Which are the best for driving ?
I have used glasses for reading/TV and computer( i.e close-up) work for many years but recently when doing long distance driving (not wearing glasses) my eyes feel tired and strained.
I'm trying to decide whether to go for new glasses or contact lenses - which i have no experience with.
I have some brochures from the main high street opticians which list all the contact lens types (there are so many).
Boots sell a range called 'distance and near' which sounds perfect for my needs.
One of the advantages with Contact lenses is i wont have to buy prescription sunglasses.
Any thoughts/experiences appreciated.
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I wear hard, gas-permeable lenses. A pig to get used to, but fine once you have. No steaming up when you go in the pub, normal sunglasses. You have to be careful when there's dust about though. I wear sunglasses when I drive with the top down and I'm fine.
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I use monthly disposables.
Ordinarily I would say they are superior to glasses for driving. The only exception is if I've had them in too long (10hrs +) or at the height of the hayfever season. Under these conditions my sight gets a tad blury and I switch back to glasses. I also use comfort drops copiously.
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Thanks for your replies.
Have to say the thought of contact lenses breaking up is a bit scary.How long ago was this HJ ? It seems the technology has moved on a long way in just the last 5 years.
I think i will try Contact lenses but also have a pair of glasses, just in case..
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Contact lenses: excellent all-round vision, no steaming up, ordinary shades.
BUT, very fiddly at first, risk of infection (Swimming? Three days? Are you mad? You only get one pair of eyes, you know), dust, and general irritation, especially if you work with a computer, as the eye needs to move around to lubricate its surface. Oh, and if you have astigmatism, the lenses can't correct it.
Specs: limited peripheral vision (but you get used to it), and need regular cleaning.
BUT, no health problems, low risk of eye damage, no fiddling about in the morning (unless you like that kind of thing), and most opticians do a free second pair - get them made up as shades.
I've gone back to specs, just because they are more convenient, and more comfortable.
Chris
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ah-hem, contact lenses can and do correct a certain amount of astigmatism - but if you're very astigmatic you'll need toric lenses (more expensive) The higher the water content the better for astigmatism too.
Rebecca
She who knows.
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Sorry, I was talking about standard lenses. They don't "correct" it, though they can go some way towards correcting it.
Chris
Astigmatic enough to know, but not enough to bother with paying more for my lenses.
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>>risk of infection (Swimming? Three days? Are you mad? << >>the eye needs to move around to lubricate its surface<<
The daily disposables are 70%+ water, which I think helps the comfort. I do take mine out and put in fresh saline each night (for up to 3 days). If there is ever *any* irritation when I put one in, or I drop one, I bin it and use a new one. It seems to me that it is healthier not to use the cleaners etc., just pure saline.
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Hard-type lenses DO correct astigmatism as they give a new front surface to the eyeball.
Soft lenses in general don't, as they tend to conform to the natural curve (which is the cause of astigmatism in the first place).
As I said, a pig to get used to, but great once you have.
Soft lenses, comfortable pretty much straight away, but far more problems, particularly with regard to infection.
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When I last tried soft lenses approx 8 years ago, they handled my short sight + astigmatism ok for 75% of the time, but I couldn't see clearly the rest of the time. The way the lens case leaked in my suit pocket when flying didn't help and I
went back to glasses. There are constant improvements to contact
lens technology, but now I've got (definately!) past the approx
40 yr old marker where the eye lens becomes less elastic so that
you cannot see close up so easily, the ability to remove glasses
quickly and easily to see fine detail is much appreciated!
However, in the summer, contacts would make the problem of
sunglasses much easier; prescription sunglasses are ok but not
for driving - when you plunge into one of a thousand Swiss
motorway tunnels (or an underground car park anywhere) you do NOT want dark glasses. I've had to resort to a pair of American oap overglasses - side benefit is that my children pretend not to know me!
Try contacts, (but get them on trial basis!)
Good luck
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try mnthy disposables. bung them in and leave them for the whole month. no mucking about with solutions or fiddling with them each night and morning.
oh and they're soft so no hj problem of them breaking in your eye.
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