My daughter is thinking of getting contacts but has astigmatism. She has heard that the lens rotate out of focus for those with astigmatism?
Do any of you have any experience with this? Just looking for your thoughts and experiences.
You can get contacts for people with astigmatism now. I did, and that rotating thing hasn’t happened to me in years- it’s especially scary when you’re driving at night.
They make toric lenses that have a small weight in the lense that keep them from spinning around, especially for people with astigmatism.
Thanks for your responses!
I use “Air Optix for astigmatism”. I like them, and they let a lot of oxygen in, which you really need if you rarely wear your glasses, like me.
Get *Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism - *accept no substitutes. She shouldn’t have any rotation problems with them.
Thanks,** Alice and voltaire**! I’ll pass your info along to my daughter.
I second this. These are the best contacts I’ve ever worn, by far. They never get blurry on me.
I use toric lenses and have moderate astigmatism. I usually like the clarity that the lenses give me (I use Acuvue daily disposables, since I’m an infrequent user) but they tend to dry my eyes out. On some days, I find that the clarity with my contacts is less than usual, and I really don’t know why, while on other days, it’s brilliantly clear. I figure the lens is mis-aligned in some way, but there doesn’t seem to be any way of correcting it. But as I say, this may be because I don’t wear them regularly and my eyes aren’t totally used to them. YMMV, naturally.
I tried out some astigmatism lens for a few weeks (Air Optix) due to some other issues I was having and never had any issue with them rotating. I have a .75 astigmatism (is that the right terminology) and for reasons unrelated I went back to standard spherical lenses and we bumped them by a quarter diopter (from -2.75 to -3.00) to compensate for the astigmatism. They told me when your astigmatism is under 1 diopter it’s pretty common to just up the strength of the lenses rather then shell out more money for torics. It might be worth looking into if her astigmatism is mild. Also, just so you know, I’ve never seen a contact place that won’t give you free samples to try out for a few weeks before you buy them. In fact, most places I’ve been to will make you take a free pair to try for two weeks before they’ll let you order them if you’ve never worn them before or you’re switching brands.
Another vote for the Acuvue Oasys lenses.
I wear contacts about once or twice a week.
They’re especially nice for me, because I’m only astigmatic in one eye (stupid eyes) and Acuvue’s toric lenses are both bigger than their regular ones, and have nice little hashmarks on the sides so that you put them in oriented the right way - makes it nearly impossible to mix them between eyes.
I will say that every brand of toric lens I have had dried my eye out faster than regular lenses, and they are all thicker as well - they tire my eye out faster by a few hours.
If she’s someone who has tendencies to be lazy and sleep in her lenses, then she needs to suck it up and just use regular ones that are designed to be slept in - I don’t think any of the toric lenses are recommended for sleeping in them, and even if they are, it is a phenomenally bad idea, at least in personal experience.
I have recently bought the Air Optix for Astigmatism lenses, and have nothing but praise.
They are only very slightly thicker than normal - something you get used to in about 10 minutes - and don’t rotate. I now see better than I did as a kid, and better than I ever did with glasses.
ETA: same astigmatism as Joey P
Air Optix (previously Acuvue Night and Day) makes torics you can sleep in for up to two weeks. I’ve left them in for well over that amount of time without any issues at all.
Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and recommendations. She’s definitely leaning toward trying them (she only ever worn glasses). So, of course she’ll get the eye exam for contacts when the time comes. Hopefully, her astigmatism isn’t all that bad.
Must just be me then - I tried to sleep in the Night and Days and I felt like my eyeball was turning into the Sahara by the end of the first week.
I tried to take it off and I practically needed a chisel! :eek:
I eventually worked it out that my max was 4 days without a break. If I didn’t get them off by then, it went downhill fast from there.
Good to know they do work longer for other people tho - I must just have a very dry/sensitive eye.
Yeah, some people just can’t do the overnight thing. I never had a problem (as long as it’s overnight lenses, never tried it with regular ones). Every doctor I’ve had always told me I shouldn’t wear them overnight and if I’m going to use drops in the morning and still try to take them out at least one night a week.
Using Acuvue/Air Optix Night and Day’s I successfully kept mine in for 4-6 weeks at a shot with no problems, no eye drops, didn’t even know they were in until about 6 months ago when I started having lens issues in general. I don’t think they are at all related to wearing them overnight, but I do now take them out at night just to give my eyes a break. The optometrist said some people just start to lose their tolerance to lenses after a while and since I really don’t want to go back to glasses, I’m happy just popping them out at night.
I have moderately strong astigmatism and I love, love, love the Air Optix Torics.
That said, though, I started out with the Acuvue’s and hated them; they were constantly rotating out of focus.
Have her try different brands until she finds one she absolutely adores.
I have astigmatism and I’ve worn contacts most of my life. They can rotate if you rub your eye, blink funny, etc, but torics are designed to rotate back into place.
I recently tried Air Optix and they are great! I love being able to sleep in them. Camping just got a whole lot easier!
Wow, you guys are great. Thanks so much for you input.