Contact lenses: Anyone else prefer hard over soft?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I wore hard lenses back in the 1980s before there was astigmatism correction in soft lenses. I was always fine with them and used to think it funny that soft lens wearers had to “cook” their lenses, were always destroying lenses, etc. I never understood the benefits of soft lenses.

Since then, soft lens tech has obviously evolved. No cooking, simple solutions, throwaway lenses for daily wear, and extended use. For normal applications, doctors now seem to steer new users invariably toward soft lenses. I had my D.O. tell me that she only does hard lenses for people with vision problems that require them.

I got off my lenses for reasons I can’t really recall; probably because my prescription was changing so much every year. From 1989 to 1998 I wore glasses exclusively.

In 1998 I decided I wanted to be glasses-free. The doc tried to put soft lenses in my eyes, but one of them hurt immediately, so I asked for hard lenses, which the doc seemed to think was a bad idea. I had to have the right lens adjusted because it wasn’t pumping out the goo much, or whatever. For some reason I did not feel comfortable using the lenses for reading, but overall I liked them.

In 2000 I went back to Japan and for whatever reason stopped wearing my lenses (why do I forget this?). In 2002, however, I again wanted lenses, so the optometrist recommended soft lenses. This time they felt alright, and I got daily use without the astigmatism correction, as I really didn’t want to bother soaking them and fooling around with them. I wore them pretty much just to look better on occasion.

But I pretty much hated them. More on this in a moment.

In 2006 I really wanted to make my appearance better so I lost weight and again went for lenses. This time, however, I planned to wear them almost all the time. I mentioned hard lenses to the doc, asked him if he ever prescribed them any more. He said yes, all the time: Some people really prefer the sharper vision they can offer. But he nevertheless firmly steered me toward soft lenses, saying that if I could get used to them, I would really prefer the comfort.

I didn’t. Here are the problems I’ve had with soft lenses. This is one of those times in my life where I feel really different from 95% of the population and wonder if that’s not my fault.

  1. Can’t get them in. I’ve been doing it for over a year and my technique has improved somewhat, but I have a devil of them time with them. I dreaded my morning routine and having to fight with these bastards every time. OK, here’s where I feel like an idiot–who else has problems with getting in their soft lenses.

But I have small eyes and long eyelashes. In the morning my eyes are puffy and even smaller. I just can’t.get.them.in. Not easily.

For the record, however, the left lens is much easier to get in. I think it’s because it’s not my dominant eye, so I can aim for it better, plus I can pull back my left lashes better with the fingers of my right hand. The fact that the left lens is easier to get in hints that my failure to get the technique down is my fault, to some degree.

In contrast, hard lenses are very small. As an 8th grader, I was able to get them in and out perfectly with five minutes of training. This was never an issue, never a thing I gave a second’s thought to.

  1. Feel dirty after going in. I take care of them as I should, but many times out of ten the lenses just feel grungy and painful after I get them in. Which makes problem #1 above so much the worse, and I have to keep putting them in and out.

How is it that something that feels fine all day could get dirtier overnight in the solution? This dirty feeling is exacerbated by the fact that it is hard to force soft lenses to feel clean (see point #4).

In contrast, hard lenses have a consistent feel going in. Sometimes there can be a particle that can cause acute tearing, but this is usually washed away in a second or so.

  1. Feel dirty/painful at random, unpredictable times. The great (and I would say) single flaw of hard lenses is that the wind can blow or something, a dust particle gets underneath the lens, and you can tear up and it can be almost blinding. I freely admit that this is a substantial issue. What mitigates this problem, however, is that it is easy to tear up and flush out the dust, or, if necessary, pop out the lens, wipe it with your finger with a bit of solution (or spit, if that’s all you have), and fix the problem quickly.

However much the whole insertion technique :wink: issue is my fault, the random grunginess of soft lenses isn’t. I may be the only one with this problem (am I?), but it’s not anything I’m doing.

Some days, my lenses feel great all day and I never notice them. Others, one or both of the lenses has a problem and it’s just unbearable.

In contrast, hard lenses can cause severe acute annoyance, but you either flush the irritant away or can fix the problem pretty easily.

