Eyesight and contacts

[AutumnDae]

Well I suppose I should start off by saying that I have REALLY bad eyesight. To read what I am typing without my glasses on I have to be less than a foot away, probably about 8 or so inches. I also never take my glasses off really, except to shower, and sleep of course. If I somehow can't find my glasses in the morning, I have to keep my eyes closed until my mom finds them for me, or feel around blindly because I get a headache if I open my eyes for too long. But anyways, two years ago I decided to try contacts. I just got the trial pair to see if I wanted to keep them. I decided against keeping them. They didn't hurt my eyes or anything, I just didn't want them so much. But next time I go to the eye doctor's I am planning on getting them. My eyesight is getting worse, I can tell just from my glasses. But I just wanted to get some more info on contacts. Is the fact that my eyes are getting progressively worse going to affect them? If I fall asleep with them in, is it going to be a huge problem?

I'm also planning on getting glasses also, just in case I get some sort of an infection or something.

[iJack]

There are kind that you can sleep in, but i suggest you always have a back-up pair of glasses.

more info:
http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2214.html

[Mr. Smithers]

Well it depends on the kind of contacts that you are getting. Some contacts allow you to sleep with them on and some don't.

It depends on your medical insurance as to which ones you can have. To me, I would just stick to glasses. I have had contacts for 2 weeks and I was told I can't look at bright lights for more than 1 hour and then I had to wash them and that became annoying.

But its up to you. If you feel more comfortable with contacts then you should wear them.

[AutumnDae]

I want the ones that you take out every night, and put them in every morning. I want the ones that last 2 weeks also.

[Kaleidoscope Eyes]

That sounds like a good plan, getting the two-week disposables. Those are pretty thin, so you don't really feel them at all (the daily ones are even thinner). If you accidentally fall asleep with them in, they'll dry up a bit and when you wake up your eyes will feel sort of "glued shut" and a little scratchy, but then you just have to take them out and put in a new pair (it's happened to me before). Most people's eyes get a bit worse over time, it happens, and wearing contacts won't affect that. It'll be just like with your glasses, you'll eventually notice that things aren't as clear as they used to be and you'll go to the eye doctor to see if your prescription has changed.

If your eyes are often dry, get a few bottles of eye drops. One that stays in your room or in the medicine cabinet, and another that you keep in your backpack/purse when you leave the house. Dry eyes + contacts = annoying, it'll feel like you have something in your eye (because you do) and, while it won't hurt or anything, it can be really bothersome. Eye drops are important, because a lot of people don't realize that you can't use water. People think you can take your contact out, rinse it in water and put it back in, but you can't. What happens, is the water gets trapped between the lens and your eye, where it's moist and warm, the perfect environment for bacteria to breed and then you can get an infection. Eye drops (ones for use with contacts), and the solution you clean your lenses in are designed to keep that from happening. Your doctor should cover all of that with you, but I remember one of my friends was cleaning her contacts in the sink at school once, and she said her doctor had never told her not to do that. It's something worth knowing about.