Toric contact lenses help

gb155 · May 2011

Ok, I had a retest today and it seems they got it REALLY wrong last time

I was having HELL with my new Bins

now I know why

I want to give toric contact lenses a go, is there anywhere I can buy just a single box from online ? I have never wore 'em before but my lust for cycling sunglasses knows no ends

My eyes are:

L SPH: -6.50, CYL: -3.00, Axis :165.0

R SPH: -6.50, CYL: -2.00, Axis :5.0

optimisticbiker · May 2011

Have you considered Cycling Sunglassses with optical inserts? I cant get on with contacts. It seems many of the leading brands of Sunglasses can be had with inserts (as opposed to prescription lenses which are only ok for low prescirptions on non-wraparounds). I looked at Oakley, Rudy Project and Salice and opted for the latter...

or does your lust mean you have to buy many pairs of sunglasses :shock:

gb155 · May 2011

OptimisticBiker wrote:

Have you considered Cycling Sunglassses with optical inserts? I cant get on with contacts. It seems many of the leading brands of Sunglasses can be had with inserts (as opposed to prescription lenses which are only ok for low prescirptions on non-wraparounds). I looked at Oakley, Rudy Project and Salice and opted for the latter...

or does your lust mean you have to buy many pairs of sunglasses :shock:

Yup I have, 99% of places cant do them in my 'script tho

So wanna at least try contacts

optimisticbiker · May 2011

Hmmm...has a quick look at the online places my son gets his... none sell toric in your prescription, seesm +6.5/3 is too high... probably a specialist buy

gb155 · May 2011

Sorry , its -6.50 and -3.0

optimisticbiker · May 2011

gb155 wrote:

Sorry , its -6.50 and -3.0

Can do the -6.5, but not the cyl: max they go to is -1.75. Still think its going to be a special order.

Many optical inserts can go as high as -10 with the new hi-index plastic lenses, but you'll need to find an optician that can order them for you, not all will.

kurako · May 2011

I use these guys but I tend to buy a few months supply at a time.

http://www.contactlenses.co.uk/

Will your optician not give you some to try out? If not, try a different optician.

davis · May 2011

You have to phone them up and talk to them; many places do more than their website suggests. I've got optical inserts at a prescription of around -8

greg66_tri_v2.0 · May 2011

A few years ago I switched from specs to toric lenses. Last about 18 months. Went to specs, running.

They may have improved since I had them, but the basic issue I had was this: they are weighted to ensure that they present the bang on corrective angle for your eyes. The trouble is that they slip and slide on your eye. The weight isn't heavy enough to hold them in place, and they rotate.

As you know, when you're sitting in the chair, rotating your lens 2 degrees makes a difference. Rotating 5 or more makes a *big* difference - the world goes very soft. I was forever having to poke a finger in my eye to rotate them back into position manually. This was always sh!t, but ESP when driving fast or cycling in heavy traffic. And if you get plane tree dust in there too...

Eventually I got fed up with this, and went back to specs. I understand 100% the desire you have to try toric lenses. I had it in spades. But I'd advise everyone who can be bothered to listen to skip it.

For riding, I use Rudy Projects with a prescription clip in insert. Much, much better. I picked the RPs up on eBay - I chose ekynoxes, which are very "tall" so you never get to look over them when you're riding. The prescription insert was pretty cheap, IIRC. It isn't optically perfect, but for cycling that really doesn't matter.

Dude, wait until you get longsightedness, shortsightedness and astigmatism all rolled into the same prescription...

optimisticbiker · May 2011

Greg66 wrote:

Dude, wait until you get longsightedness, shortsightedness and astigmatism all rolled into the same prescription...

Thats why I went for the Salice, the inserts are bigger than the Oakleys, similar to the Rudy ones. I normally wear varifocals but as I dont need to read books while cycling (just see the road and the cycle computer) I have got 'Executive D' bifocals - i.e. mainly distance with a little section for intermediate use - in the lightweight polycarbonate lenses, worth the extra £15 or so over the CR39 standard lens.

hstiles · May 2011

I would expect your optician to allow you to sample at least one different make of lens. Go for monthly disposables for a while and you should be able to wrangle at least two sets. That gives you plenty of time to try them out.

sketchley · May 2011

You need to go find an optician to help you with this as contact lens prescriptions are often different from galsses. My astigmatism prescription is very high and soft contact lenses do not go high enough in the astigmatism correction to be precise, consequently I have an adjustment in the my normal correction to compensate which works very well. Also the lens in my right eye doesn't sit in the correct position (as per Greg66 comments above) so is adjusted with an extra 10 degree rotation. The net result of this is very good vision in both eyes. A good optician will also be able to sort out a free trial as you may need to try several brands before finding the correct one for you. Most opticians are happy for you to pay them for checkups and test and then buy lenses on line, mine does. They make their money from appointments anyway. Personnally I would find a good local optician and stay away from the chains or supermarkets, although tesco £10 glasses are a bit of bargin when you only have glasses as a back up.