  1. Cannot be forced to feel clean. This is really, really annoying. Let’s say the lens feels dirty. I pinch it out. Generously rub it with solution. Put it back in. Nope. Out again. Rub. In. Nope. Out again. Nuke with solution, rubbing vigorously. This time OK! Ten minutes pass. Whoops, same problem again. Pinch out lens, put in soaking solution. Insert new lens…

And that’s in the morning when I have a convenient source of water and a place to rub the lenses with solution safely. If you’re in your car and the lenses start acting up, bad. Just bad.

In contrast, hard lenses get reliably clean every time. I’m not proud of it, but I’ve licked my lens clean when I didn’t have water, and that works too.

Those are the major points that make soft lense, in my view, worse than hard for me. There are a few others of less importance. Soft lenses are very easy to lose in water or if you drop them. Sayonara. If they dry up they’re destroyed. A toric lens provides a pretty inferior way of correcting astigmatism. Etc.

The only advantages of soft are the supposed better comfort right off the bat and the ability to keep them in your eyes for a week, sleeping in them, etc. The latter is for me just a joke, as I can barely stand to keep them in my eyes for a full day, most days.

Today I picked up my hard lenses, popped them in, and was used to them in five minutes, despite not having worn hard lenses for the past seven years. The vision is just incredible, sharper than anything else I’ve ever had.

So, please comment on anything above and tell me about your own experiences with the two types of lenses. Also, do you agree with me that always steering new patients to soft is not necessarily a good thing? Thanks!

2

I have to admit I just can’t comprehend what you are saying. I mean all the words make sense, but together…

I had a similar experience to yours. Hard lenses - well, rigid gas-permeable - in my teens, but I hated them so much I finally abandoned them, then about 3 years ago, soft. Some of your points I agree with too, like the cleaner feel and the sharper vision. But honestly I can give that up for the comfort.

I felt those rigid lenses in my eyes all day long. They hurt like a mofo. I felt them every time I blinked. I never want to go back to those.

I am sorry about your eyes. One of the advantages I have is very large eyes so they are fairly easy to put in.

I don’t sleep in my contacts but I have about a six month supply and throw them out every two weeks. Yes, they tear easier, but there’s always more, and I am not concerned about losing my only pair of incredibly expensive contacts. I do wear them anywhere from 12-18 hours a day, however.

Have you asked your doctor about sticking with the hard? Perhaps there is some reason for the soft, or perhaps she’ll go back with you. Honestly though you couldn’t pay me enough to wear those again.

3

I wear rigid glass permeables – since I’ve been wearing contacts nonstop (well, other than when I’m sleeping, heh) since 1978. I’m used to them and they’re easy to take care of. shrug

4

I love my RGPs and (with my optometrists grudging permission) wear them a week at a time, including sleeping in them. I’ve even swum with them in.

Now I think I’ll never ever try the soft, disposable lenses, as it sounds like putting sushi in my eyes. Bleeaugh.

5

Another thing to consider is that rigid lenses keep the shape of your eye better, in my limited experience. (IANAD) When I was wearing gas perms, my eyesight didn’t deteriorate as rapidly it seems.

On the other hand, I think it’s easier to scratch your cornea with them and cause damage that way. Of course, it depends on how you handle them.

I definitely liked them because they didn’t float around in my eye especially when I had allergies, but the issue really is comfort. My eyes got really tired with them in all day. And that made me feel tired even if I wasn’t. And as you say, they’re hard to get your doctor to prescribe unless you have a really good reason. . . like you apparently do.

I used to switch out between hard and soft at one time. And I’d consider it again if allergies started to bother me. But since insertion is not an issue for me, there are soft contact lenses that are really not as mushy as others. Maybe you can tell your doctor about your concerns and he can help you find something that’s provides comfort and ease of application.

6

Oddly enough, my optometrist told me the hard lenses would be better for my vision and might even improve my eyesight altogether (re-shape my eye or something?) He sold me on those, and so did my mom who has worn RGP since forever.

