Contact Lenses for Computer Professionals? 171
LxDengar writes "For anyone who uses a computer around 10-plus hours a day, eye strain can become a serious issue. According to the American Optometric Association, 70-75% of computer workers experience eye and vision problems. Although I've tried contacts in the past, I found that my eyes dried out very quickly, and so switched back to glasses. Recently, my eye doctor mentioned a series of new contacts with better hydration for the eyes, and targeted to computer professionals (Acuvue, Ocular Sciences, etc). Do you wear contacts when staring at your screen for long periods? What contacts does community recommend for long periods at the computer?"
I use acuvue and love 'em (Score:1)
Over all, I've had much more luck with these than glasses - though I have a pair of glasses too, my contacts seem to distort less providing for more natural vision. Sometimes I even forget I'm wearing 'em. Give them a try, you'll probably never go back.
Re:I use acuvue and love 'em (Score:2)
One thing to note is that it's VERY hard to find an optometrist that can actually give you a good glasses prescription. Get the thinner lenses too - they reduce distortion.
My glasses now are the best I've had in 15 years. Just as good as my contacts - I find myself wearing them much more frequently. It's good to give your eyes a break from contacts anyway.
Re:I use acuvue and love 'em (Score:2)
umm..? I don't know anyone for whom their contacts are nearly as good as their glasses. for me, glasses are much better than contacts but contacts are acceptable. I do need toric lenses though.
dave
Re:I use acuvue and love 'em (Score:2)
this is not true. To get the same power in a thinner lens, you have to go to higher index of refraction material. This will lead to chromatic distortion (colored edges to objects) as well as image field distortion.
Related to this: no matter how well eyeglasses correct, they can only do so on axis because your eyeball rotates behind the glases. Contact lenses allow off-axis viewing to have the same image quality as on-axis.
Best Solution: Beer Goggles (Score:2)
I wear contacts all day in front of a computer (Score:2)
If you find your eyes are drying out take out the lenses and rub in solution (watch out for some solutions causing eye fungus) and then pop them back in. This will extend the hydration for a while.
solids (Score:1)
SIGHT (Score:1)
Re:SIGHT (Score:2)
I've been using them for about two years now.
My optometrist recommends I clean them over night once a week, but I usually go with them for 1½ - 2 weeks at a time.
The best thing is obviously the lack of dry eyes that regular 12h contacts gives,
but the second best is something I treasure a lot - waking up, and actually being able to see things.
Re: (Score:2)
Best solution? (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd worn contacts for almost 20 years when I finally decided to pony up the cash for LASIK. Best $2000 I've ever spent. My eyes would dry out extremely quickly while wearing contacts. Since the inital recuperation from the surgery, my eyes haven't become dry unless I stay up 24+ hours in a row.
An added bonus is that my eyesight in each eye (20/650 and 20/850 before) is now 20/15. I could never come close to that with contacts.
I know you were asking about contact lenses... but you should at least consider LASIK.
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
Re:Best solution? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Best solution? (Score:4, Informative)
IntraLase is a trade name for a laser system. Instead of using a blade to slice the cornea, the surgeon uses a femto-second laser to (rather slowly) open the cornea. It's a more precise cut and hence better. According to my doctor there is no tissue removal with IntraLase, as opposed to the microkeratome, which means if the laser makes an error (more likely the surgeon makes an error) you lose no corneal matter. There are also some horror stories where the microkeratome (the blade) actually will *jam* in the patients' *eye*. The extra $1500 that procedure tacked on to the total bill is WELL worth it to me to have a 0% chance of that type of problem happening.
Re:Best solution? (Score:3, Informative)
However, there are more ways your vision can be distorted than spherical and cylindrical. The idea behind WaveFront is to analyse these other forms of astigmatism and include a correction for them, too.
You can also get expensive contacts with these corrective t
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
I'm assuming you got the milky white steroid drops. Worst tasting eyedrops ever.
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
Re:Best solution? (Score:3, Informative)
Not only that, but you can taste the drop fluid as it comes into your sinuses. Yum.
