A Small Price to Pay for Perfect Eyesight (Specsavers Easy Vision All Day - All Night)

Member Name: chocaholic110

Product:	Specsavers Easy Vision All Day - All Night
Date:	21/01/09 (287 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Convenient, comfortable, easy to use

Disadvantages: The monthly direct debit

Having terrible eyesight has plagued my life as far back as I can remember. All through my early school life I couldn't ever read what was on the blackboard, even when sitting at the front of the class and when watching TV at home my nose would be almost touching the screen.

Looking back, it's amazing that my poor eyesight wasn't ever noticed by a parent or teacher, but my first experiences with an optician was when I finally confessed to my Mum that I didn't think I could see very well when I was aged 13. After a hastily arranged trip to a local optician I was prescribed a pretty strong pair of glasses (so strong that my Mum paid extra for specially thinned lenses for I didn't have the proverbial jam jar bottoms!) and immediately the world came into focus. All those fuzzy areas of colour suddenly became trees and signs and people's faces with eyes and noses and mouths! It's a bit sad but it was a wondrous day and I spent the bus journey home staring agape out of the window astounded at the detail I could suddenly see!

Now my new glasses were fantastic for improving my eyesight but were not the most glamorous of contraptions and I spent the next couple of years begging for contact lenses. However, even when I finally got some they were less than impressive, uncomfortable, irritating to the eyes and I absolutely hated inserting and removing them. Although over the next few years I dabbled in wearing them - usually just for special occasions or going out - for the vast majority of the time I stuck to my glasses.

Until a day that changed my life, which might sound an over-exaggeration but it honestly isn't. The optician suggested I try Specsavers Easyvision All Day - All Night Contact lenses. These are contact lenses that can be worn continously for 30 days - without ever having to take them out. You can sleep in them quite safely, something that was a complete no-no with all my previous lenses. From the very first time I wore them I was hooked.

The lenses come in a package in the post every three months and contain three lenses for the right eye and three for the left; the pack for the right eye is marked with a huge sticker with a capital R, presumably so that you can still read it without contact lenses in. Each lens is packed in a small plastic tray with a peel off lid. You simply peel back the lid and poke your (clean) finger into the fluid, scoop out the lens and insert it in your eye.

The lenses are easy to put in and once in they are really comfortable. I can't even feel them in my eyes and people tell me that they can't see that I wear them. Occasionally, I get an eyelash or piece of dust underneath and my eye becomes a bit irritable but if this happens I simply take the lens out, rinse and re-insert and this usually solves the problem.

The absolute best thing about the lenses is that as they can be kept in during the night, if I wake up in the middle of the night I can see my alarm clock clearly instead of having to scrabble about for glasses to be able to read the fuzzy red blur! Plus there's no steaming up of glasses when coming in out of cold weather. In fact, it's just like being a "normal" person. Also, as they can be kept in for 30 days they only need to be inserted once a month which is a big advantage to me as I hate messing about putting lenses in and out of my eyes. I have to insert them so infrequently that be honest, I have almost forgotten that I wear lenses!

Once the month is up, you simply remove the old lenses, throw them away and open a new pair.

Included in the £15.50 a month cost is all the aftercare appointments. I have an appointment once a year to make sure my eyes are healthy and the lenses fit properly but the optician will make a more regular appointment if there are any problems at all. In the latest letter I've received it appears that eye-tests are now also included in the cost - previously this had to be paid separately.

An additional bonus is that if you happen to lose a lens before the month is up, something that I've done a couple of times, Specsavers will replace it with a new one free of charge, although I think they will only do this once (or possibly twice) a year - so you can't stock up and then have free months!

To summarise, for me at least, these have got to be one the best inventions of the last few years. The only down-side is the monthly direct debit cost, but this has steadily reduced since I started wearing the lenses and hopefully it may even reduce further.

I would heartily recommend these lenses to anyone. If you are one of the people reluctant to try contact lenses because they don't want to poke a finger in their eye, then give these a try. You won't regret it!

Summary: Just like having normal eyesight!