I could not stand them - for all of the reasons the OP can’t stand soft lenses :slight_smile:

They were hell to put in, hell to take out, hard to keep clean and goddamn if you ever lose one! They hurt SO bad. I could not see with them in unless I constantly rubbed my eyes, and this was after like 4 trial pairs until we found one that was “not that bad.”

I wore them about 10 hours a week when I had them, just for when I worked out.

I finally got enough money to go see my eye dr. again a month ago to get soft lenses. Wow! What a DIFFERENCE!!! I don’t feel them, they don’t hurt, I can SEE, I can wear them 8 hours at a time and if I lose them there’s another pair in the box. Woohoo!!

Amazing how the experience can be so different for people, isn’t it?

7

Thanks, everyone.

Zipper, right, it is odd. And I’m writing as someone in a somewhat odd minority–someone who couldn’t stand soft lenses. Your story–going from hard to soft and being overjoyed at the difference–is much more common. I read somewhere today that 85% of people now wear soft.

8

I wear rigid gas perms, and before that I had hard lenses. I tried soft lenses once, but for the (about) 45 minutes I had them in they hurt so bad I couldn’t open my eyes. I have to wear contacts because glasses won’t give me the visual acuity I need. I live in fear of the day I can’t wear them anymore for some reason. But until then, it’s RGP all the way.

9

I wore hard lenses for a squillion years, which eventually evolved into RGP’s which I loved for several of the reasons you mentioned - durability and the ability to pop them in and out at random being high among them.

Then for a few years my work involved a lot of field time, which as you also mentioned brings dust and other aggravators to the eye, so I went back to glasses for about 5 years.

One day while talking to my optometrist, he mentioned that he had started wearing soft lenses, and while they didn’t give the clarity which hard ones do, he was well satisfied with them.

I thought about that for a couple more years (I’m slow like that :stuck_out_tongue: ) and finally decided to try them.

Yes, they are a bit more difficult to insert - they’re so dang BIG - but once I got the knack of it they were ok. I agree that putting the ‘non-dominant-eye’ one is easier. I’m happy with them. I can’t wear the disposable kind - these were factory made for my eyes, I think they are $90 each lens - but I didn’t want to sleep in them anyway.

Have you considered that perhaps you are allergic to the material they are made of? That might explain some of your discomfort. At any rate, if you can’t tolerate them you just can’t. Wear the hard ones!

10

Mark me as an astigmatic who loved her original hard lenses, adored the gas perms and detest with the heat of a thousand burning suns the atrocity that are soft lenses.

Too big, keep folding and woodging when I put them in, torics shift around so damn much half the time I coudnt focus, feel sludgy no matter if they were brand spanking new out of the tub. Back in the day I had 2 pair of gas perms, and as soon as I can afford them I will get them again. I still have an emergency pair of soft torics that I carry sealed in their tubs in case my glasses get hosed, but it would take the destruction of my glasses to put them in.

11

I saw better with the rigid gas permeables, but the soft are much more comfortable.

12

The one time the doc tried a hard lens in my eye, I began instantly screaming for him to take it out. I’ve never worn anything but soft, and they’ve gotten vastly better over the years.

One thing that seems to matter a lot, comfort-wise, and which doesn’t seem to be that widely known is that the curvature of the lens must match that of your eye. They sell soft lenses in a variety of curvatures, so in addition to getting the prescription correct, your eye doctor should also get you the correct curvature.

But it’s all a matter of taste in the end, isn’t it?

13

I’ve had hard or rigid gas permiables since I was 14 (going on 30 years). The perms are more comfortable than the old-fashioned hard ones I wore as a teen, and I do prefer them to soft contacts, which my brother and sister wore and always looked too soft and squidgy and fragile to me. They were always tearing their contacts, while mine would last years. But then the sibs eyes were never as bad as mine and they have no astigmatism, so I also think the hard/perms have kept my eyes in better shape over the years than soft ones would.

Plus, you can wash them with spit in an emergency. (Note: I am not recommending this as part of your every-day contact cleaning routine.)

14

I wore RGPs for nearly 20 years (from '85-'04), then just glasses for a year, then I switched to soft lenses 2 years ago. I, too, have astigmatism.

