[NT] Putting in contact lenses

[FunnyDigestion]

I just got contact lenses; I've been trying to put in my contact lenses all day.

They're very frustrating. contact lenseses.

I was thinking a lot of the people in this forum probably have contact lenseses.

I got so frustrated at one point I was ready to pick something up & dropkick it all the way across the bathroom.

But I scaled it down-- I'm calm now.

The lightbulb clicked over my head a minute ago & I was thinking a lot of you NT people could give some logical advice to a brotha on how to put in contact leneseseses.

 

[FunnyDigestion]

When I first realized I had bad vision, I thought it was something everybody had. I was 14 at the time-- I figured everyone's vision got worse over time as they saw more & more of the world: I just assumed I was looking at everything a lot harder than everyone else, straining my eyes.

But by the time I had to get glasses a couple years later, I'd abandoned that belief. I guess I never believed it anyway-- it was wishful thinking. On the other side of hypochondria, you find wishful thinking.

It was painful to admit my eyes were just worse than other people's. I'd gotten used to looking at trees as vague blobs of green, looking at people's hair as vague shapes of yellow, brown, black. The experience of seeing the individual leaves on a tree was euphoric but unsettling, seeing that much detail in things. It can make you neurotic being able to see that much.

Eventually I got irritated with the way the glasses felt on my face. I started to resent them. They always seemed undersymmetrical & out of balance. With contact lenses, I'm having trouble touching my eyes. I can touch the white part but not the pupil. It's like it's very territorial-- only light gets in there. Blunt objects, fingers, they're too coarse for the pupil. I'm always blinking to keep my fingers away from my eye.

 

[Stanton Moore]

Try this:
Lubricate the lens with saline solution.
Pull down your lower lid a bit. Put the lens against the white part of the eye, then gently slid it into place with your finger tip. The lens may overlap the iris a bit. that's ok, since that's where it's going anyway.

After a while you can do this with one holding the lens with your thumb and index finger, and pulling the lid down with your middle finger.

 

[Stanton Moore]

Also, make sure tha the lens is oriented the right way. Otherwise it's likely to pop out.

 

[CCCXXIX]

when I was 8, I went to get my eyes checked.

Turns out my eyes are terrible.

Optometrist tells me I can have contacts if I want.

I sit down to try to put them in.

I can still remember the difficulties I was having.

She told me if I couldn't get them in I would have to wear glasses.

So I sat there for 3 hours until I finally got both in. My mom and sister were there with me, they wanted to just go home. But I was a stubborn little bastard.

It's all about how you angle it against your eye, and after that it's all about forcing it. Keep your eyeball completely still, don't move it at all, place the contact in and then move it to the center and blink. Voila.

 

[Rail Tracer]

Hahahaha, it is like that for most people. Back then, I generally had a harder time taking them out compared to putting them in.

For putting them in:
1: Use your opposite hand from your eye to place the contact you are about to put in.
2: Use the hand on the same side as your eye to open your eyelid. Easiest fingers to use are the middle and index finger.

For taking them out:
1: Similar process as putting them in.
2: While taking the contacts out, use your index finger and thumb to slightly pinch the contacts to come off.

If you have astigmatism, make sure you look at your contacts, it is shaped a particular way so that the bottom part of the contact only has wording (while the other three directions have lines.) If you don't have astigmatism, it isn't something to worry about too much.

 

[FunnyDigestion]

when I was 8, I went to get my eyes checked.

[...]

So I sat there for 3 hours until I finally got both in. My mom and sister were there with me, they wanted to just go home. But I was a stubborn little bastard.

I was at the eye place for about an hour. I was already too annoyed after the first 3 tries to keep going, but the doctor kept encouraging me so I continued. I was half-assing it by that point though since I just wanted to leave. It's weird, when I first came in I figured it would be easy.

What I'm doing now is just practicing touching the center of my eye since I only have 2 disposable sets to practice with & I don't want to waste them.

When I was 8, I think that's when I learned how to walk.

 

[FunnyDigestion]

Hahahaha, it is like that for most people. Back then, I generally had a harder time taking them out compared to putting them in.

I thought taking them out would be way easier, but then the doctor explained the pinching thing you talked about. Making me realize I'm supposed to put two fingers in my eye. Shiiiit son..

 

[Stanton Moore]

Pull it off of the center of your eye before you pinch.

 

[FunnyDigestion]

Yeah I've kinda given up for today, I'm going to be posting on the forum for the rest of the day. I'll file everyone's advice away but I'm busy now, I'm procrastinating.

 

[Red Herring]

Man, I remember the trouble I had when I first tried contacts years ago. That reflex of closing your eye to protect it is very strong, but you can train to ignore/circumvent it.