Controversely, you can also blow air bubbles out of your tear ducts. Next time you're underwater, close your nose (and mouth) and blow really hard. You'll become airheaded underwater, and you may feel tiny air bubbles coming up. Wee.
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
"See, they install that TruCoat at the factory, there's nothin' we can do..."
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
But I go one step closer and don't want anything messing with my eye, even a laser, much like Scwartzenegger's friend in Total Recall: "Don't fuck with your eyes, pal -- it 'aint worth it!"
How's your night vision? (Score:2)
Re:How's your night vision? (Score:2)
Other than that, no problems at all.
Re:How's your night vision? (Score:2)
I had complications the first night ( the flaps shifted ) and had to have them redone the next day, but even with that things were better than contacts within a week. I had starring / halo issues at night for about six months but those gradually faded.
I'm 20/15. Best $3200 I've ever spent.
Re:How's your night vision? (Score:2)
Re:Best solution? (Score:2, Interesting)
Since the inital recuperation from the surgery
I had my Lasik surgery done January 2005. My eyes are still going through the "initial recuperation". For the first 9 months or so my eye sight would fluctuate, one day my right eye would be clear, the next my left. Now it's fairly steady, but they dry out much more frequently than yours do. My night vision is absolutely terrible compared to what it was, though it's getting better. I als
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
I had mine done in June of 05. For two months, I had the same problems you had for nine. One minute my right eye would be crystal clear and my left would be so fuzzy I could barely see a foot in front of my face. I would blink and it would reverse (right eye horrible, left eye clear). Pretty freaky stuff when you think that sort of thing might be permanent.
The surgeon at LasikPlus was very candid before the surgery. He told me about the possible complications and
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
My surgeon was as well, but that's because he was legally obligated to =) I agree that my 20/20 vision now is much better than the 20/2000 vision I had before, but I just wanted to point out that there are a lot of bad things that can and will go along with it. The fact that you're gambling with your eyesight, taking the risk of going permanently blind, is something you really want to look into! To me nothing has been scarier than wondering if
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
But then I notice
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
(I personally would not take a 1:20 chance to spoil my eyesight, however myopic I am.)
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
If I'm gazing into space, I can see my floaters; one is a fairly long Y-shaped string, anchored well enough that it's been in the same spot since I first noticed it at age 4. When the light is just right, I can even see individual cells in the string, nucleus and all.
Over the years (I'm now 50) this long floater has deteriorated from clearly-visible, completely intact individual cells, down to really obvious cellular junk. Most of its cells hav
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
Coolio! Can you explain that a bit further? That sounds really neat!
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
I've examined enough dogs' eyes (to check breeding stock against inherited blindness) to know what I'm seeing
interesting (Score:2)
people who've had whiplash or a similar demonstration of the laws of physics
LOL!Re:interesting (Score:2)
Can you see individual cells in your floaters? mine were very visible (nucleus and all) when I was younger.
Sometimes I amuse myself yanking the y-shaped floater back and forth, just because I can
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
That is the drawback, tho -- with the eyeball method, you have to squirm and crane your neck to get a view much beyond the tapetum. With the 'scope, you just wave the secondary lens around.
Re:LASIK always causes problems... (Score:2)
You win a prize! (Score:2)
Osteopath?!?!? Let's all be clear on this, you're advocating CHIROPRACTIC...
An OSTEOPATH is NOT a Chiropractor. Why do you equate the two professions? I went to 5 or 7 different chiropractors, and they're all in the dark ages as compared to my OSTEOPATH.
My OSTEOPATH has NEVER, EVER cracked any of my bones. Most the time I can
Re:You win a prize! (Score:2)
Let me be absolutely clear, an osteopath is a quack, an M.D. who doesn't believe in medicine, and
Re:You win a prize! (Score:2)
Re:You win a prize! (Score:2)
I agree that most forms of Chiropractic manipulation are invasive (with the exception of Network Spinal Analysis, and possibly Craniopathy). Sometimes a little crack is all a person needs, but most people don't benefit. It's said that Palmer (founder of Chiropractic) spent
No problems here! (Score:2)
The only bad thing about it was that they assured me I'd feel no pain, and when they stuck the knife in my eye, it felt EXACTLY like SOMEBODY STUCK A KNIFE IN MY EYE! After everyone calmed down they explained that less than 1% of the population has pain-sensing nerves actually in the ocular tissues, and that they'd ra
I blame Monovision for the shingles (Score:2)
If she had a monovision contact (like a former boss, who loves his reading contact but who's health is rapidly going downhill) the result would be essentially the same, except you can take a contact out.
