Gettin' Contacts

I got contacts about a year ago, after 20 years of wearing glasses and being afraid of even thinking about putting contacts on my eye.

It takes about a week to get used to doing. It takes a couple months to get good at. And whatever you do, if you're anywhere near sick or having an allergy attack (Spring is coming!) don't wear contacts. Great way to get conjunctivitis (which I'd never had until I made that mistake).

Once you get used to it, you'll never want to go back! It's even got me thinking about Lasik... but we'll see about them putting a knife in my eye while I'm AWAKE. Eessh...

I wore contacts for about 15 years then got tired of the lesser clarity of vision I experienced with them (due to astigmatism and age causing me to have problems with both near and far-sightedness). It was a long time ago, but I do remember the initial difficulties in inserting the lenses. If I thought I could deal with the hassle and expense again, I'd get contacts again in a heartbeat. Glasses are a colossal pain.

I don't know if this will make you feel any better, but, with practice, you will lose all fear about touching your eyeball. Doing things like removing an eyelash from you eye or putting in drops start to seem insignificant. You will become desensitized, so much so that you won't even be phased by the idea of touching your eyeball with your finger for any reason.

I use contacts that I only have to put in once a month. Sleep in them and everything. They're not for "everyone", but I believe are now usable by a *lot* more people than when I started wearing them about 4-5 years ago.

I'm also tempted by laser surgery, but it's a) expensive (I'm a Brit - everything's expensive) and b) it affects your night vision.

Oh and I'm scared.

I've never had any problem touching my eyeballs. But I have a huge problem with YOU touching them! The first time I got contacts, the doctor insisted that he put them in, and that was a nightmare!

I had a nurse like that (though sadly not Russian) when it came time to get hard GP lenses to treat keratoconus. I dislike things coming at my eyes so much that the air-puff test they do in eye exams had never been done successfully on me; even knowing it wouldn't hurt and was *just air* made no difference, and I simply couldn't prevent myself from recoiling.

My nurse spent about two hours with me, because she was determined that I wouldn't leave until I could put the lenses in, take them out, clean them, and put them in again. My nerves were shot when it was over, but I could do it.

well done :)

I've been wearing monthly lenses for the past two years and they work great. Oh, except in Summer, when severe hayfever reduces me (literally) to tears. hmmm...

In a few months you'll just not even have to think about it as 'sticking a finger into your eyeball' it'll just come naturally :)

I found that taking them out was the biggest problem at first.

Of course, I only tried dailies and I'm bag to specs now. I can't get used to looking at my face without them. I only use lenses for jogging or in particularly bad weather (at least until I run out of them - dunno if I'm gonna get a new batch).

Yeah, I've switched to those recently and now I know what it feels like to wake up and be able to see clearly. It's a small sense of satisfaction.

But on getting contacts, my optometrist said that lots of people get freaked out when having to touch their eye. Surprisingly most of those people are male (I was told some people actually faint, which isn't that shocking seeing as your not meant to jab your eye with plastic).

I broke my optometrist's record for gettin' contacts in both eyes in under a minute. Then again, I always had eye problems growing up so I was always rubbing them and touching them with my fingers, so they were already desensitized.

Take them off when napping! And change them when you're supposed to, if they're disposable!

And they don't tell you this, but you're also supposed to replace or clean your plastic contact case every 6 months. Just stick it in boiling water for a few minutes.

I don't think that's surprising at all. Women are probably much more used to touching their eyes if they make up their face. Obviously not the eyeballs, but if you put kohl onto the inner side of your lower eyelid, that's close enough. Or if you use mascara. Or shape your lashes with those dangerous looking metal thingies.

Congratulations! It's hard to believe that we can have so much fear of ourselves, really, since we are in control of the contact lens. I took about an hour and a half to put mine in the first time. But the best part was when I went back to work where I had worked for 2 YEARS and had guys saying, hey are you new? That helped me keep on wearing them until it became second nature. Now I am lazy about changing them. Acuvue has a feature on their website that will let you sign up for alerts to remind you when to change your lenses or visit your eye doctor. If I don't do that then I would wear the same pair for months.
It helps me to look in a mirror so that I am seeing past my finger coming at me. Hope you can stand it for a while and it will be like riding a bike...hope you can do that too.