I tried many lenses before I settling on the ones I have now, again as per Gregg66's comments I found most lenses moved around making them useless for most things apart from leisure use, and absolutely useless for work as I kept loosing place on the screen when writing code. For me a least this meant that I was paying for monthly disposable lens and only wearing them on Friday nights which was expensive. I then tried dailies, the thought being I would only wear a pair a week, but as they couldn’t correct the astigmatism enough I got headaches after about 3 hours of wear.

About 5 years ago I change to Bausch and Lomb Purevision Toric lenses, and haven’t looked back (excuse the pun). These lenses are continuous wear apart from the bonus that you sleep in them they are very thin and do not dry out. As they are so thin they are very comfortable to the point of not noticing you are wearing them and they stay in position. I have near perfect vision, certainly good enough for driving, cycling and computer work. I wear them all the time, sleep in them etc, it takes about 5 minute to “adjust” first thing in the morning which I guess is the lens going the right way up, and I need to plan one day off per month as per opticians advice. Via the internet I can get 6 months for £75 delivered from www.lenstore.co.uk

To show you the difference, my contact lens prescription is

L SPH -2.75 CYL -1.75 AX 180
R SPH -3.5 CYL -1.75 AX 10

Glasses Prescription is

L SPH -3.75 CYL -2.00 AX 172
R SPH -3.75 CYL -2.00 AX 180

mitchell_inman · May 2011

I have been using disposable toric lenses for several years now, and would ditto what greg66 said. I'm forever adjusting the left lens to get perfect vision.

I find them fine for riding, running and playing squash and badminton, but can't wear them for reading or working (VDU).

Have had more trial pairs than I care to think about. These have always been free of charge, so you should be able to find an optician to let you try them out.

I've been offered custom made, non-disposbale ones, which would probably give a better fit than the off the shelf disposables. Note the "probably" - no guarantee, and they're expensive!

My prescription is:

L SPH -4.50 CYL -1.75 AX 020
R SPH -5.75 CYL -1.25 AX 180

I like the sound of the lenses you've got Sketchley - think I might ask about them at my next eye test.

t4tomo · May 2011

definately need to go via your optician, to get right prescription and lens to suit your eye size/ shape.

They will normally give you free trial packs anyway on the daily disposables.

I have toric lenses and don't have a problem with the rotation thing, but can't wear them for work as aircon and office lighting dry my eyes out too much (nothing to do with torics - had teh same probblem pre astigmatism).

MonkeyMonster · May 2011

I use weighted torics too - monthlies and they work fine with the odd bit of greg shift (as it were)

ince · May 2011

Have you tried Specsavers?

Don't know if they are still running it but in Feb/March I had a months free trial. I had a go with monthlies and dailies. For the dailies they gave two sample boxes of 5, enough to test them out and check the prescription is correct and that I could get on with them.

I then bought a months worth off them as to be honest they went out of their way to make sure all was right and I was happy.

Next lot I buy will be online to save the cash.

paulintheforest · May 2011

I spent a couple of years using monthly disposables but they were a compromise for leisure use only as they didn't go far enough to correct my astigmatism. A few years ago I finally bit the bullet and tried the hard contact lenses. Since then I have been able to wear them almost every day and glasses are mainly just for back up. Daily and monthly never quite seemed good enough. Also the cost is not so bad. I think mine are £80 an eye and with daily use I have never had to replace one for wearing out, although I think I have lost 3 of them. Also the monthly running costs are small as it's just a bottle of solution.

I agree with those above who recommend a good local optician, I've been seeing mine (no pun intended, just can't think of a different word) since I was about 4, she knows my eyes and knows what works for me after about 32 years of testing my eyes. She managed to get a sample made up to my exact prescription that was effectively on test. I only had to pay when I was sure I wanted it.

Toric contact lenses help

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