I wore glasses for years and then went to contacts for about 5 years. Had lasik 10 years ago and it was life changing. I highly recommend lasik if you are a candidate.

I'm gonna hafta take the leap soon. I'm pretty blind. I usually just buy large shit to compensate for it. I bought a 65'' TV, and I even moved it closer to me. It's probably about 8-10 feet away when I sit on the couch and sometimes I have to squint at that. I found a reputable place that costs $99.99 for an exam, but I don't know how much contacts will cost...

[rain man irrationality]And yet you put a foreign object in them and don't protect them with an armored lens protecting against light-speed rocks and stuff.[/irrationality]

I know I'm completely irrational about it, and contacts are harmless. It just gives me the heebie-jeebies, and seems like one more life complication that's optional over just swiping a washcloth across a lens.

Though I sure wish I could get back to good eyesight. In the past five years, my up-close vision has completely gone to hades.

So that's why you only date women over 300 pounds. All the pieces are falling into place now.

heh, I actually wear these huge goofy-looking $5 sunglasses when I mow or use the trimmer. It's not really a choice for me. I'm one of the few people for whom glasses dont work worth a damn, so I have to like contacts.

Another advantage that I didn't mention is that the entire field of vision is corrected. Its a small thing, but I dont have to deal with blurriness out of the top/bottom corners of my eye where the glasses aren't covering.

I think its roughly $30 per eye +tax per box (3 months). Maybe a little less if you can order them yourself over the internet. Not sure how that works, maybe you pay a doctor for the exam and prescription, then buy them yourself? Sometimes you get a discount for buying a year's supply.

So, maybe $250 for 2 eyes for 1 year. 4 boxes per eye, 6 contacts in each box, so 24 contacts per eye, 2 weeks each, so a little less than a year. You can try to stretch them out longer if you want, but thats up to you.

edit: this is for 2-week disposables. I have no idea how much contacts that are intended to last longer cost for a year supply. I just like having 2-week disposables because I think they are more comfortable.

This is pretty much completely false. If you're willing to spend the money, they have contacts out there designed to go a full 30 days of day/night wear without any issues at all. It's recommended you take them out to clean them after 15 days, but you don't even have to do that.

[Shrug]...They're *your* eyes, maltreat em how you want to, I guess.

The contacts I wear are 24/7 for 30 days. When I first started wearing them five years ago they recommended taking them out once a week due to infection concerns. That was found to be a non-issue and now there's no problem wearing them 30 days straight. I just had a checkup in February and my eyes are as healthy as can be. The advice your ophthalmologist gave you is bogus. I'm sure he has stuff to sell you to do it another way.

I tried, lord I tried, but sticking my finger in my eye, was just something I couldn't get used to.
My wife used to have to put them in for me, I finally gave up.

I'm guessing its more along the lines of "the added risk is negligible for these specific contacts" rather than "it makes no difference at all". I refuse to believe that taking out contacts every night makes no difference at all. I've had 3 eye doctors and none of them like the idea of wearing them to bed, no matter what kind of contacts they are.

If you have contacts intended to be worn a lot where taking them out every night reduces the risk by only 1%/year or whatever of getting an infection, I might believe that, but with my eyes I want to take that extra step to avoid an infection even if it doesnt make much of a difference.

Seriously, it takes no effort at all. It's what 45 seconds out of the day, no discomfort, no hassle, to remove and clean contacts. I don't understand why anyone wouldn't.

Because the contacts are DESIGNED to last 30 days in your eyes without being taken out. The more you take them out and mess with them, the more they lose their integrity. And eye infections are a nuisance at worst. You get some antibiotic eye drops and use them for a week to get rid of the infection. It's not like you go blind.

The thing people need to worry about is starving your eyes of oxygen because that can cause some permanent damage. This happens when you buy regular short term contacts (that are meant to be cleaned daily or disposed of weekly, etc) and wearing them for months at a time without cleaning.

It is for the birds...

Yes, the early contacts were not very oxygen-permeable. I tried them in the late 80s and after a week with them I went back for a follow up, and my optometrist said, "Oh, um, you need to stop wearing them." I said, "Why?" he said, "Well, they're making veins grow across your eyes and, if they touch, you'll go blind." :eek:

This. I tried them last year and had a hard time getting them in and out. One night it took me an hour and a half to get them out.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to try them again. I'm getting a cataract removed in my left eye and the lens they're implanting will correct that eye's vision. And I can't have 20/20 in one eye and 20/800 in the other, because I can't wear a monocle... and, even if I could, the size difference in the images would make it impossible to see. (When your vision's really bad, glasses make images 15% smaller, so my brain would never be able to combine the two images.) So once I get this operation I'll need a contact in the right eye. I figure, if I only have to put 'em in ONE eye, it might be easier... hopefully...