I got contacts when I was 12. My first attempts were:

Come on come on, in the eye...Darn.
Come on come on, in the eye...Darn.
Come on come on, in the eye...Darn.

Then, taking them out, I didn't even notice that one had fallen into the floor until I was literally clawing my eye.

I took about the same time, too. Had a great optometrist, though.

I was the same way and finally broke down and got some 5 years ago. It took me an hour the first time but what was worse than getting them in was to get them out!

I was pleased when I got the input process down to 20 minutes! Now I look back on it and laugh but I still won't have Lasik and would cry if I got cataracts!

Dave,

I understand your plight. I have had a similar fear of poking my own eye for the sake of not wearing glasses. However, a year ago I decided to brave it. After and hour and a half at the optometrist's office, I finally managed to get them in and out a few times...but at home was the worst. I would literally spend an hour in front of the mirror, and poke in exasperation as my darned eye would inevidably blink every danged time I'd try to get the accursed contacts in.
It just takes practice man, now I can do it in just 10 minutes. I still have "issues" for the most part, but I can get the little foreign objects in my eyes now, without too much hassle.

Good luck on your "vision quest"!

Lasik Rocks!!! It's intimidating, but totally worth the fear and the money!

The first time I had to put my contacts in at home it took me 45 minutes, and I got so frustrated that I punched a wall.
Also, pay careful attention to your contacts when you are taking them out. I once removed one contact, and then I tried to remove the other and was having a hard time until I realised that I was trying to remove the one that I had already taken out. I had spent ten minutes trying to remove my retina (or iris, or whatever the front of the eye is called). I guess I had lost my fear of touching my eye...

ive been wearing glasses since i was 9, since i was 12 people have been trying to get me to wear contacts. all my friends who have contacts love them and complain about the days they have to wear their glasses.. yes im sure you get used to it, yes im sure they have their perks. but i still dont like the idea of putting things in my eyes. i watched a friend try for about 3 minutes solid to find her contact and take it out cause it had slipped towards the back of her eye, it was one of the freakiest things ive ever watched.. and all i can think of when someone mentions lasik is the part of "clockwork orange" where they have those metal things keeping his eyes open... creeps me out.. i will stick with the glasses thanks :)

Just one suggestion for when you're wearing the contacts... blink!

I can't wear my contacts to the movies or a play because I've found that I tend to stare and don't blink. Then your contacts dry out and get blurry and itchy. Not pleasant.

So if you tend to stare wide-eyed at the page while you draw, keep in mind that you have to keep blinking. :-)

Umm.. I don't know if this will help, but when I first tried putting contacts in (my Mom's way), I had the worst trouble (two hours a contact. Yeah). Then I met my college roommate who showed me a different way... It was nearly miraculous.

The idea, basically, is to trick your eye. Look into a vertical mirror with your head tilted down slightly, so that you're looking "up" at the mirror. Pull down the bottom eyelid with one finger and stick the contact onto your eyeball with another. It won't be on your iris, but that's okay. Before you blink, push at the edge of the contact a little to get it over your iris. Then, pull on your upper eyelashes a bit while you close your eyes, so that you don't blink the contact right back out again. Let it sit for a second with your eyes closed, especially if you have dry eyes, then go to the next eye.

Seriously, I was amazed at how much quicker this method was for me. You still have to get used to touching your eyeball, but it's a lot easier if you don't start by touching your iris.

Mornie Utulie, This is exactly the method I use, ever since I returned from the horrific experience I had at the optometrist with the nurse trying to get me to do it the other way. It's so much easier! Can't imagine doing it differently.

Odd thing here, as I was reading, I could not help but read the nurse dialog with a Frau Blücher accent. It makes for a very funny scene in my head of your trip to the eye doc!

My eyes are so friggin' sensitive I just can't see myself getting contacts. The air-puff glaucoma test (which possibly was used as a method of torture in the 11th century) is a nightmare for me as well.

Kudos to you Dave for having the gumption to place foreign objects in your eyes.

After I posted that comment about contacts this ad appeared:

What's the correlation between a bikini-clad babe and lasik? Having the lasik procedure turns you into a bikini-clad babe? Or if I had the procedure done I wouldn't have to scramble to throw on my glasses to ogle a bikini-clad babe walking by?

Dave,

My image of web comics creators as tough as nails, macho he-men has taken another hit here...c'mon you big baby, just put the dang things in your eyes.