Re:Best solution? (Score:5, Funny)
Best money I ever spent. Just don't blink.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Just how wierd was it? (Score:2)
I'd suggest shelling out the extra cash for the custom job, doing some research on the
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
Re:Best solution? (Score:2)
Re:Best solution? (Score:2, Informative)
LASIK creates a flap. This severs the nerves, which means your eyeballs can't tell your tear ducts to cry. Also the flap only rebonds on the edges, and not underneath, so the flap can be dislodged or wrinkled quite easily. This is a disadvantage for people who participate in contact or water sports, where the eye gets a pounding. The advantage of LASIK is that the recovery time is very short (couple of days) and relatively painless. This made it L
Re:Contacts, LASIK, and PRK (Score:2)
After that, I switched to rigid gas permeables, because I was really anal about getting the most accurate correction I could. I wore them for up to 16 hours a day, over a period of three years. Near the middle of this period, I star
Get some trial pairs (Score:1)
You are going to have try some pairs to see if any of them are comfortable TO YOU.
Ask your doc to let you try different ones until you find a kind that works for you.
You may find that the answer is NONE OF THE ABOVE.
good luck though.
Re:Get some trial pairs (Score:2)
If you work only with computers lenses are probably a better idea.
If you also work with chemicals or anything that can splash into your eye (even trivial cleaner fluid) never ever even think of a contact lens. Once you get something nasty in your eye the body will refuse to keep it open for you to take the lens out. Washing, eye rinse, etc will not help because whatever got in your eye will get under the lens. Best case - eye damage. Worst case loss of an eye.
I saw this only once and I still cannot forg
Not To Mention... (Score:2)
Re:Not To Mention... (Score:2)
But that is the sort of mistake you make more than once - normally on the way back from the pub...
Re:Not To Mention... (Score:2)
Attempting to remove a non-existing contact lense.
Re:Not To Mention... (Score:2)
Trick to avoid Onion Tears: put some protectant lube (I use Refresh PM) in your eyes FIRST.
Daily disposables are great (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Daily disposables are great (Score:2)
They are more expensive though - three months of lenses (six boxes of thirty) just cost me about
Drops help a lot (Score:1)
Oh, the relief (Score:1)
And then my dumbass went and got Lasik. When you use the same method of reli
The problem may not be the lenses.... (Score:2)
Staring at screens and contact lenses don't mix (Score:5, Informative)
Staring at a screen reduces the blinking frequency. When blinking less often, the eyes dry faster. The lack of moisture is even worse when contact lenses are worn. Dry eyes irritate faster. Contact lenses accelerate the irritation and make it worse. And if you start rubbing your eyes on top of all that, then you are really in for some reaally nice inflammation... Do yourself a favor : don't go that way and keep wearing glasses.
I still use throwaway contacts, but only for outdoor activities of when I just want to go out with no glasses. I spend most of my waking hours in front of screens and then glasses are the best tool : they correct well, they are easy on the eyes and their field of view is bigger that the screens anyway.
Now let the Lasik flamewar begin.
Re:Staring at screens and contact lenses don't mix (Score:2)
When working in machine shops and the like I prefer to wear my contacts because it allows me to to both wear a larger selections of protective wear more easily (hefty safety glasses, welding helmets, face shields etc) but also not worry about damaging expensive pre
Keep drops near the computer (Score:1)
--Xan
ReNu (Score:2)
April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Bausch & Lomb Inc., the maker of a contact lens cleaner linked to a dangerous eye infection, withdrew the product from the U.S. market and offered refunds to consumers.