I am concluding from your later remarks that you have disposable soft contacts. Good news is those should be easier to get used to than hard contact lenses.
Yes, I know how frustrating it can be not to get them in right away, but it is a question of practice and patience. So take a deep breath and don't panic.

[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERKfkxLKdf0&feature=related"]How to...[/YOUTUBE]

I only have experience with hard contact lenses which I was told are healthier in the long run and last for years but are harder to get used to at first. Don't know how much of this can be applied to soft ones (which are easier on the eye at first but also bigger, so you have to open your eyes even more).

- calm down
- if you do this in front of the bathroom mirror over the sink, make sure the plug is down, so that if you should drop the lense it can't end up in the drain
- make sue the lense is moist enough, your index finger not only clean but dry, so the lense doesn't slid around on it (very annoying!)
- the lense has to be parallel to the eyeball otherwise you might hit the eyeball with the edge (maybe more a hard lense than a soft lense issue) which might trigger anotherb blink reflex
- you obviously don't want to poke your eyes out but I have noticed that I often underestimated the distance between the finger and the eye and moved the finger too softly towards the eye, this takes practice

The blinking reflex is natural and hard to get rid of. But you can do it and it gets easier every time.

Once you have the contacts in your eyes the next step is keeping them in! At least with the hard ones that too takes practice. You start with maybe 15 or 30 minutes the first day, a little longer the second day, etc. Because it stings a bit at first and feels uncomfortable to have them in. Also, you might initially run around with your eyes half closed and have a hard time opening them up like you would without lenses.

All of this is just for your information to have you mentally prepared. I tried contacts when I was 16 and went through a very tough time getting used to them. But they kept fogging up in my eyes. So I had to return to glasses. Then at 21 I tried it again and it worked just fine without any major trouble whatsoever.

I have now been wearing them for ten years. Putting them in and getting them out (with the help of a little rubber sucker for hard contacts, I never learned to do it with the fingers) takes only a few seconds and I don't even notice I am wearing them.

Contact lenses are a gift of civilization and I am very happy to have them. But getting used to them and learning how to use them can be a trial. Don't give up or alternatively try again later like I did. You are not alone with that problem and I think it is worth persisting.

 

[FunnyDigestion]

Thanks for the post. Yeah, I'm sure I'll get it eventually, there's a learning curve with everything. That kid in the video has huge eyes though, my eyeholes are smaller & my index finger is almost as wide as the height of my eye. I'll get it though... if Asian people can wear these things I can.

 

[INTP]

Put the lens on a flat surface and put your eye on it, its much easier this way. Might sound bit weird, but poking your eye with finger is just unnatural..

 

[ceecee]

I can't use them either.

 

[Rail Tracer]

I thought taking them out would be way easier, but then the doctor explained the pinching thing you talked about. Making me realize I'm supposed to put two fingers in my eye. Shiiiit son..

Hahahaha, it's unnatural at first, but it IS the easiest way to get them out of your eye in a timely manner.

There is just so many things I love doing without having to bring bulky glasses along. It ain't like laser eye surgery, but it is like it.

 

[FunnyDigestion]

I've been touching my eyes all day, I think I'm almost to the point where I could gouge my eyes out. This is awesome, I can't wait to be so much cooler with my non-glasses

 

[pmj85]

Eh, I promise you they're easy once you've done it a few times. I just bang mine straight in without even thinking about it these days.

The first time was a pain in the arse though, so I feel your frustration. Just stick at it. Pro tip: They really don't hurt, so don't be afraid of them. If anything, putting in fresh lenses is cooling and refreshes the eye.

 

[Falcarius]

Is Falcarius the only one who thinks taking out contact lenses is harder than putting them in?

 

[ThatGirl]

I used to teach kids how to put theirs in. The easiest way that I found was this:

• Clean the contact thoroughly with solution.
• Make sure the contact is facing the right way. Looks like a cup, not a flared bowl.
• Place the contact on your index finger.
• Make sure all your other fingers are dry and not wet from solution.
• With one hand hold the eye open as wide as you can and look to the side.
• Use your perifrial vision to guide the other hand to place the contact on the side white of your eye.
• Do not PUT the contact on!
• Simply let the edges of the contact touch the sphere of your eye at the same time, lightly.
• The contact with naturally come off your finger and adhere to the eye.
• Keeping the eye open with your hand, roll your eye around and look down.
• While looking down, slowely close the lid of your eye, and press or blink to clear pockets of air.
• Open your eye.
• Contact should be in place and functional.
• Repeat other eye.

I usually hold the top of my eye with my left middle finger, the bottom with the right middle finger, and use my right index to place the contact. This is because I need a lot of white to place the contact on. If I see it coming, my reflexes are too quick, and its NOT getting in there.

 

[Rasofy]

Blah. -> The new sexy