General)

Member Name: daylelisahall

Product:	Soft Lenses in General
Date:	26/12/06 (221 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comfortable, available in 10 different colours

Disadvantages: Fragile, can be difficult to tell which was round they go

I have had the wear contact lenses since May this year. I opted for lenses rather than glasses, as they are more practical for my lifestyle. My optician explained that he would have to make sure my eyes were suitable for lenses and after thorough tests, he told me about the various options of lenses available to me.

I could have 1-day lenses, which you dispose of every day, weekly lenses, or monthly lenses. I opted for the weekly lenses as I didn't like the idea of having to take the lenses out everyday and I didn't like the idea of keeping something in my eye for a month.

Acuvue 2 weekly disposable contacts can be worn in two different ways. You can wear them 24/7 for a week (including sleeping in them) and then dispose of them, or you can take them out each night, which means that the contacts will last for two weeks. Personally I tend to wear them for a week and then start a new pair.

About Contact Lenses

Contact lenses are small, ultra-thin, optical lenses worn directly on the eye to correct vision problems (like nearsightedness, farsightedness). Contact lenses can be hard or soft, can replace glasses or bifocal glasses and can also enhance or change the colour of your eyes.

Most contact lenses are soft, or "hydrophilic," meaning they are made of water. (This is how soft contact lenses stay soft.) Soft contact lenses are extremely thin and are manufactured from materials that allow oxygen to pass through them and reach the eye surface, meaning your eyes are left to feel as natural as possible while wearing the lenses.

Acuvue 2 Lenses

As already mentioned, these contacts can be worn as a two week daily wear lens if you take the lenses out each night, or as a one week continuous lens if you were to sleep in them for 6 nights. I find these contacts are perfect for my lifestyle, I am a shift worker, and if I am working nights, I take my contacts out when I go to sleep which means I get two weeks wear out of them. On the other hand, if I am working a week of earlies (getting up at 5am) then I wear them continuously for a week as it suits me better.

These contacts are very fragile as they are super thin! You have to be very careful when handling them not to damage or mis shape them.

Advantages

· Can be worn however you choose, either for the week continuously or for two weeks taking them out every night
· These contacts are also available in 10 different colours as well as clear so if you felt the need to change your eye colour then you could achieve that with this brand.
· These contacts have UVA and UVB blocking to help in protecting your eyes against the dangerous rays of the sun.
· On some people, these lenses can even be used underwater. I do scuba diving and recently went on holiday where I swam underwater with my eyes open and had no problems at all. My optician explained that some people can use them underwater and other can't.

Disadvantages

· Wearing them non stop for a week means that they can sometimes get a bit grimy and you have to take them out and give them a clean anyway which kind of defeats the object of wearing them 24/7.
· They are very thin (please note this is an advantage while you are wearing them but not when you are trying to put them in).
· I wear the clear lenses and quite often I find it difficult trying to decipher which side is the right side. My optician explained that one side will be bowl like (this is what it looks like the correct way round) and the other side almost makes the lens go squarish, rather than round. However, once you have taken both your lenses out, it is quite difficult to figure out which side is which, therefore you end up putting your lenses in back to front which is a little uncomfortable.

Other information regarding Acuvue 2 Lenses

If you are planning on wearing these lenses on a 2-week basis, then you will also need to purchase some contact lens solutions and a lens case. Obviously when you take the contacts out for the evening, you will need to store them in the solution, inside the lens case. The contact lens solution can be brought pretty much anywhere; I get mine from Tesco's and it costs about £6 a bottle. The lens case comes included with the bottle. The bottle lasts me for ages, about 3 months so far as you don't need much solution to soak them in.

Price

I pay £36 for 6 weeks worth of these contact lenses. If I were to wear them on a 2 weekly basis, then I would be paying £36 for 12 weeks, as I would get double the wear from them. I think that you can probably get these contact lens cheaper elsewhere as I am currently registered with a small family run opticians and I think they charge slightly more than others.

Where can I buy them?

You can buy these lenses from most opticians. They are made by Johnson and Johnson so should be available worldwide.

Unfortunately I am only able to compare these lenses with one other pair. I had an eye infection a couple of months ago and was advised to wear daily disposable for a week. The daily disposables felt thicker and were actually larger than the weekly disposables although to be honest I still found them to be as comfortable. If you are looking for a lens that suits your lifestyle, rather than you having to plan your life around the fact that you wear lenses, then these lenses should be perfect for you. Very comfortable, made by a recognised brand and relatively cheap.

Summary: Comfortable and can be worn all week, expensive though