I absolutely loved my vision in the RGPs: I swear it was better than 20/20, and sharp. But at the end of the day my eyes were always sore and bloodshot, and whenever I had to put them in very early in the morning I’d have the same sore/bloodshot issue (the sore would go away, but the bloodshot wouldn’t). Still, I would have worn them forever if they hadn’t started to scratch my eyes. About 4 years ago they started somehow scratching the surface every now and then, and continued wearing would rub the scratch into a scar and I’d have redness and significant pain. For some reason my opthalmologist could not find a pair of soft lenses that worked for me (we tried everything), and eventually he convinced me that if I continued to wear the RGPs I might wind up doing permanent damage to my eyes. So I switched to glasses, but wore the RGPs on dates and for special occasions.

I got new frames that looked fine on me, but I hated wearing glasses all the time – like I always have (I’ve needed vision correction since '78). Grr. :slight_smile:

Two years ago my employer at the time started offering vision insurance, and I decided it might be time to switch eye docs. So I went to an optometrist that a co-worker recommended, I agreed to give soft lenses another chance, and the first brand he tried was the then-new Acuvue Advanced for Astigmatism lenses. And they were great! They stayed in place, and I could see and everything! And no more bloodshot eyes, no matter how long I wear them or how early I put them in! So that’s what I’ve been wearing ever since. I put in a fresh pair every two weeks, and they’re twice as expensive as the RGPs were, but they’re comfortable and I have no trouble handling them. I haven’t ripped a lens yet. And they are seriously better than wearing glasses, though I do still wear my glasses around the house (I’m wearing them right now, even).

That said, I do often miss the sharpness that I had with the RGPs. And it always takes a few minutes for me to adjust from near-vision to distance vision with the soft lenses, which is annoying (like, when I’m ready to drive home after a day in front of the computer; I can do it with no problem, but distant street signs are a little blurry for a while). Sometimes I wish I could go back to RGPs, but I know the soft lenses are better for my eyes.

15

Reverse that and you have my stance. I wore RGP’s for a couple of years in my early teens and-I think I speak for all non-masochists when I say this-they are an exemplary instrument of Satan.

Let’s drift back-

It started the moment I got fitted for them-I vividly remember the optometrist…wait…the opthalmologist(?)…whatever-that sadist for whom the title ‘Eye Doctor’ was quaintly insufficient-inserting them for me, at which point my eyes began watering as if I’d been maced after having been shot with rock-salt. After a couple of minutes this subsided (somewhat) and I was ushered out and presented to my waiting mother, who, upon seeing her granitically stoic son with involuntary tears still streaming out of abjectly bloodshot eyes, asked if this was normal. The reply? “This is about as well as anyone does their first time.”

I realize now that statement was probably meant to bolster the spirits and resolve of a bewildered teen, but sweet honey-dipped christ. Add to this the fact that the RGP lenses had a propensity to become situated on top of one or the other of my eyes-a position from which they then energetically pursued their tacit goal-to bring me woe and suffering of biblical proportions-and from which, I learned through trial and error, they could only be coaxed down with a precise series of voluble impreciations, puntuacted at random intervals by impotent sniveling and insuperable sobbing.

After a couple of years of not knowing whether, when she checked on me before school in the morning, she was going to to open the bedroom door upon a reasonably well mannered 13 year old, or a snarling, raving, half-crazed, tri-polar minion of the Morning Star whom she would then have to fend off with a crucifix made of garlic gilded in silver, my dear loving mother ponied up the difference between the RGP’s and the soft lenses. Just my conjecture, but I think doing so was probably cheaper than buying blood pressure medication for herself and hiring an Exorcist to engage me, every other week, in contests for the dominion of my everlasting soul-or at least my bedroom.

Too much? Yeah Probably…Of course YMMV

16

Actually i’m not a fan of corrective contact lenses. My cousin is using it since she was a kid and look at her now, wearing heave glasses just to see things clearly. Do you want to wear contact lenses for the rest of your life? If yes, then i suggest you continue but if you now and wanna know How To Improve Eyesight Naturally. I suggest you click the link.

17

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