Going from daily contacts to monthlies?

[-C-]

Been wearing dailies for about 6 months now & all is fine, but the maximum of 12 hours usage isn't ideal unfortunately, If I go anywhere near the 12 hour window too, even with some eye drops they are pretty hard work to wear.

So i've been looking at making the switch to monthly disposables, as I was told you can wear them for longer periods because they allow the eyes to breath more.

Initially I was put off with the whole cleaning/solution etc but that doesn't really bother me as its not exatly time consuming.

There is of course the added advantage of 3 months supply costing the same as one month of dailies.

Is this something I need to go & see my optician about or can I just make the switch?

[Digger]

You can probably order them online if you have a recent prescription to hand. Personally I'd go to the optician and ask for a trial pair for free. Then you can fob them off and save loads online. FYI I have used monthlies for many years now and never feel the need to clean them. They last longer that way IMO. It's against standard practice but I wear mine for up to 6-8 weeks (I'm a tightwad). When I admitted this to the optician she was surprised as the lenses were in good nick, purely because I didn't rub them 'clean' every night, but just allowed the solution to soak-clean. Ymmv. My next pair I might try cleaning one every night and see how they compare after a month.

Edit to add that if possible try not to wear them for longer than 12 hours. After 3 or 4 weeks of 12 hour days the lenses will still feel drier, stickier, and slightly smeared vision will be apparent in my experience at any rate.

Edited by Digger on Tuesday 5th January 16:07

[Maz1]

I wear my monthly contacts for around 12 odd hours a day, have never cleaned any of them, just leave to soak in their solution every night.

I've only worn monthlys so cant comment on daily lenses, however since I changed from glasses to lenses, my sight quality has actually got better and now remained the same strength for around 6 years.

[Hammer67]

Been wearing monthlies for nearly 25 years. Never clean em, just soak em overnight. I only fit new ones when the current pair start to itch, some pairs last a fair bit longer than a month. My precription has changed once since 1986. I wear them for up to 16 hours every day and have even been swimming without losing them.

[shakotan]

I have monthlies and rarely take them out, even at night.

Mine are high silicone so let the eye breathe.

[TheEnd]

When i first got contact lenses, they were yearly replaceable.

As technology got better, and prices lower, they started doing them thinner and less durable, but they'd allow more air, so you could wear them longer.

I guess with dailys, they've hit the price barrier, and can't supply 30 sets of hi flow lenses compared to monthlys which only need 2.

Dailys would be thinner as they only need to last a day, but i guess they can't compete with the gas permeable tech used in monthly replaceable.

i found dailys to be impossible to tell i had them in, despite the fact i thought monthlys were un-noticeable.

My monthlys are replaced when i feel the need, so i have loads left over, just remember to use the proper cleaning stuff, i had a very bad infection once which caused a bit of corneal scarring, but luckily it recovered a month or so later, but it was close to permanent damage!

[Ritchie335is]

I have been wearing monthlys for years, didnt ever bother with dailys. After years of 12hr+ daily wear I was just told that they are knackering my eyes.
The optition likened it to having a plaster on your finger but never having it off long enough
to allow the "wound" to heal properly.
So glasses for me now to give my peepers a rest! I dont own a pair at the moment so all new for me.

[Digger]

shakotan said:

I have monthlies and rarely take them out, even at night.

Mine are high silicone so let the eye breathe.

errr. . .how can your eye breathe in that situation, eye covered with lens, covered with eyelid, 24hrs a day, nearly a complete lack of oxygen! All opticians (if pushed) will agree that 24hr lenses are a gimmick, yet you are doing it with monthly disposables?




Yeah I come from a (mostly) medical family. . .

[ascayman]

when i went to the opticians the other day and expressed my desire to have laser treatment the optician told be about these new lenses that you wear at night and take out in the morning then your vision for the day as if by magic is fine.

anyone tried these?? sounds like a reasonable alternative to laser surgery

[Herbie58]

I have used monthlies and dailys. I much prefer dailys. The monthlys become a pain the arse with solution all over the countertop and if you rip them or lose them it's more expensive to replace.

I have found an online place that do really good dailies at much much cheaper prices. Google DaySoft Lenses. I get two months supply of dailies for £20. Go for their own brand but the higher moisture (75 I think its called).

[dubbs]

I've worn contact for about 15 years now. Dailies are the best option but the different brands vary hugly. My Focus dailies manage 14 hours no problem.

SERIOUSLY CLEAN LENSES PROPERLY!!! My cousin thought he could just let his soak... one day, a small bacteria/virus that would have been removed by "aggravating" the lense surface went in to his eye... it took a week before he was in hospital, on serious strength IV administers drugs with the hospital fighting to save his eye.

All because the lenses weren't cleaned properly - the rubbing action is key as it removed the slimy membrane that forms between lense and eye and allow bacteria to live

My opticians have always recommended avoiding these 24h+ lenses... your eye needs to breathe and "rinse" properly - something it can't do 100% with lenses in.

[SGirl]

I switched from yearlies to monthlies to dailies, and I'd never go back. I found that monthlies became uncomfortable with less than 6 hours' wear by the end of their life, whereas with dailies I can wear a pair all day. If I need them in later on in the day I can take them out at a convenient point, give it an hour and then put in a fresh pair. I normally wear them for 10-12 hours or so during the day. This is generally a one-off every few months or so though, so it's not like I'm wearing lenses all the time.

So to summarise: I definitely the dailies over the monthlies. Much more comfortable to wear.

Edited by SGirl on Wednesday 6th January 14:34

[LordGrover]

Digger said:

You can probably order them online if you have a recent prescription to hand. Personally I'd go to the optician and ask for a trial pair for free. Then you can fob them off and save loads online. FYI I have used monthlies for many years now and never feel the need to clean them. They last longer that way IMO. It's against standard practice but I wear mine for up to 6-8 weeks (I'm a tightwad). When I admitted this to the optician she was surprised as the lenses were in good nick, purely because I didn't rub them 'clean' every night, but just allowed the solution to soak-clean. Ymmv. My next pair I might try cleaning one every night and see how they compare after a month.

Edit to add that if possible try not to wear them for longer than 12 hours. After 3 or 4 weeks of 12 hour days the lenses will still feel drier, stickier, and slightly smeared vision will be apparent in my experience at any rate.

When I told my optician I rarely cleaned mine he lectured me on the risk I was taking also showing me some photos of nasty infections. I clean them daily now.

[glazbagun]

I started with monthlies then switched to the type you can sleep with- this is the most amazing thing in the world ever since I changed to contacts themselves! Clean them once a week, shove em back in and forget they're there.

[shakotan]

Digger said:

shakotan said:

I have monthlies and rarely take them out, even at night.

Mine are high silicone so let the eye breathe.

errr. . .how can your eye breathe in that situation, eye covered with lens, covered with eyelid, 24hrs a day, nearly a complete lack of oxygen! All opticians (if pushed) will agree that 24hr lenses are a gimmick, yet you are doing it with monthly disposables?




Yeah I come from a (mostly) medical family. . .

I'm no scientist, but was told by the optitian that the higer silicon content allowed the eye to 'breathe' through the lens. Whether this is complete tosh or not, who know, but I've been leaving lenses in for periods of up to one month for over 10 years now with no adverse effects.