Wearers of contact lenses shouldn't use ReNu with MoistureLoc while the outbreak is being investigated, Rochester, New York- based Bausch & Lomb said today in a statement. The company asked retailers to remove the solution
Try fish or flaxseed oil supplements (Score:2)
Computer lenses? (Score:2)
Eyeball Experiences (Score:2)
Take a break. (Score:4, Informative)
Even people with "perfect" vision have problems with computer screens. The recommended solution is to take breaks and look at something far away every hour or more. Your eyes need exercise just like everything else.
"Why do my eyes hurt?"
"Because you have never used them."
Good luck in your quest for contact lenses. I'm lucky enough to only need mild corrective glasses at night.
I used to wear one... (Score:2)
Re:I used to wear one... (Score:2)
But my problem is that when my eyes are both corrected for distance vision, I can't read. And I'm a left-eyed reader (that is my more myopic eye, too), but right-eyed for everything else.
So your odd suggestion might be just what I need to try! Thanks for the
forget corrective lenses altogether (Score:2, Funny)
What's Wrong With Glasses? (Score:4, Insightful)
Bear with me for a minute. We're not in the fifties anymore. Glasses aren't 5cm bottlecaps anymore. Glasses are now light, flexible, sturdy, efficient and a danm sight cheaper than any contact lens on the market.
Is there really still such a problem with wearing glasses in this day and age? Grown geeks will walk around in public with thinkgeek apparell, pdas, glowsticks, sweatpants and gameboys. But not glasses because.... why?
Is it really the contacts you need?
Speak for yourself (Score:2)
The other reason I hated switching was that my contacts had no astigmatism correction, the glasses had some serious correction. (I can't remember why -- maybe the doc was an id
Re:Speak for yourself (Score:2)
Re:What's Wrong With Glasses? (Score:2, Insightful)
Some of the advantages contact lenses have over glasses include:
1. When I'm out biking in the rain, I can still see. Raindrops quickly collect on my glasses and make it kind of difficult, if not downright dangerous, to see where I'm going.
2. I gain better peripheral vision. I have almost nil with glasses.
3. I'm not worried about breaking them; they don't snag on things.
4. I can see while I'm kissing without taking them off.
Re:What's Wrong With Glasses? (Score:2)
With age my eyes have become more glare-sensitive, to the point where I'm thinking about contacts -- because the only practical solution to the glare
Re:What's Wrong With Glasses? (Score:2)
Vanity.
I wear contact lenses almost all the time, glasses only very occasionally. I regularly get smiles/glances etc. from unknown females when wearing contacts, never when wearing glasses. So I prefer the contacts.
JP
Check the HVAC (Score:2)
People had eye problems, sinus problems, headaches, all kinds of illness as a result.
I found this out because I got a cheap humidistat and measured the indoor air quality myself.
Don't cut corners with contacts (Score:2, Insightful)
My mistakes?
- Using disposable contacts for longer than their design (GreatDrok you have been warned)
- Falling asleep in them
- Putting up with contacts which irritated my eyes because I'd already paid for them
- Not getting straight t
I'm in the opposite situation (Score:3, Insightful)
I recently got contacts for the first time, for other reasons - but the only times I wear them is when I'm *not* working. My eyes are pretty much perfectly adjusted for staring at computer screens now, and nothing else.
Anyhow, I've got the Acuvue lenses from Johnson & Johnson, and so far, so good.
Don't be so goddam vain (Score:3, Insightful)
Get disposable contacts ... (Score:2)
That being said, I can usually get about two weeks continuous wear out of a pair of disposables (even sleeping with them in). Then I trash them and switch to my glasses for a week or so to let my eyes rest ag
Careful with contact solution (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Careful with contact solution (Score:2)
thanks,
m
View from the Inside (Score:5, Interesting)
She has seen, and I have heard the war stories, of all the myriad ways that soft lenses can go wrong. Based on that, and the rather strongly worded advice of one of her bosses in 1989, I switched to rigid gas permeable hard lenses, and have since upgraded to extended wear versions.
This is the best thing I have ever done with respect to my eyes. Since there is no fluid component to the lens, changes in humidity, gusts of air, dry eyes, etc., are no where near as big a deal.
They pass more Oxygen than ANY soft lens, and for this and many other reasons, are more healthy.
Unlike softlenses, if some "bug", fungal, bacterial, or whatever, gets into my eyes, the gas perms are not a medium for growth. The crap in the news about fungal growths associated with a particular B&L solution for softs are simply not an issue.
I wear my lenses 7x24. They are approved for 2 weeks of continuous wear. I have gone much longer with no issues.
They DO take a lot longer to get used to (weeks). Typically, they are harder for the practitioner to fit, more expensive, more uncomfortable until you are used to them, cost more per lens and per fitting session. An often overlooked benefit is that if (when) you get something foreign like dust, dirt or an eyelash in your eye, it is extraordinarily uncomfortable.... this typically causes the wearer to get lens out RIGHT NOW, and to deal with the comtamination. This is a good thing. As opposed to just tolerating it as a little uncomfortable, which is the norm for softs.
As far as Lasik goes.... well, what they don't tell you is a couple of things:
When it goes bad, it goes VERY bad. The options at that point are grim. it can get as bad as being legally blind.
Second, no one knows what the long term effects of lasic are. I plan to be alive for at least 50 more years, and there is no track record for this procedure anywhere near that long ago. Further, as we age, we ALL need cheaters or bifocals to deal with the fact that our eyes loose flexibility as we age. Lack of flexability translates into limited ability to change focus from close up to infinity. Lasic may set you free from your specs now, but you are still going to need cheaters or bifocals starting at around 40-45. FWIW, I keep several sets around... so you can guess my age....
Remember, these are your EYES. You only have two, and unless something changes radically, you can never get more. They can transplant hearts, kidneys, and lots of other things. Not eyes. Be conservative. Talk to a Doctor (not an optometrist) about hards. Find someone who specializes, not a refractive surgeon running a lasik mill. And finally, remember, we all are going to need cheaters when we get older.
Red
Menicon Z Rigid Gas Permeable Extended Wear (Score:2)
I've been wearing Menicon Z's for the past couple of months and believe I've found the next best thing to Lasik. They're wearable for up to 30 days at a time. Clean and soak them overnight and you're good to go for another 30 days. They're made from a new plastic that's oxygen hyper-transmissive so I never fight with dry eyes any longer. With my old RGPs, by the end of the day I'd be pushing the lenses around, trying to get some moisture in my eyes and fight off the "sticky" feeling.
And, according to the
Maybe you gave up too quickly? (Score:2)
A few years ago, I got a new set (They were Focus, but I wear Accuview Advanced Torric now because they don't rotate as much) and decided to stick with them for a month, because my doctor told me it would take that long for my eyes to get used to producing extra moisture. I'm glad I stuck with it, because I can't
Ortho-K is an excellent solution (Score:2)
Ortho-Keratology [ortho-k.net] has turned out to be one of the best choices I've ever made.
It's hard contact lenses which you wear only overnight. During that time they reshape your cornea, so that your vision is corrected for the entire day and then some without wearing contact lenses during the day. It has none of the risks you get with LASIK, and it's "future proof" - when I get older and longsightedness starts setting in, I won't be screw
Cost-saving Lasik option (Score:3, Funny)
Acuvue 2 with agitation (Score:2)
Absolutely (Score:3, Interesting)
and get some sleep already.
Re: LCD (Score:2)
Re:Absolutely (Score:2)
I second Proclear (Score:2)
I was told by an optometrist t
Re:Rewetting drops (Score:2)
Anyways, I started buying large packs of the large bottles at Costco for a huge discount (probably 50-60% cheaper than a pharmacy). I use them to then fill up a small bottle I have.
Works pretty well for me, saves a lot of money, and still have the convenience of a little dropper bottle.
This isn't "scientific"... (Score:2)
Basically, when you are viewing a monitor (or any other object less than 3 feet from your eye, generally much closer) for an extended period of time, the muscles that control the focusing of your lens (which is done by "stretching the lens", making it thinner or thicker, since muscles can only contract), become fat